Fall 2006

Required Texts:

        American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: (DSM-IV-TR) (4th ed. rev.). Washington, D.C.: Author.

        Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., Skodol, A. E., Williams, J. B. W., & First, M. B. (Eds.). (2002). DSM-IV casebook: A learning companion to the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th. ed., text rev.). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association.

Course Description

573 Descriptive and Theoretical Psychopathology (3) The current psychiatric taxonomic system is examined. Theories of etiology for various diagnostic categories are presented. Examples from written case vignettes and recorded interviews. Preq: Admission to doctoral program in clinical psychology or consent of instructor. F

1. The student is expected to develop a high level of proficiency in forming diagnostic impressions concordant with the current diagnostic system (DSM-IV-TR and/or ICD-10). Given adequate information and observations the student should be able to correctly classify disorders in agreement with recognized experts in the field. This amounts to learning a specialized language that will form the basis of communication among clinical and research workers in fields as diverse as psychological assessment, psychiatry, psychotherapy, epidemiology, cultural anthropology, taxonomy, neurology and psychopathology.

2. The student is expected to be familiar with various theories of etiology as applied to specific mental or behavioral disorders or anomalies and to be able to discuss these theories in the context of historical and current research findings. The student is expected to develop a basic working knowledge of biological, psychodynamic, and behavioral approaches to psychopathology. Emphasis will be placed on psychoanalytic, behavioral and biological theories of etiology as applied to specific disorders or anomalies.

TBA. Appointments with the instructor may be made at other times as well.

There will be two exams (a midterm and a final), each covering about half of the semester's work. Each exam will count equally toward the seminar grade. In total the exams will account for two-thirds of the semester grade. All exams will be due at 9:05 AM on the day indicated on the syllabus.