Faculty Contact Information:
1. Telephone: I live in France and the first two numbers indicate the country code and the following 0 is only used when calling within France. Otherwise, drop the first 0 when dialing. I have an answering machine and will be able to contact you within 24 hours within the week.
2. Email: With the number of students in class writing to me about various issues, it may be helpful to include a summary of any previous correspondence to help my memory.
|
|
Consultation:
|
Available by email prior to class, after class on Day One, or by appointment.
|
|
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.
|
|
Recommended Journals:
|
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:
|
Students’ performance will be graded based upon a percentage of a total of possible 500 points obtained during the course. In general, it will be necessary to obtain a minimum of 90% of the course points to achieve an A, at least 80% of the points for a B, at least 70% of total possible points for a C, at anything below 70% is a F.
|
|
Course Requirements:
The following course tasks will include:
Exams (2 total; 60% of total points).
Diagnostic Summaries (20% of total points).
Final Paper (20% of total points).
|
|
Description of Course Requirements:
Exams (2 total; 60% of total points). There will be two non-comprehensive exams that will each cover roughly one-half of the course and lecture materials, respectively. The exams will contain multiple-choice items and will address equally the information presented in lectures and in the assigned readings. The instructor retains the privilege of reviewing the test items’ discrimination and difficulty indices to determine whether or not they should be retained and students’ test scores will be raised by the number of items not retained.
Diagnostic Summaries (20% of total points). Students will write 5 diagnostic case summaries based upon a group of vignettes placed on reserve. For these analyses, students will determine the appropriate DSM-IV diagnosis (or diagnoses) for their client based on the symptoms described, using the steps of the Decision Trees for Differential Diagnoses in Appendix A of the DSM-IV.
Final Paper (20% of total points). – For this assignment, you must prepare an original 10-15 page paper that examines a particular aspect of any of the DSM-IV diagnostic categories other than V codes. The paper must include at least ten (10) published references pertaining to empirical, theoretical or review articles that directly addresses your paper’s topic, each of which is critically examined in the body of the paper and appropriately cited. Your paper will be evaluated on four, equally weighted dimensions. These dimensions and the kinds of questions I pose in evaluating your work are as follows. They may aid you in preparation of the paper.
1. Content: Does the paper present recent information, based on empirical research, pertinent to the chosen topic? Is the paper sufficiently focused so that a thorough review can be achieved within the specified length? Are multiple original sources used and cited? Does the content match the stated topic and purpose of the paper?
2. Organization-Extensity: Does the paper have an introduction and statement of purpose? Is it logically divided into sections with appropriate transitions? Does it contain a conclusion, a summary, and an integrative critique section?
3. Style and Format: Is the paper free of grammatical and spelling errors? Is the writing? Are references appropriately used and cited? Is the current APA format and style used?
4. Synthesis and integration: Does the author attempt to tie together and/or contrast or findings, methods and research directions? Does the paper suggest new directions for treatment or investigation? Are there explicit attempts to synthesize, summarize, critique and integrate the material presented?
Resubmission of course work 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.
|
|
Course Schedule:
Weekend One
Topic 1. Introduction to the course & Concepts of Abnormality
Topic 2. Assessment & Diagnosis
Topic 3. Schizophrenia
Topic 4. Other Psychotic Disorders
Weekend Two
Topic 5. Mood Disorders
Topic 6. Suicide
Topic 7. Anxiety Disorders
Weekend Three (Diagnostic Summaries due)
Topic 8. Somatoform and Dissociative Disorders
Topic 9. Mental Retardation & Cognitive Disorders
Topic 10. Childhood Disorders
Topic 11. Substance-related Disorders
Weekend Four (Final Paper due)
Topic 12. Personality Disorders
Topic 13. Eating, Sleeping, & Psycho-Physiological Disorders
Topic 14. Legal and Cultural Issues
|
|
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:
|
I am a Collegiate Professor, teaching both undergraduate psychology and graduate counseling classes for Maryland in Europe. I grew up in the Ozarks of Missouri and have all my degrees from Midwestern institutions (Central Missouri State, University of Kansas, and Iowa State University). This is my eighth year teaching for UMUC in the overseas division. My two major professional interests include the interface between mental health policy and law and cross-cultural issues in counseling and psychology
|
|