Clinical Psychology

Full course description

The course Clinical Psychology is concerned with mental disorders. It is aimed at understanding mental and behavioural distress and/ or dysfunction and thereby learning about how to promote subjective well-being and personal adaptation. On the basis of case descriptions, important clinical pictures of a.o. different anxiety disorders, eating disorders, addictions, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, and personality disorders are examined. Questions that are raised continually during the course are: What is the clinical picture of…? Where is the boundary between no need for care and need for care? What causes such a disorder? And what can be done about the disorder? At the end it will be clear that there is a gap between theory and practice, between scientific thinking and clinical treatment. A number of different theoretical schools will also be examined, and these schools explain/treat psychiatric disorders in keeping with their favorite theory. The choice of theory/treatment in most cases is thus based on ideology and not empirical findings, and the question is whether this situation is so desirable.

Course objectives

To make students familiar with the most common psychiatric disorders; their clinical pictures, diagnostic criteria, the etiological theories and the empirical findings that either support or refute the theories, current ways of treatment, and the effectiveness of the therapies.
To give students a basic idea of what clinical interviews are and what it feels like to ‘have’ a psychiatric disorder by writing a patient role and playing that role.
To learn basic clinical interview techniques.

Prerequisites

One of the 1000 or 2000 level psychology courses offered at UCM.

Introduction to Psychology

Clinical Psychology