Tarleton State University - Central Texas

Department of Psychology & Counseling

 

CPSY 558 110 Counseling Perspectives on Psychopathology

 

Spring 2009

Thursday 6-9 PM – Web Enhanced

 

Professor:        Coady Lapierre, Ph.D., LSSP

Phone:             (254) 519-5428

E-Mail:            lapierre@tarleton.edu

Web Site:        www.tarleton.edu/~lapierre

Office:             Rm. 133B, TSU Center

Office Hours:  Monday - Thursday, 2 - 4:30 PM

                        Additional Hours by Appointment

 

Textbooks (Required):

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

Disorders, (4th ed.) Text Revision. Washington, DC: Author.

ISBN 0890420254

Note: DSM-IV is acceptable, but not preferred.

 

Maxmen, J.S., & Ward, N.G. (1995). Essential Psychopathology & Its Treatment (2nd

ed.) W.W. Norton.

ISBN 0393701735

 

Readings:       Materials and articles may be assigned as they become available.

 

Course Description:

            An overview of psychopathology that includes the history of abnormal behavior and an in-depth study of the specific diagnostic psychological disorders. Emphasis will be on classification systems currently used in clinical settings and treatment alternatives from a counseling perspective. Covers related ethical concerns. (Tarleton State University, 2008, p. 330).

 

Course Objectives:

            Students will demonstrate mastery of the following:

 

1)                  An ability to match diagnostic symptomology to current DSM-IV categories.

2)                  An understanding of what approaches and techniques are most effective with various disorders.

3)                  An ability to create a treatment plans for common and low incident disorders.

Course Calendar:     

Week 1

1/15/2009

Introduction & Overview

 

Face to face

Week 2

1/22/2009

Multiaxial Assessment; GAF 

2

Online

Week 3

1/29/2009

Clinical Assessment & Diag.            

3 & F

Online

Week 4

2/5/2009

Test 1  Developmental -Childhood

20

Face to face

Week 5

2/12/2009

Developmental -Childhood

20

Online

Week 6

2/19/2009

Research Paper Due   Mood

10

Face to face

Week 7

2/26/2009

Eating, Somatoform, & Substances

12&16

Online

Week 8

3/5/2009

Sleep & Sexual and Gender   

15&17

Face to face

Week 9

3/12/2009

Test 2     Personality & Impulse

18&19

Face to face

Week 10

3/19/2009

Spring Break (Case Studies due)

 

 

Week 11

3/26/2009

Schizophrenia & Psychotic    

9

Online

Week 12

4/2/2009

Research Paper Due  Anxiety

11

Face to face

Week 13

4/9/2009

Dissociative, Delirium, Dementia     

7&14

Face to face

Week 14

4/16/2009

Ethical & Professional Issues

 

Online

Week 15

4/23/2009

Final Review  

 

Face to face

Week 16

4/30/2009

Comprehensive Final

 

Online

1/28/09 Last day to drop w/no record      3/10 Deadline for Summer 2009 Graduation

3/30 Last day to drop w/a W                    4/14 Deadline for Fall 2009 Graduation

 

Course Grades:                                                                                 Final Grade:

Test 1                                      15 pts.                                                 90-100 pts.      A

Test 2                                      15 pts.                                                 80-89 pts.        B

Literature Reviews:                 30 pts. (15 pts. each x 2)                     70-79 pts.        C

Treatment Report:                   10 pts. (5 pts. each x2)                        60-69 pts.        D

Case Study                              5 pts.                                                  Below 60 pts.  F

Final                                        25 pts.

 

General Participation:

Students should arrive at class (face to face or online) prepared to share their views on the week’s assignments and readings. Students will be required to behave in a manner expected of professionals in the field of psychology and students at Tarleton State. This includes but is not limited to issues of: confidentiality, attendance, polite disagreements of view, timely completion of assignments, classroom participation, and factual verbal and written statements. Additional assignments to insure learning in these areas may be assigned. Late work will not be accepted without a documented University excused absence.

 

Exams:

Examinations will cover assigned readings, lecture material, and class discussions. Students are expected to take all examinations as scheduled. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the professor to arrange alternative times to take tests. This should be completed in advance of scheduled test times. Tests 1 will focus on technical information and vocabulary. It will be in multiple choice and/or short answer format. Test 2 will be application based. The final examination will be a comprehensive overview of the course with technical and conceptual information required.

