Clinical assessment of psychological disorders

Study level: Graduate study programme in psychology
Lecturers: Nataša Jokić-Begić, Ph.D.,  Tanja Jurin, Ph.D.
ECTS: 7
Language: Croatian
Semester: 1st (winter)
Status: mandatory
Form of instruction with class hours: 30 hours of lectures, 30 hours of seminars, 30 hours of practical classes
Prerequisites: none
Student evaluation: Written, oral and practical exam.

Course description

Classification and diagnosis of abnormal behavior. The Diagnostic system of American Psychiatric Association and (DSM-IV) and International Classification of diseases (ICD-10). Criticism of categorical classification. The goals of clinical assessment. Diagnostic goal. Prognostic goal. Clinical assessment procedures. Clinical interviews. Psychological assessment in clinical practice. Clinical assessment of anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, Schizophrenia, Substance related disorders, Impulse and social functioning disorders, clinical neuropsychology and emotional and behavioral disorders of childhood and adolescence. Writing psychological reports.

Course objectives

Students will get acquainted with clinical features of different psychological disorders. They will understand problems in classification and diagnostic of psychological disorders. They will learn the clinical assessment process and how to use different assessment methods. Students will practice clinical interview procedures and train skill necessary for applying psychological test in clinical assessment. Students will know how to write psychological reports.

Required readings

Davison GC, Neale JM. (1999). Psihologija abnormalnog doživljavanja i ponašanja. Jastrebarsko: Naklada Slap. 
Nietzel , M.T., Bernstein D.A., Milich A (2001.). Uvod u kliničku psihologiju. Jastrebarsko: Naklada Slap.
Galić S (2002.) Neuropsihologijska procjena (selected chapters) Jastrebarsko: Naklada Slap

Recommended readings
Carson RC, Butcher J.N,  Mineka S (2002.) Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon,
Groth-Marnath G. (1997.). Handbook of Psychological Assesment. New York: Wiley&sons.