Special Topics in Clinical Psychology: Transdiagnostic Processes in Psychopathology

Catalog description

For more than a century, psychopathology has been organized according to clinical syndromes. Although syndromes like schizophrenia, major depression, and ADHD have some utility, there is growing concern that they may be deeply flawed in ways that hamper real progress in research and treatment. In recent years, an alternative approach has been gaining momentum in the field. Rather than focusing on syndromes, psychologists increasingly are studying—and treating—basic processes that cut across traditional mental disorder categories. This course explores psychopathology at the level of these processes. We will examine disruptions in human emotion, cognition, movement, behavior, and social interaction that underlie symptoms of mental illness. We will consider how disruptions in these processes are being defined and measured, what methods have been (and could be) used to study them, and how findings from basic research on these mechanisms may be translated into improved clinical interventions. Our goal will be to break free of the DSM-5 model of mental disorders and to explore, critique, and debate what transdiagnostic models have to offer for our understanding of psychopathology. As a 5000-level course, this class is suitable for both graduate and advanced undergraduate students. The course will follow a seminar format in which student discussion plays a central role. All readings will be original scientific articles, and assignments will consist of written papers and an oral presentation.