 

Literature reviews:

The literature reviews will focus on conceptual understanding and real world application. Paper topics will focus on a psychopathology and the student will research current treatment methodologies. Topics will be assigned by the instructor and student will submit a hardcopy to the Professor and an electronic copy to www.turnitin.com. Students should be prepared to present their findings to the class by posting them on Blackboard. The research papers should be between 4 and 6 pages long not counting cover, abstract and references. Five articles should be covered from peer-reviewed journals published in the last 10 years. Additional sources from non peer-reviewed articles can supplement your paper but should not cover lengthy sections. Papers must be in APA format. If you do not know APA format, it is your responsibility to obtain and follow the APA Publication Manual (5th ed.). This review is to be original work by the student, meaning that the student based their work on their own library research and intellectual work expressly for this class. While you are encouraged to pursue topics that you have an interest and background in, it is not acceptable to “recycle” work completed for other courses.

 

Treatment Reports:

Students will adapt their literature reviews into a report posted on Blackboard that covers causes and prognosis of their assigned disorder. This report will also detail treatment options that have research supporting their effectiveness, with APA style citations supporting the approach. These reports should be no more than a page typed. Students are expected to review and comment on each report. Treatment reports are due the week in which the topics are covered.

 

Case Study:

Students will create and post on Blackboard a fictional case that presents the symptoms of a disorder from the DSM. Students will then review the cases and make a diagnosis supporting their choice with criteria from the DSM. Students will make a diagnosis on at least 5 other student case studies.

 

Academic Honesty:

Tarleton State University expects its students to maintain high standards of personal and scholarly conduct. Students guilty of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work, plagiarism, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials. The faculty member is responsible for initiating action for each case of academic dishonesty that occurs in his/her class (Tarleton State University, 2008, p. 58).

Each student’s honesty and integrity are taken for granted. However, if your instructor finds evidence of academic misconduct he will pursue the matter to the fullest extent permitted by the university. Students are strongly advised to avoid even the appearance of academic misconduct. When you use a source’s actual words, you must place those words in quotation marks (or a block quote) and credit the source of the information (i.e., cite the author(s) name (s) and the year of the publication) along with the page number(s) where the information is located in the source document. Please note – the quotation requirement (either using quotation marks or block quotes) is not circumvented when the writer simply changes a few words in a passage written by someone else. When you use another person’s ideas, but not their exact words, you must cite them as a source in the text of the paper. According the APA Style the author(s), name(s), and date of publication must be included in, or immediately follow, the writer’s statement of information from the source. Refer to the APA Publication Manual 5th edition for specifics. Another helpful source is: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ (click the APA Style Guide).

 

Drop Policy:

If you discover that you need to drop this class, you must go to the Records Office and ask for the necessary paperwork.  Professors cannot drop students; this is always the responsibility of the student. The record’s office will give a deadline for which the form must be returned, completely signed. Once you return the signed form to the records office and wait 24 hours, you must go into Duck Trax and confirm that you are no longer enrolled. If you are still enrolled, FOLLOW-UP with the records office immediately. You are to attend class until the procedure is complete to avoid penalty for absence. Should you miss the deadline or fail to follow the procedure, you will receive an F in the course.

 

Disability Services

If you have or believe you have a disability, you may wish to self-identify. You can do so by providing documentation to the Assistant Director of Student Development at the Tarleton-Central Texas campus or to the Disability Services Director at the Stephenville campus. I encourage students with disabilities to speak with me about accommodations they might need to help assure success in this class.

Monica Campbell, MS                                                Trina Geye, MS, LPC

Asst. Dir. of Student Development                            Director, Student Disability Services

Tarleton State University-Central Texas                    Tarleton State University

1901 S. Clear Creek Rd., Ste. 113A                           Box T-0780

Killeen, TX 76549                                                      Stephenville, TX 76402

254-519-5467 mcampbell@tarleton.edu                    254.968.9400 geye@tarleton.edu

 

Library Services:

INFORMATION LITERACY focuses on research skills that prepare individuals to live and work in an information-centered society.   Librarians will work with students in the development of critical reasoning, ethical use of information, and the appropriate use of secondary research techniques including: exploring information resources such as library collections and services, identify sources such as subject databases and scholarly journals, executing effective search strategies, retrieving, recording, and citing relevant results correctly, and interpreting search results and deciding whether to expand the search. Library Resources are outlined and accessed through the web page. http://www.tarleton.edu/centraltexas/departments/library/

 

Reference: Tarleton State University (April 2008). Catalog 2008-2009: Undergraduate and graduate studies. Stephenville, TX: Author.

While this represents the focus and direction of this course, this syllabus is subject to change.