Faculty Contact Information:
Home: 0434-780-499
Cell: 348-319-8537
Email: cherylowen@yahoo.com
To leave a voice mail, call my home phone and leave a message. | |
Consultation:
You are welcome to contact me between classes via telephone. I may not be as quick to respond to my email.
I will also be available after each class for individual consultation. | |
Required Texts and Readings:
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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-TR. (2000). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Seligman, L. (1998). Selecting Effective Treatments: A Comprehensive, Systematic Guide to Treating Mental Disorders. New York: Jossey-Bass.
Sperry, L., Carlson, J., and Kjos, D. (2002). Becoming an Effective Therapist. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. [Chs. 4-6 of this text, which is also used in PSYC 502, PSYC 534 and GUCO 510, will be covered in this class.]
Zimmerman,M. (1994). Interview Guide for Evaluating DSM-IV Psychiatric Disorders & the Mental Status Examination. East Greenwich, RI: Psych Products Press. | |
Supplementary Readings:
| All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library at http://www.umuc.edu/library/. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students’ research and writing skills. | |
Recommended Journals:
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Course Description:
| Prerequisite: PSYC 502. This courses integrates various assessment methodologies for a comprehensive process of assessment. The purposes, techniques, and process of clinical assessment will be explored. Techniques for understanding of non-verbal, verbal, and interpersonal transactions, including the recapitulation of the family structure and dynamics, are examined. Students are introduced to situational assessment, psychological inference, and report writing. Students may receive credit for only one of the following courses: PSYC 514 or EDCP 614. | |
Course Goals:
| This course is designed to enable students to become familiar with the DSM-IV diagnostic system as it applies to persons of diverse cultures and abilities. It will assist students in preparing for the comprehensive exam and will prepare them for professional practice. | |
Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of the course, the student will be able to:
1. Understand and discuss information regarding psychopathology and mental disorders.
2. Discuss issues of diversity as they relate to mental disorders.
3. Demonstrate ability to use the DSM-IV-TR classification system of mental disorders.
4. Successfully diagnose cases using the case vignette method. | |
Grading Information:
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 92%
B 80 – 91%
C 70 – 79%
F Below 70%
Please note that Bowie State University does not use "D" for graduate students. The grade "F" is used to designate academic failure. "FN" is used to designate failure for non-completion. Grades of Incomplete or Withdrawal are governed by UMUC-Europe policies. For further details, please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog, available in your local Education Center or online at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/general_info/publications/catalogs. | |
Course Requirements:
Graduate school at the masters level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society. In order to maximize your graduate educational experience in general and this course in particular, you are required to:
Participate in classroom role plays/discussions..30%
Write mini-assessments/case notes................30%
Write a comprehensive diagnostic summary.........30%
Professionally present diagnostic summary........10%
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Description of Course Requirements:
This class will be experiential in nature and much of class time will be devoted to enactments of assessment procedures. Students will be required to assume two roles: a fictional client and a counselor. Attendance in class will be necessary to meet course requirements. Any expected absences must be discussed with instructor prior to enrollment in the course.
Didactic topics will include elements of assessment, categories of diagnoses in the DSM-IV-TR, and use of the DSM-IV-TR to accurately assess and diagnose clients.
Class discussions mimicking actual clinical case review sessions will examine case vignettes following each set of role plays. Students will explore non-verbal, verbal, and interpersonal transactions as well as how to make psychological inferences from information learned during the role play session. The majority of learning is expected to come from these discussions. It will be critical that students read/study the textbooks between classes. Students are expected to come to class prepared to engage in all discussions in a professional and informed manner.
Report writing will be required outside of class. Each student will be required to write mini-assessments including a clinical case note of the information elicited from their "client" during each role play session.
A final comprehensive diagnostic summary of the student's "client" will be turned in on the final day of class. This summary will result from a cumulation, integration, revision and/or expansion of a student's mini-assessments to include a final 5-Axes diagnosis.
A professional oral presentation of the diagnostic assessment including rationale of the final diagnoses will be given on the final day of class.
In order to prepare for this class, it is suggested that students read CH. 4-6 of Becoming an Effective Therapist and the Interview Guide for Evaluating DSM-IV Psychiatric Disorders & the Mental Status Examination prior to the first class. Specific diagnostic categories will be reviewed on different classroom days as indicated in the course schedule below. Students should have read the selections from the DSM-IV-TR and Seligman's Selecting Effective Treatments matching those topics prior to the classes where those disorders will be discussed. Ongoing use of these books will be necessary to complete the assessment reports and diagnostic summaries.
Graduate coursework usually requires two to three hours of additional study for every hour of a face-to-face class. | |
Course Schedule:
SAT OCT 22
Introductions
Course Overview
Assessment Methodologies
Mental Status Exam
Report Writing
SUN OCT 23
DSM-IV Overview
Decision Tree
Multiaxial Diagnosis
Suicide Assessment
Formal Diagnostic Assessment
SAT NOV 19
Biopsychosocial Assessment
Mental Disorders Due to General Medical Condition
Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
Somatoform Disorders
Eating Disorders
Factitious Disorders
SUN NOV 20
Delirium, Dementia, Amnestic and other Cognitive Disorders
Mood Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Psychiatric/Cognitive Assessment
SAT DEC 3
Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders
Personality Disorders
Family and Relationship Assessments
Genograms
SUN DEC 4
Substance Related Disorders
Sleep Disorders
Social/Leisure Assessments
SAT DEC 10
Adjustment Disorders
Infancy, Childhood or Adolescence Disorders
V Codes and Other Conditions
Cultural and Spiritual Assessments
SUN DEC 11
Oral Presentations of Diagnostic Summaries
Course evaluations | |
Academic Policies:
Note: Any written assignment in this course may be submitted to TurnItIn.Com. This statement constitutes prior notice.
The official university policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/policy/aa15025.shtml. Section I.C. states: "Faculty may determine if the resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is acceptable when assigning a grade on that piece of course work. Faculty must provide this information in their written syllabi. If the resubmission of course work is deemed to be unacceptable, a charge may not be brought under this Policy and will be handled as indicated in the written syllabi."
Please refer to Description of Course Requirements for specific information on how resubmissions will be treated in this course and to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with Disabilities
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center. | |
Faculty Bio:
| Dr. Cheryl Owen has worked as a counselor for almost 17 years. She is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor. She received her M.A.(1991) in Community Counseling and Ed.D.(2004)in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Cincinnati. Her undergraduate was in Psychology from the University of Kentucky. Her specializations are in substance abuse counseling and family counseling and most recently secondary school counseling. She has worked in a variety of settings including inpatient, outpatient, hospitals, jails, private practice, and schools. Her career has been split evenly working with adults and adolescents. She currently works as a school counselor at Aviano High School. | |