Course Descriptions

PSY7627 - Psychology of Health and Illness

PSY7629 - Primary Care Behavioral Medicine

PSY7633 - Health Psychology Intervention: Research and Practice Addressing Health Disparities

PSY7634 - Pediatric Psychology

PSY7636 - Play Therapy: Interventions

PSY7640 - Creativity Theory and Practice

PSY7642 - Psychology of Women’s Health

PSY7643 - Transference and Counter Transference

PSY7650 - Integrative Psychology Elective

(1 to 3 units)

A variety of advanced topics in integrative psychology for clinical students. Sample topics include:

1. Introduction to Jung and Shadow
2. Mindfulness-based Therapies
3. The Psychology of Terrorism
4. Narrative Psychology
5. Spirituality and Psychology
6. Creativity: Theory, Research, and Writing

PSY7653 - Group Therapy for Children and Adolescents

PSY7655 - Family Approaches to Treatment of Juvenile Delinquency

PSY7906A - PhD Proposal Development

PSY7906B - PhD Proposal Development

PSY7911 - PsyD Proposal Development

PSY7912 - PsyD Proposal Development

PSY7913 - Psy.D. Proposal Development

(1 unit)

PSY8005 - PhD Research Seminar (3rd Year)

PSY8006 - PhD Research Seminar (3rd Year)

