Psychopathology and therapeutic skills is a course in professional skills in which the student will learn to understand and apply basic psychotherapeutic skills in a clinical psychological setting. Lectures are focused on obtaining advanced knowledge about the most common psychiatric disorders (symptom presentation, psychotherapeutic dynamics, evidence based interventions). Workgroup sessions consist of supervised sessions where students practice therapeutic skills that are essential when working with specific forms of psychopathology. Additionally, the student will reflect upon the therapeutic process with other students and staff, and discuss relevant literature. An additional focus is the process of self-monitoring and reflecting upon one’s own professional development as a therapist.

The more theoretical part of this course consists of lectures on general aspects of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and specific interventions for different forms of psychopathology and psychological consequences of chronic disease. In small group sessions running parallel to these lectures, students will be taught basic cognitive-behavioural intervention principles/techniques, such as case formulation, exposure, response prevention, and identifying, challenging and modifying negative thoughts and attitudes.

Clinical psychological research is often concerned with investigating the causes and treatment of abnormal behaviour. A range of observational study designs, both cross-sectional and longitudinal, can be used to identify causes of illness. Treatment evaluation designs range from case reports to randomized clinical trials (RCTs). RCTs have become the gold standard of evidence in biomedical research. However, the vast majority of studies is observational. Furthermore, it has been argued that RCTs are impractical in some circumstances, and impossible in others.

In this course we will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of cohort studies, case-control studies and cross-sectional studies for investigating causal relationships. Secondly, we will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different treatment evaluation designs, as well as the standards of conducting and reporting this research.

In this course you develop clinical interviewing and diagnostic skills. You will be exposed to psychopathology syndromes via clinical interviews with trained actors. You will learn to give both oral and written reports of your findings.