Clinical Psychology

Curriculum Guideline

Effective Date:
Return to Course
Print Guideline
Course
PSYC 4375
Discontinued
No
Course Code
PSYC 4375
Descriptive
Clinical Psychology
Department
Psychology
Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
Not Specified
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
35
Contact Hours
Lecture 4 hrs. per week/semester
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Learning Activities

The primary method of instruction will be lecture. The course may also involve group activities, presentations, audiovisual media, and guest lectures.

Course Description
This course examines both professional issues and selected topics in clinical psychology. Selected topics include, but are not limited to, educational and training requirements, history, professional ethics, research designs and issues, controversies in clinical assessment and therapy, and how to become a clinical psychologist. The focus will be on the practice of clinical psychology in Canada but occasionally comparisons with other countries will be made.
Course Content
  1. The Evolution of Clinical Psychology: Healing Art to Evidence-Based Practice.
  2. Contemporary Clinical Psychology: Science, Ethics, and Controversies.
  3. Classification and Diagnosis: Current Problems and Future Directions.
  4. Research Methods in Clinical Psychology: Science, Ethics, and Controversies.
  5. Intellectual and Cognitive Assessment: Science, Ethics, and Controversies.
  6. Self-Report and Projective Assessment: Science, Ethics, and Controversies.
  7. Intervention: Theoretical Approaches and Ethics.
  8. Intervention: Evidence-based Treatments and Controversies.
  9. Intervention: Evidence-based Therapeutic Relationships and Controversies.
  10. Intervention: Evidence-based Principles of Therapeutic Change.
Learning Outcomes

Students will acquire and be able to summarize, critique, and debate issues related to:

  1. Historical factors that shaped the evolution of clinical psychology.
  2. Contemporary clinical psychology and its controversies.
  3. The differences between clinical, counseling, and school psychologists, as well as other mental health professionals
  4. Research methods and research controversies in clinical psychology.
  5. Ethics and ethical controversies in clinical psychology.
  6. Current classification systems for psychopathology, their limitations, and future directions.
  7. Clinical assessment, diagnosis, testing, and related controversies.
  8. Theoretical approaches to psychopathology, psychotherapy, and related controversies.
  9. Interventions and related controversies.
Means of Assessment

Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College policy. Evaluation will be based on course

objectives and include some of the following:

  1. multiple choice, short answer, or essay exams
  2. term paper, research project, or written assignments
  3. oral presentation or teaching demonstration

 

The instructor will provide a written course outline with evaluation criteria at the beginning of semester.

 

An example of a possible evaluation scheme is as follows:

Research paper                                    20%

Three exams at 20% each                     60%

Presentation                                         20%

Total                                                  100%

Textbook Materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:

 

Textbook(s) such as the following, the list to be updated periodically:

Lee, C., and Hunsley, J. (2018). Introduction to clinical psychology: An evidence-based approach (4th ed.). Mississauga, Canada: John Wiley & Sons.

Prerequisites

PSYC 1100 and PSYC 1200 and PSYC 2341

Corequisites

Courses listed here must be completed either prior to or simultaneously with this course:

  • No corequisite courses
Equivalencies

Courses listed here are equivalent to this course and cannot be taken for further credit:

  • No equivalency courses