PSY8007 - Advanced Research Methodology

PSY8015 - Clinical Administration and Practice Management

PSY8119 - Professional Roles

PSY8120 - Clinical Supervision and Consultation

PSY8123 - Cultural Diversity Training

PSY8127 - Clinical Interventions With Diverse Populations

PSY8311 - Advanced Couples Therapy

PSY8314 - Advanced Brief Models

PSY8315 - Advanced Intergenerational Therapy

PSY8400 - Third Wave Therapies

PSY8412 - Social and Personality Psychology

PSY8453 - Field-Based Practicum III

PSY8454 - Field-Based Practicum III

PSY8465 - Teaching Psychology Via Distance Learning Methods

PSY8475 - Teaching Practicum and Supervision

PSY8500 - Clinical Elective

1. Adolescent Psychotherapy and Psychopathology (3 units) Prerequisites: PSY 6140 and PSY 6519.
2. Advanced Gay and Lesbian Issues and Psychotherapy (2 units) Examines the cultural and political context surrounding the lives of gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals as a background for understanding salient psychotherapeutic issues. Developmental and relational tasks are redefined. The therapeutic management of coming out, lesbian and gay health concerns, ethno-cultural differences and internalization of oppression are among topics covered.
3. Advanced Psychological Assessment: Child and Juvenile (2 units This course focuses on psychological assessments of children and juveniles within legal and criminal justice settings.  This course is regarded as an advanced course in that it builds upon the clinician’s knowledge and skills in test administration. Prerequisite: PSY6631
4. Advanced Psychological Assessment: FAIs Criminal/Adult (2 units) Prerequisite: PSY6631
5. Advanced Infant-Preschooler Mental Health (2 to 3 units) This course addresses advanced assessment and intervention skills with infants and preschoolers.  Participants will explore, in depth, several models of intervention in IPMH and develop their own theoretical and treatment model for the practice of IPMH.   Prerequisites (or approval of Instructor): Fundamentals of Infant Mental Health or Fundamentals of Preschooler Mental Health, and Diagnostic Systems in IPMH.
6. Advanced Psychodynamic Intervention: British Object Relations (3 units) The fundamental ideas of object relations theory will be examined and illustrated with examples from case material. The theories and clinical work of the major figures in the British Object Relations School will be studied. Prerequisite: PSY 7537.
7. Advanced Psychodynamic Interventions with Multicultural Populations (3 units) This advanced interventions course focuses on the use of psychodynamic approaches with individual late adolescent and adult clients from groups of color and other underserved groups. Students will learn about appropriate ways to integrate psychodynamic (classical/ego psychology/object relations/self psychology) understandings with sociocultural factors in forming a relationship with the client, doing an assessment and developing a clinical formulation and conducting the therapy. Special attention will be paid to issues of transference and countertransference as they are impacted by cultural differences. Students will be expected to draw on their internship experiences in working with diverse populations as case material for the course.
8. Advanced Seminar in Professional Issues: Practice of Professional Psychology (3 units) Prerequisites: G4 standing or equivalent
9. Adv. Study in Transgender Issues (3 units) This course is an in depth and focused course of the experiences and lives of transgender and intersex people. It examines the cultural and political context surrounding the lives of transgender and intersex individuals, couples, and families as a background for understanding salient psychotherapeutic issues. Lifespan developmental and relational tasks are explored. The therapeutic management of coming out, transgender youth, transgender/transsexual and intersex health concerns, medical interventions, the intersections of sexual orientation, abilities, age, and sociocultural differences, the formation of families and parenting, and the internalization of oppression are among topics covered.
10. Alternative/Complementary Approaches to Health (2 units) Covers the basic theoretical foundation and healing practices of a wide variety of alternative/complementary approaches to health.
11. Alternative Intervention Strategies (3 units) This course examines the theoretical and practical aspects of developing strategies for high-risk and underserved populations. Strategies emphasized are responsive to oppressed or vulnerable groups (e.g., cultural groups, chronically mentally ill) and to social/community issues (e.g., homelessness, gang violence) where reliance on mainstream psychotherapies may not be appropriate or effective. The concept of intervention will be broadened to include the integration of the complex interplay between individual, family, community, cultural and institutional factors. Crisis intervention, case management, self-help groups and alternative psychotherapies (e.g., feminist, Africentric, gay-affirmative) will be explored.
12. Behavioral Medicine Techniques (3 units) Intervention techniques addressed in behavioral medicine may include the following: hypnosis, pain management, relaxation techniques, stress reduction/management, issues of spirituality, alternative medicine considerations and biofeedback.
13. Brief Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (2 units) Examination of the clinical application of psychoanalytic principles to brief psychotherapy, counseling and crisis counseling.
14. Child Health Psychology (2 units) Advanced health psychology course focused on psychosocial issues related to child and adolescent health. Explores topics including pediatric chronic illness, models of psychological adjustment, prevention of pediatric health problems, preventative pediatric and child health intervention and the role of clinicians in child health care systems.
15. Clinical Interventions: Interventions with Veterans and Military Members  This course explores the current research and clinical issues related to working with Veterans and US Military members. It covers topics from the effects of deployments and combat, and the impact of war-related trauma, to military culture and post-military service integration issues.
16. Clinical Interventions with Children (3 units) Surveys representative literature which addresses the theory and practice of principal assessment and therapeutic interventions with children. Psychodynamic perspectives frame the major content. Addresses family system issues, idiographic considerations in psychopathology, cultural diversity and ecological considerations in micro and macro social systems as parameters in formulating and executing clinical interventions.
