Clinical Forensic Psychology and Victimology

There was a professional actor who would play offenders. We would interview him in front of the class. Afterwards we got feedback from the teacher and classmates. It was really great to work with him and after each session I had the feeling I was better prepared for the job.Now I am finishing my thesis (which is only 11 credits) and I am about to start my internship (19 credits). This time I will not work with offenders, but with people who lived through terrible experiences. I am going to work at the psychiatry department of a military hospital, with many patients being soldiers suffering from PTSD, but also civilian patients and victims of crime. I am very excited but I feel quite prepared after the master. Of course, I am going to make mistakes, but that is okay; I will learn a lot.A great thing about this master was the small amount of students, only 23. Everyone knew everyone, also the teachers knew everyone by name. There was a great atmosphere, I made friends and the teachers were very good. We also had guest lectures from experts in the field, for example from a psychotherapist who worked in the forensic field for more than 10 years. It was very interesting to listen to them, because they knew what they were talking about.
Martin Kansy, (Bonn, Germany)

To me, this was very helpful and eye opening. Moreover, I liked the motivational interview parts, where we learned about a new technique, which I think is very important in the field of clinical forensic psychology. I wrote my thesis about filicide, the deliberate act of parents killing their own offspring. I reflected on the psychopathology of these people, predisposing factors, underlying motives, methods of killings, gender differences and how they dealt with their crime in terms of grief processes. Furthermore, available interventions and preventative strategies were highlighted. Whilst working on my thesis, I did an internship in a prison during which I did group therapy sessions with sexual and violent offenders.