Syllabus

(8-17-14)

Fall 2013

Grading

• 1/4 of your grade will be based on the Midterm Exam
• 1/4 on the Final Exam
• 1/4 on class attendance and participation
• 1/4 on group presentation

There will be four group presentations using brief power point/poster formats. Topics will be: 1) bipolar vs. DMDD diagnoses in youth, 2) the “recovered memory” wars, 3) subthreshold and other problems in PTSD, 4) dimensional approaches to personality disorders. The purpose of these presentations is to help address some topics in psychopathology beyond DSM-5 and to facilitate you working with other members of your cohort.

Course Objectives

Advanced Psychopathology (PSY 468) is intended to give the student a working knowledge of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th Edition (DSM 5) of the American Psychiatric Association. Facility with the DSM 5 diagnostic system and the accompanying ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 codes is an essential skill in most mental health settings and many other educational and human service agencies. The course is designed to give the student both conceptual and practical understanding of how to use DSM 5 to categorize human cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and relationship problems; how to support these categorizations; and how to effectively communicate this understanding.

Course Expectations

Students in Advanced Psychopathology (PSY 468) are graduate students within applied professional areas. You are expected to take an active role in your own education. For most of you the knowledge and skills you acquire in the course will be or already are being put into use every working day as you deal with clients. A hard reality is that other people will probably bear the burden of your limitations. I expect you to work at learning everything you can to more effectively serve your clients; and through this, your profession. You may wish to review my philosophy of education at my web page.

You attendance and participation is expected at all classes. Please bring your copy of DSM 5 and the casebook (when available) to all classes. There are typically assignments distributed at each class.

Grading

Attendance and participation in activities 80%
Feedback from practicum placement 20%

Ongoing placement in a practicum site approved by the Clinical-Counseling Coordinating Committee is a requirement for taking Psy 436.02.

Class attendance is necessary baring extraordinary circumstances and is an element in the 80% class participation grading. See the class web page for the link to Grading Attendance and Participation.

Case study material may be used in portions of the course. While this material has been altered to maintain the confidentiality of clients, it has the appearance of actual case material and will be treated as if it were case material. Students are expected to maintain close personal control of any case material taken from the class. Failure to do so may result in removal from the class and a failing grade. All case study materials will be returned to the presenter unless permission to retain it is secured from both the presenter and Dr. House.

Students in this course are expected to take an active role in their education and preparation for professional practice in human service careers. Please have the reading assignment(s) completed before the material is being covered in class, so that you can take a meaningful part in the course. Please have case presentation materials ready to distribute the class before you are scheduled to present.

Grading Attendance and Participation

(8-20-12)

Your active participation in gaining the knowledge and skills necessary to provide services to your clients is a vital component of your professional education. It is not sufficient absorb the statements of your professors–you must work at the process of gaining mastery over the concepts and procedures covered in your courses. In an effort to both be able to provide you with feedback and to be as fair as possible in my grading, this is how I will be evaluating your participation in class (I have adapted this from a rubric developed by Professor Doug Hesse, Center for the Advance of Teaching, Illinois State University):

After each class meeting I will be recording for each of you a check, plus, minus, or zero for that class.

• a Check means that you seemed prepared to discuss the topics and cases assigned. You appeared to follow the discussion, may have contributed a comment or two, or may have remained silent, but you were prepared and engaged. Your presence in class was productive.
• a Plus means that in addition to satisfying the criteria for a check, you also contributed to the class session with comments or questions and active discussion. You presented your own opinions, were responsive to the opinions of your classmates, and were also respectful of the needs of others to participate. Your comments may have been few but contributed to the quality of the class discuss and moved our understanding of the topic forward.
• a Minus means that you were in class but either didn’t appear prepared or that your presence seemed to distracted from the quality of class experience of others. This reflects behavior of concern.
• A Zero means that you were not in class.

Your grade for participation is based on a review of my marks for the semester: a majority of “Plus” earns you an A, a mixture of “Plus” and “Check” leads to a B, mostly “Check”s gets a C, more than one or two “Minus” or “Zero” and we have had to talk.

Academic Integrity

Instances of cheating and willful academic dishonesty will result in referral to the appropriate University office for disciplinary action and will result in a grade of “F” for the course. Other behavior inconsistent with the APA Code of Ethics will be dealt with on a case-by-case manner, in consultation with other members of the Clinical-Counseling Coordinating Committee, in a manner consistent with the spirit of the APA Code of Ethics.

Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a documented disability should contact Disability Concerns at 350 Fell Hall, 438-5853 (voice) or 438-8620 (TDD).