17. Clinical Issues in the Psychology of Women (2 units) Focuses on some presenting problems and diagnostic profiles that are more prevalent among women than men, such as eating disorders, depression and the psychological consequences of childhood sexual abuse. Uses readings, lecture and discussion to learn clinical theory and practice in the psychodynamic tradition, including Jungian and self-psychology, self-in-relation theory and some new feminist perspectives on family systems. Includes ways of conceptualizing and practicing psychotherapy that are likely to be most effective with women clients.
18. Couples Counseling (3 units) Systems theory therapies and practices relative to assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of couples. Explores cognitive, affective, interactional, and systemic theories of human behavior and change while examining dynamics of privilege and oppression as related to couples.
19. Couples/Family Therapy Training and Supervision (3 units) Students pursue a process of becoming a couples/family therapist by seeing families and receiving live supervision. In addition to serving as therapists, students have the opportunity to be supervisors. Learning supervision enhances the quality of one’s therapy and gives the student a new set of skills.
20. Current Developments in Analytic Psychotherapy (2 units) Seminar in ideas and techniques of psychoanalytic psychotherapy as currently practiced in the clinical setting. Prerequisite: PSY 7537.
21. Early Intervention in Perinatal Mood Disorders (1 unit) This course explores in depth mental health concerns experienced by families in the perinatal period, including diagnosis, assessment, and intervention.
22. East Asian Meditation Practices (2-3 units) Provides an overview of the views and practices of East Asian schools of meditation, with an emphasis on exposure to the techniques of evidence-based meditation practices.
23. Ego Psychology (2 units) Theoretical and clinical examination of major concepts in ego psychology such as thought, perception, object relations and major defenses as they apply to the clinical experience will be explored. Prerequisite: PSY 7537.
24. Forensic Psychology Competency Evaluations (2 units) This course is designed to provide a broad overview of the role of the psychologist in evaluating competency in criminal and civil contexts. Specifically, the course focuses upon ethical and professional considerations, legal parameters, cultural considerations, and the assessment instruments associated with evaluating various competencies, including competency to stand trial, plead guilty, and waive counsel; competency to waive Miranda rights; competency to be executed; competency to refuse treatment; and competency to enter various contractual agreements. Prerequisite: PSY6631
25. Forensic Report Writing/Expert Testimony (2 units) This course will provide the psychology graduate student with a practical overview of the major types of forensic populations and the respective assessment practices and measures used. Through the use of cooperative learning, lecture, role plays, reading and the study of specialized forensic assessment measures, students will become familiar with various applications of forensic psychology as related to forensic evaluations. Likewise, students will gain an understanding of the inherent differences between clinical and forensic psychological evaluations. Prerequisite: PSY6631
26. Forensic Risk Assessment (2 units) This course addresses topics in criminal forensic assessment. Prerequisite: PSY6631
27. Foundations of LGBT Mental Health (3 units) This course examines the cultural and political context surrounding the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and intersex individuals and queer and questioning youth as a background for understanding salient psychotherapeutic issues. Developmental and relational tasks are explored. The therapeutic management of coming out, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health concerns, the intersections of identities, abilities, age, and sociocultural differences, the formation of families and parenting, and the internalization of oppression are among topics covered.
28. Gestalt Therapy (3 units) An introduction to the theory and treatment principles of Gestalt Therapy. Lectures cover the roots of Gestalt Therapy in psychoanalysis, experimental psychology and phenomenology as well as current personality theory, psychopathology, developmental theory, dream analysis and other aspects of theory. Approximately half of the class is experiential in nature in order to teach “I-thou” relationships in psychotherapy and phenomenological tracking.
29. Grand Rounds in Health Psychology This is an advanced course in clinical health psychology intervention that is taught by several faculty members, each with expertise in a subspeciality of the field. Using a case-based approach over weekly modules, students will anchor their case strategies with primary source research and other professional literature.
30. Hypnotherapy (2 units) This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of hypnotherapy. Substantial emphasis will be placed on designing hypnotherapeutic interventions for various presenting problems. This course is not intended to prepare the student for the independent practice of hypnotherapy, but does aim to provide the foundations upon which a student can begin closely supervised experience.
31. Internet-Based Interventions in Psychology This course will include readings, discussion, and skill building.  We will explore the evidence-based treatments, the ethical and legal issues, the tools and technology, and the population differences in its utilization.  The course is competency based which means that a student must demonstrate a minimal level of competency in using the Internet in a therapeutic intervention in order to pass the course.
32. Interpersonal Therapy and Communication (3 units) Most major schools of psychotherapy recognize the contribution that the interpersonal relationships between therapist and client makes to the therapeutic process. This seminar will focus on interpersonal processes in individual and group psychotherapy on the development of skills in observing and intervening in this interpersonal relationship. There is also widespread agreement that therapist’s skills in self-awareness and the ability to monitor one’s inner experiences constitutes a primary tool of the psychotherapist. This course discusses this art in the literature in case material drawn from the teaching and students work and via exercises in self-awareness and observation of interpersonal processes in class.
