| Semester 1, 2022 Ipswich On-campus | |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences |
| School or Department : | School of Psychology and Wellbeing |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
| Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Examiner:
Requisites
Pre-requisite: PSY1010
Overview
Abnormal Psychology is a major focus of theory, research, and practice in mental health. As a more specialised third level course, the content elaborates on concepts introduced in introductory courses and seeks to provide a foundation to later study of clinical and counselling theory and development of skills of intervention.
The course involves an elaboration of the main concepts and issues regarding abnormal behaviours and mental illness. Major questions addressed include: (1) what is mental illness? (2) what types of maladaptive behaviours and psychological disorders are there? (3) how are they classified? (4) what are the proposed aetiologies of these disorders and with what characteristics are they correlated? (5) what general modes are available to intervene in disorders? Students will require access to e-mail and internet access to USQConnect for this course.
Course learning outcomes
On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- demonstrate a critical awareness of past and current Western notions of behavioural abnormality and mental illness;
- demonstrate an understanding of models of aetiology, assessment, and diagnosis in broad areas of psychological disorders;
- demonstrate an understanding of the types, processes, and issues related to collecting information relevant to assessment and treatment of psychological disorders;
- demonstrate an understanding of the clinical interview including the Mental Status Examination (MSE) process through observation and reporting of clinical interviews, and participation in clinical related research or mock counselling sessions.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Note: Topics below are rough guide to relative emphases only. History and Concepts of Mental Illness: Current Western understanding of psychological disorders will be traced from pre-Greek times to more modern critiques of psychiatry and clinical psychology. Various causal models of psychological disorders, and modes of assessment and intervention which logically follow from them, will be reviewed. |
5.00 |
| 2. | Assessment and Report writing: Including Mental Status Examination, case reports and diagnostic formulation. | 10.00 |
| 3. | Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders, Trauma Related Disorders: Concepts of stress and anxiety will be discussed along with manifestations, diagnosis, and approaches to intervention in a variety of these disorders. | 10.00 |
| 4. | Somatic and related disorder and dissociative disorders and Eating Disorders: Eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa and their diagnoses and presumed aetiology will also be discussed. | 10.00 |
| 5. | Depressive Disorders, and Bipolar Disorders: Different diagnoses in each category. Models of understanding of these disorders and contemporary issues in classification and intervention in depression and mania, will be reviewed. | 10.00 |
| 6. | Psychotic Disorders: Classification, models, and management of a range of thought disorders will be reviewed. | 10.00 |
| 7. | Substance Use Disorders: Societal, family, and individual factors relating to substance dependence plus modes of intervention will be discussed. | 5.00 |
| 8. | Sexual Disorders relationship problems, and Gender Dysphoria: Manifestations and classification of, and approaches to intervention in, a variety of paraphilic disorders and sexual dysfunctions will be reviewed. | 5.00 |
| 9. | Personality Disorders: A range of issues relating to classification and models of various personality disorders will be discussed. | 10.00 |
| 10. | Disorders of Childhood: Including conceptualisations, family issues and interventions. | 10.00 |
| 11. | Disorders of Aging: Including changing of demographics, diagnosis and interventions. | 10.00 |
| 12. | Legal, Ethical, and Professional Issues | 5.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
(ISBN: 9781743766620.)
Student workload expectations
To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.
Assessment details
| Description | Group Assessment |
Weighting (%) | Course learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Report 1 | Yes | 20 | 3,4 |
| Report 2 | No | 30 | 1,3,4 |
| Reflection (personal/clinical) | No | 10 | 2 |
| Time limited online examinatn | No | 40 | 1,2,3,4 |