PSIC-4600 Clinical Psychology I
The seminar constitutes the first clinical course of the master’s degree and is divided in two parts. The first part includes an introduction to the field of clinical psychology as a science and as a profession. It will describe clinical psychology as a general field of knowledge and, in particular, in the framework of psychology. It will analyze clinical psychology within its historical, social, scientific and professional context and it will discuss current trends and possible future developments with an emphasis on the role of the clinical psychologist in our context. It will also discuss the relation between Clinical Psychology and Health Psychology. Finally, the course will dwell on the ethical principles and guidelines not only for the graduate course but also for professional practice. In the second part, the course will discuss the principles of behavior evaluation, within the general context of psychological evaluation in order to lay the theoretical and conceptual foundations for the understanding of the clinical formulation process. It will discuss the main principles within a historical perspective, and it will focus on the analysis in the process of evaluation as a proof of hypothesis based on causal behavior models. It will introduce and discuss methods of observation and behavior recording and psycho-physiological evaluation. Finally, it will analyze the role of the clinical interview in the process of evaluation and integrate the concept of clinical formulation as a necessary condition to develop the treatment plan in clinical psychology and health psychology.
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