33. Interventions at the End of Life (3 units) Provides an evidence-based foundation in end of life care and bereavement support with applied approaches emphasizing the clinical skills necessary to assess and treat patients and their families at the end of life.
34. Interventions for Health Psychology (2 units) This course will prepare students to plan and carry out a wide variety of interventions that can be used with clients who want to modify health-related behaviors and who are medically ill.
35. Interventions with Adolescents (3 units) Explores the issues, conflicts and resolutions inherent in the developmental phase of adolescence, as well as the theory and techniques of treating adolescents and their families. Provides an understanding of the theoretical constructs of adolescent development and the application of those constructs in clinical work.
36. Interventions with Lesbians and Gay Men (3 units) This course provides students with an overview of prominent mental health issues and relevant intervention approaches for lesbian and gay male populations. Diversity of world views, lifestyle, and life experiences are central to assessment, evaluation and intervention strategies. Analysis and critique of relevant literature, conceptualization and integration of key issues and case application are fundamental aspects of the course.
37. Jungian Dream Interpretation (2 units) The purpose of this class is to provide students with a rudimentary introduction to the concepts and techniques of Analytic psychology, which is based upon the work of C.G. Jung. Following the development of Jung’s work, the class is fundamentally based upon the seminal work of Freud and elaborates this work in light of both normal and severely pathological psychologies. This developmental model of analytic psychology demands that the student possess a basic understanding of psychoanalytic concepts, especially an understanding of the notion of the unconscious.
38. Interventions with Multicultural Families (3 units) An introduction to the theory and practice of family therapy as it is related to ethnic minority families. Critical review of the literature serves as a backdrop for the examination of clinical issues revolving around the application of family therapy techniques with various ethnic minority groups. The assessment of family dynamics and appropriate use of treatment approaches are major focal points, interwoven with identification of sociocultural dimensions that interact with the clinical picture. Cross-cultural competencies in evaluation and treatment planning are emphasized.
39. Introduction to Sandplay Therapy Prerequisite: Introduction to Psychotherapy or Basic Foundations of Clinical Practice
40. IPMH and Child Protective Services (1 unit)
41. Lesbian/Gay Couples and Families (2 units) This course surveys emerging theory, research, and practice relevant to lesbians, gay males and bisexuals in the context of their couple and family relationships. Topics include family of origin issues; lesbian/gay parenting; couple relationships; families of choice; the impact of societal and internalized homophobia on gay and lesbian relationships; HIV and AIDS; strategies for individual couple and family therapy; and transference/countertransference issues.
42. LGBT Affirmative Psychotherapy This course is an in-depth and focused course of the experiences and lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. This course will focus on the application of current theory, research, and clinical knowledge regarding LGBT issues in psychology to providing affirmative psychotherapy to LGBT people. Areas to be covered include: the social context in which mental health services have been provided to LGBT people, including the impact of heterosexism, discrimination, and violence on the lives of LGBT people; impacts of minority stress on identity development and psychological issues in psychotherapy with LGBT individuals, couples, and families; the history of psychological approaches to sexual orientation and gender identity, including the removal of homosexuality as a psychiatric diagnosis; the development and application of affirmative approaches to psychotherapy with LGBT people; applications of affirmative approaches to psychotherapy that acknowledge and include multicultural factors and issues of diversity.
43. LGBT Health Disparities (3 units) This course is offered as an elective that will increase students’ knowledge and sensitivity about the links between various disparities in mental health, behavioral risks, and medical conditions that impact lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities.
44. Mental Health Collaboration and the Courts (2 units) This course explores the relationship between professional of different disciplines in the creation and running of Behavioral Health Courts. Issues regarding therapeutic jurisprudence are explored. Prerequisite: PSY6631
45. Mindfulness Approraches to Health Psychology This asynchronous on-line course examines mindfulness approaches to health psychology.  It consists of two major parts. The first part of the course surveys literature related to the definitions, concepts and measurement of mindfulness. Theoretical and experiential exploration of mindfulness will be emphasized. Students will be expected to maintain mindfulness practices and keep a journal of their experiences. Mindfulness is considered as a personal and professional tool in therapeutic settings. The second part of the course will be organized around the clinical applications of mindfulness meditations, and mindfulness based intervention in clinical health settings. Students will review evidence based studies on using mindfulness concepts with chronic health problems, e.g., pain, cancer, insomnia, addiction, etc.
