Special didactic concepts and modern teaching formats

Our aim is to lay the foundations for future psychotherapeutic work with children and adolescents. To this end, we primarily use the following special didactic concepts and modern teaching formats:

  • Individualized learning in simulated and real treatment situations,
  •  Digital, evidence-based teaching formats,
  • Competence-oriented teaching and learning,

  • Research-based teaching and learning.

Individualized learning in simulated and real treatment situations

We believe that “good” training in the field of psychotherapy with children and adolescents can only be individualized. Two things are therefore a matter of course for us in our teaching: Firstly, from the beginning of the course, we accompany the learning and practising of psychotherapeutic (social) skills through well-founded, individualized and behavior-based feedback (including with the help of video recordings) on the skills demonstrated in simulated and real treatment situations.

Secondly, as part of the professional qualification activity III (outpatient BQTIIIa), MSc KliPPt students accompany psychotherapies in a 1:1:1 setting (1 child/adolescent : 1 student : 1 child and adolescent psychotherapist) in the psychotherapy outpatient clinic for children and adolescents (PTA KiJu). The students also carry out selected parts of psychotherapy with children and adolescents under the guidance and in the presence of the child and adolescent psychotherapists.

Further information on the BQTIIIa can be found on the PTA KiJu homepage.

Digital, evidence-based teaching formats

We integrate new digital teaching formats into our teaching, such as the US-American “Practice Wise” program with the “Managing and Adapting Practise” (MAP) system. MAP is a cross-therapy system that consolidates and coordinates the entire evidence base on the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions and their practical implementation with children and adolescents.

Competence-oriented teaching and learning

The teaching of skills in simulated and real therapy situations, which is a central component in the training of future psychotherapists according to the licensing regulations for psychotherapists (PsychThApprO), is another teaching and research focus of the AE. Our aim is to train psychotherapeutic (social) skills as closely as possible to the later reality of treatment. In close cooperation with the team at the Learning Centre for Individualized Medical Activity Training and Development (Limette, Institute for Training and Study Affairs, UKM Münster), we design and standardize simulation situations with acting patients for psychotherapy with children and adolescents, which require both professional and social psychotherapeutic skills. Testing, feedback and evaluating the acquisition and presentation of these skills with students is a central teaching and research priority for us.

Research-based teaching and learning

The approach of research-based teaching and learning is of central importance in our curriculum - as well as in the University of Münster's university development plan. Research and teaching are closely linked and enable students to actively participate in academic life from the very beginning of their studies. For example, we integrate current research from the PsychsozKomp project on the question of how psychotherapeutic social skills can best be assessed and trained directly into teaching. Students can thus a) benefit directly from the current state of research (e.g. integration of behavior-based assessments of psychotherapeutic social skills in real-world simulations of psychotherapeutic treatments in the Limette), b) gain relevant knowledge for their own professional skills development (e.g. through multimodal feedback on their own psychotherapeutic skills) and c) actively contribute their own scientific interests to the research project (e.g. through final theses on project-relevant issues).