Future Students - Courses

Adult Psychopathology

Unit Code: HAYC550

Duration	Contact Hours	Campus	Prerequisite	Corequisite
1 semester / teaching period	36 hours	Hawthorn	Admission to Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) , Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology) or Graduate Diploma of Science (Clinical Psychology) program.	Nil

Duration

Contact Hours

Campus

Prerequisite

Corequisite

1 semester / teaching period

36 hours

Hawthorn

Admission to Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) , Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology) or Graduate Diploma of Science (Clinical Psychology) program.

Nil

Credit Points: 12.5 Credit Points

Related Course/s:

A unit of study in the Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology), Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology) and Graduate Diploma of Science (Clinical Psychology) programs.

Aims & Objectives:

Aims
This unit is designed to provide advanced critical appreciation of theoretical and phenomenological models of psychopathology in adults and in the elderly.

Learning objectives
After successfully completing this unit, students should be able to: use the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders to develop a provisional multi-axial diagnosis of a presenting case; adopt an appropriately informed and sceptical scientific attitude to recognised nosological entities (symptoms, syndromes, disorders and classification); adopt and communicate a sophisticated understanding of the phenomenology, assessment, diagnosis and lived experience of the major classes of disorder .

Teaching Methods:

Seminars

Assessment:

Essay (3000 words maximum) 50%, and practical diagnostic exam 50%. Students must also pass weekly assignments as a hurdle requirement. Further details of assessment requirements are contained in the Unit Outline provided to students upon enrolling in the unit.

Generic Skills Outcomes:

Graduates are capable in their chosen professional area:

Use of the library and resources to access relevant information from specialist sources
Have knowledge of diagnostic systems
Are adaptable and manage change
Critical thinking regarding theoretical models relevant to psychopathology, and proposed treatment options
Appreciation of psychopathology in the elderly.

Graduates are adaptable and work effectively and ethically:

In discussion and consultation with others
In the written preparation of case material.

Graduates are aware of environments:

Culturally sensitive
An awareness of socio-economic disadvantage
Respectful of diverse points of view
Respectful of discipline diversity in working with psychopathology.

Content:

Specific attention is given to DSM-IV-TR diagnosis and ICD-10 diagnostic systems. Topics may include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, dementia, amnesia and other cognitive disorders, substance abuse disorders, dissociative disorders and somatisation disorders.

Reading Materials:

American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders - text revision (DSM-IV-TR), 4th edn, Washington, DC, 2000.
Andray, L, Stolk, Y & Klimidis, S, Assessing mental health across cultures, Australian Academic Press, Brisbane, 2003.
Barlow, DH & Durand, VM, Abnormal psychology: an integrative approach, 4th edn, Wadsworth, New York, 2005.

Beutler, L, Rethinking the DSM: A psychological perspective, Guilford, New York, 2002.

Clarkin, J, Major theories of personality disorder, Guilford, New York, 2001.

Davison, GC, Neal, JM & Kring, AM, Abnormal Psychology, 9th edn, John Wiley and sons, New York, 2004.

World Health Organisation, ICD-10 Classifications of mental and behavioural disorders, World Health Organisation, Geneva, 1994.

Zuckerman, M, Vulnerability to psychopathology, Guilford, New York, 2000.

Textbooks:

Students will also need to own a copy of the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria, but beware that there are a number of different books that contain this information.