46. Multicultural Family Therapy and Clinician Self-Awareness Development (3 units) In this course, multicultural family therapy skills are advanced in two ways. First, through a focus on technique and skill development utilizing the Bowen model, and second through a focus on clinician self-awareness development and ethnic identity development utilizing the same core model amplified by the work of Adler and Toman. Issues such as the facilitation of differentiation, de-triangulation and related processes in the context of sociocultural differences will be explored. Opportunities will be provided for reflective dialogue on identity, culture and resiliency, countertransference patterns and strategies for effectively addressing them in a culturally-syntonic style. This course is presented in a manner common among advanced family therapy courses in which technique development and self-development go together. Research indicates that this combination facilitates development and enhances therapist presence and competence in handling the complex interpersonal processes that result from having several family members in the therapy room at the same time. The group process in class will be vital to energizing the class environment with openness, productivity, creative spirit and humanity.
47. Multiculturally Competent Clinical Practice The purpose of this class is to help students use their multicultural competencies effectively in their clinical practice.
48. Pediatric Neuropsychology and Culture (3 units) This course provides an understanding of the assessment of learning processes through the utilization of neuropsychological testing and explores how this will aid in providing more multiculturally accurate assessment of children. Common cognitive disorders, including attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities and other learning disorders are discussed. There is a focus on the impact of culture on learning including its impact on intelligence testing and cross-cultural early development and education, with some consideration of alternative assessment and treatment strategies.
49. Prof. Appl. of LGBT Issues II (2 units) This is a graduate level course which requires delivery of a project or services to an LGBT Human Services agency. It is intended for students seeking a certificate in LGBT Human Services who are unable to secure a practicum or internship at an LGBT agency (an agency that serves at least 50% LGBT clients and whose official mission statement specifically includes working with the LGBT population) or an agency that agrees to allow the student to see LGBT clients as 50% of their caseload.
50. Psychotherapy with Severely Schizophrenic and Personality Disordered Individuals (2 units) Examination of the latent and manifest contents of psychotic processes in severe schizophrenic and severe personality disorders. The emphasis is on the self-experiences of these patients. Phases of the therapeutic process will be discussed.
51. Psychology of Loss, Grief and Bereavement (3 units) Explores the psychology of loss, grief and bereavement. Covers theoretical bases, including developmental aspects, attachment, separation and loss and change as loss. Includes the psychology of dying and interventions to facilitate mourning and adjustment to loss processes. Multicultural perspectives on these issues will be presented. Concerns regarding living wills and durable power of attorney will be addressed.
52. Research Practicum- Rorschach (1 unit) This one unit graduate level research practicum allows the student the ability to administer assessments to children/adolescents and develop research ideas in concert with other students and the instructor.
53. Risk & Resiliency in Infant Preschooler Mental Health (2 units) This course explores risks to infants and preschoolers emanating from child, family and wider community, including abuse, domestic violence, developmental delays, and early parenthood.  The phenomenon of resilience through which these children positively adapt despite significant life adversities is applied to research policy, and practice.
54. School and Community-Based Intervention with Children and Adolescents (3 units) This course will examine approaches to providing mental health services to children and adolescents in school and other community settings. Special attention will be paid to the development of multidimensional programs that serve children, their families, teachers, school administrators and community leaders. Specific topics will include: child advocacy, classroom consultation, multidisciplinary programming and collaboration and establishing and maintaining community supports and interagency alliances.
55. Sex Roles and Gender (3 units) Gender and gender roles have complex consequences for the development of individual and group identity and behavior. This course examines the roles of society and biology in shaping our understanding of human experience within the context of gender, gender roles, and sexual orientation, with particular emphasis on the impact of difference and diversity in the construction of social meaning.
56. Sleep Psychology (3 units) Provides theory and research-based foundation in sleep and the clinical skills necessary to assess, diagnose, treat, and prevent sleep disturbance in a broad range of clinical populations, disorders, and settings.       
57. Stress-Related and Psychosomatic Disorders (3 units) Overview of stress-related and somatoform illness, including behavioral, psychophysiological, psychosocial and psychodynamic approaches. Review of mind-body problems, history of psychosomatic medicine, diagnostic classification and etiology and mediators in the stress-illness relationship. Clinical issues, influences of psychological functioning and personality organization on patient’s response to physical symptomatology.
58. Treatment of Weight, Eating, and Body Image Concerns (2 units) This course provides an overview of the epidemiology, etiology, diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of eating disorders, which are a type of mental illness with health consequences. Specific eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and other specified eating disorders.  Although obesity is not considered a mental illness, its relationship with eating disorders will be also addressed. This course presents a biopsychosocial perspective on the treatment of eating disorders, with particular attention to sociocultural issues that can arise when working with diverse populations.  Three evidence-based theoretical frameworks will be presented, namely, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.  A collaborative treatment approach involving families, physicians, psychiatrists, and nutritionists will be emphasized.  Research-based topics on the psychology of eating, body dissatisfaction, diet culture, weight stigma, and systemic prevention efforts will also be covered. Prerequisites: Basic Foundations of Clinical Practice I & II (PSY 6507 & PSY 6508), or equivalent courses in the student’s respective program

