Faculty Contact Information:
Dr. Michelle Mentzer
Quadrelle, Italia 83020
michelle.mentzer@ed.umuc.edu
drmentzer@mac.com
|
|
Consultation:
Student consultation available by email or phone. I usually respond within 12 hours.
Any students with special needs, please contact me prior to start date of class to make any necessary arrangements so that you have the potential to complete this course successfully.
|
|
Required Texts and Readings:
|
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-TR. Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
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 734 and GUCO 610, 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.
The library is used extensively for this course. If you are not familiar with the library, please take the free, online, self-paced course available from the UMUC library. You will be responsible for the content of that course at the beginning of this course.
|
|
Recommended Journals:
A variety of full-text, online, free-of-charge and pay-per-view academic journals are listed on the Counseling Webboard at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/graduate/webboards/
The SAGE database is good to know as well as the many other databases available through the library system. Again, you will want to familiarize yourselves with those PRIOR to beginning this course.
|
|
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. As this course replaces PSYC 514, students may receive credit for only one of the following courses: PSYC 714, 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 for individuals and families.
5. Conduct initial clinical interviews, formulate diagnoses, develop treatment plans as well as write process and progress notes from intake through termination.
6. Demonstrate an enhanced self-awareness of personal strengths, interests, and abilities.
|
|
Grading Information:
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 90 - 100%
B 80 – 89%
C 70 – 79%
F 69% and Below
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.
Plagiarism is not tolerated in this course. Posts, essays, and papers are routinely run through Turnitin.com, and students will be held responsible for any plagiarism found. The consequences of such are serious and not to be taken lightly.
Resubmission of prior work is not accepted in this course, from this degree program or any other course work prior to the present one.
|
|
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 discussions 20%
Write graduate level papers or case studies 30%
Orally/visually present prepared material 20%
Complete one or more written examination(s) 30%
|
|
Description of Course Requirements:
|
Successful graduate students in American universities dedicate approximately three hours of preparation/study time for every hour spent in the onsite classroom. Thus, the following course requirements were developed on the assumption that students would be prepared to spend approximately 150 hours of their own time working on them. In an eight-week term, that is the equivalent of a half-time job. Most fourteen-week graduate distance education courses require at least ten hours per week of dedicated time, plus time spent in the virtual classroom.
Participate in classroom discussions: You are expected to come to class prepared to engage in all discussions in a professional and informed manner.
Write graduate level papers or case studies: You are required to conduct professional-level research, including appropriately citing works of others and avoiding plagiarism. Resubmission of coursework from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC, UMUC-Europe or BSU), partially or in its entirety, is not acceptable in this course and will result in an automatic failure on the assignment. APA style is mandatory for all graduate counseling course work. Plan on committing approximately 150 hours over the duration of this course to producing professional level work.
Orally/visually present prepared material: You are required to present your research in a professional manner. In an onsite course, this typically means an oral presentation accompanied by appropriate visual material. In an online class, this means creating a visual/textual presentation for your instructor and classmates.
Complete one or more written examination(s): The examination process in this class will assist you in developing the writing and critical thinking skills necessary for successfully passing the comprehensive exam required of all graduate students. The questions used in this course will either be taken directly from past comprehensive exams or written as though to be included on a comprehensive exam.
|
|
Course Schedule:
This schedule presents 16 units or modules, with each unit corresponding to a regular three-hour weekday meeting, a half-day on weekends, or a full week of DE.
Week One:
Initial meeting:
Introductions
Review of syllabus
Clarification of goals, objectives and requirements
Orientation to subject and readings
Second Week: Multiaxial Assessment
Third Week: Mental Disorders in Infants, Children & Adolescents
Fourth Week: Mental Disorders in Infants, Children & Adolescents
Fifth Week: Adjustment Disorders
Sixth Week: Mood Disorders and Anxiety Disorders
Seventh Week: Substance Abuse
Eighth Week: Eating Disorders and Sexual Disorders
Ninth Week: Somatoform Disorders and Factitious Disorders, Delirium, Dementia, and Amnestic Disorders
Tenth Week: Personality Disorders
Eleventh Week: Psychotic and Disassociative Disorders
Twelfth Week: Culturally Bound Syndromes and Final Exam
|
|
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. Mentzer is a family counselor and professional trainer for both military and civilian sectors. Her family is stationed in Napoli and she is currently working in Napoli as the Early Childhood Education Program Manager for CTC, and teaches in the UMUC-Bowie Graduate Counseling program in Europe. She also teams with her husband and family to teach family retreats and MBTI seminars in the area.
Dr. Mentzer's undergraduate work was taken at the University of Kansas, in Education.
In Guam, she worked as a private educational consultant to families with special needs children living overseas, while teaching full-time in a small private secondary school.
Her M.A. in Counseling and Human Resources was completed at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. In another move, Dr. Mentzer completed a Doctorate of Education in Counseling Psychology at Argosy University. Her primary focus was on family communications and attachment theory. After her residency at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, she worked as a Group Manager at the Marine Corps Camp Pendleton Mental Health Clinic in Southern California and continued all her other interests that she had collected through the years!
She also works with CISD (Critical Incident Stress Debriefing) teams and does various trainings with the military and civilian sectors.
She currently resides in Italy with her active duty husband and one of three grown daughters and her cats. Her hobbies include reading, used bookstore hunting, Macintosh computers, traveling across Europe in her VW Westy, and "being" in coffee shops around the world.
|
|