John Suler's Teaching Clinical Psychology

NAVIGATE THIS SITE ----------------------------------------------- TCP Home Page Course Outlines Class Exercises Projects Books and Manuals Essays on Teaching Site Index Collected Works About John Suler

Abnormal Psychology: Course Outline (PSY 220) Dr. John Suler Science and Technology Center Rider University

This course explores the symptoms, causes, and experience of various types of psychological disorders - particularly the neurotic, psychotic, and mood disorders. We will emphasize a case study approach to understanding these conditions, as well apply abnormal psychology to everyday life. How we identify and assess abnormality are important underlying issues. A variety of class activities - including small group exercises, videos, and audio recordings - are used to understand mental disorders. After many years of teaching this course, I decided to stop using traditional textbooks about abnormal psychology. As these books attempted to become more and more comprehensive in keeping up with the ever expanding DSM, the readings became too complex and expansive for many undergraduate students. I prefer a more conceptually streamlined, focused, and phenomenological approach to understanding mental disorders- which is why I now use the novel Madman and a case study book as the required readings.

Readings:

Madman: Strange Adventures of a Psychology Intern, by John Suler

Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology, by Oltmanns, Martin, Neale, & Davison

I. Studying and classifying psychopathology

A. What is "normal" and "abnormal"?
B. Exercise: Shades of abnormality
C. Research Methods
D. Assessment and psychological testing

E. Overview of diagnostic categories
F. Exercise: Diagnosing "Mr. Smith"
G. Exercise: A diagnostic intake interview with "David"

** Exam #1

II. Less severe forms of psychopathology

A. The neuroses
B. Defense mechanisms (pdf)
.... Exericise: Defense mechanisms for lunch (pdf)
.....Exercise: Role plays

C. Exercise: Diagnosing personality disorders
D. Sociopathy: The Hillside Strangler (video)

E. Stress and psychophysiological disorders
F. Reactions to severe stress (PTSD)
G. Sexuality, sexual disorders and dysfunctions
H. Exercise: Attitudes about homosexuality

** Exam #2

III. Severe pathological conditions

A. The symptoms of psychosis
B. Exercise: Detecting symptoms of psychosis
... in undifferentiated schizophrenia (audio case study)
C. Paranoid conditions
D. Madness (video)

E. Mood disorders (audio case study)
F. Depression (video)
G. Disorders due to obvious biological causes

IV. Overview of Mental Health Treatments

Exercise: Which treatment is best?

** Exam #3

back to the Syllabi Page

back to the Teaching Clinical Psychology home page