PSY8501 - Supplemental Practicum

PSY8502 - Supplemental Practicum

PSY8503 - Elective Practicum

PSY8509 - Supervision Seminar

PSY8510 - Supervision Seminar

PSY8512 - Supervision Seminar

PSY8513 - Supervision Lab

PSY8515 - Professional Application of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues

PSY8521 - Clinical Elective

PSY8522 - Professional Development

PSY8524 - Assessment in Neurophysiology: Theory and Clinical Applications

PSY8531 - Advanced Clinical Seminar

PSY8532 - Advanced Clinical Seminar

PSY8535 - PhD Practicum II

PSY8536 - PhD Practicum II

PSY8537 - PsyD Practicum III

PSY8538 - PsyD Practicum III

PSY8540 - Family Therapy/Ethnic Families

PSY8541 - Topics for Licensure Preparation

PSY8543 - Family Violence: Child Abuse

PSY8544 - Interpartner and Spousal Abuse

PSY8545 - Developmental Psychopathology

PSY8550 - Practicum III

PSY8551 - Clinical Consultation Group - Practicum III

PSY8552 - Clinical Consultation Group

PSY8553 - Advanced Clinical Skills: Psychotherapy

(1 to 3 units)

3 unit courses:

1. Advanced Assessment: this is the first semester of a two-semester course in psychological assessment of adults, adolescents, and children. We will review the theory and practice of administration, scoring, and interpretation of current intelligence and achievement measures, as well as current self-report and performance-based personality measures. Neuropsychological screening measures and other measures for specific learning disabilities will also be covered. Please note there is a mandatory lab assessment fee for this course.
2. Case Formulation: The clinical case formulation is an integral element of the assessment, treatment planning, and therapeutic process in all psychotherapeutic encounters. This seminar provides a rigorous method for creation of a formulation that accounts for the patient’s current functioning and capabilities in all domains of living. The case formulation method used in this seminar is informed by developmental, cultural, biological, and social domains of the patient’s life. Students prepare and discuss numerous clinical case formulations during the semester.
3. Child Therapy: This course will explore the theory, research and clinical applications in the field of child psychotherapy. Students are expected to learn the professional procedures for initiating a therapeutic relationship with a child as a client, as well as their legal and ethical responsibilities regarding that relationship. The course covers a variety of therapeutic interventions and the typical problems they are best suited to treat, with the emphasis on developmentally, ethnically, legally, and culturally responsive strategies in order to meet treatment needs of child clients.
4. Clients with Chronic Illness or Disability: There are expanding roles for mental health professions to treat clients with chronic illness or disability (CID). In addition to supportive psychotherapy, many types of interventions can have an impact on a client’s symptoms, functioning and quality of life. This skill-building course covers psychosocial aspects of CID, common medical and psychological diagnoses, treatment issues, multicultural aspects of health and treatment, and evidenced-based interventions. Particular attention will be on autoimmune diseases and pain, depression, anxiety, and stress management with CID populations. 
5. Complex Trauma: Brain/Body/Health: This course will explore the theory, research and clinical expression of complex trauma in adults and children. Specifically, this course will look at how complex trauma impacts the brain, both anatomically and functionally, the autonomic nervous system and body senses, and consequently health and health behaviors. Students will learn about how complex trauma can impact the developing brain, the autonomic nervous system, and the somatic nervous system.  This knowledge will build a foundation to help understand illnesses and risky health behaviors to which survivors of complex trauma are vulnerable.  This course will also emphasize critically thinking about interventions that would match this model/formulation of complex trauma’s impact and appropriate cultural adaptations. 
6. Contemporary Issues in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy:  In recent years there have been significant developments in the theoretical purview and clinical and social applications of psychoanalytic psychology. In this seminar we will focus on the areas of trauma, gender and sexualities, multiculturalism, dynamic systems theory and neuroscience, attachment and development. We also consider current research about the empirical foundations and evidence based-practice of psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy. Clinical illustrations and research findings are considered in each area of study.
7. Couples: This section of Advanced Clinical Skills provides an overview of the most important theories of couple therapy. The course introduces students to the clinical assessment of couples, techniques of interview, and strategies of intervention. Special emphasis is given to systems theory, mechanisms of change, and issues of diversity. It is designed to be a skills-based course in which students will learn theory and practice techniques from a variety of relationship models, including Sue Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Therapy, John Gottman’s Sound Marital House, and Dan Wile’s Collaborative Couples Therapy.The course combines diverse teaching-learning strategies, such as lectures, group discussions, dyad/triad presentations, videotape analysis, experiential exercises, and guest speakers on special topics. 
8. Dialectic Behavior Therapy: This course focuses on developing an understanding of the DBT model and being able to utilize it effectively. It includes a review of the behavioral and cognitive therapy underpinnings of DBT, with extensive coverage of the dialectical principles that differentiate it from other approaches. The biosocial factors that lead to emotional, interpersonal, cognitive, and behavioral dysregulation will be explained.  Included are methods of assessing, gaining client commitment to therapy, enhancing motivation, interventions, and specific skills training to help clients who have difficulty regulating emotions and behaviors. Emphasis will be on specific DBT strategies for suicidal, parasuicidal, and other impulsive and disruptive behaviors. Included is examination of cultural differences, the roles these play in expression of emotion and behaviors, and how individual differences can be assessed and treated. DBT for borderline personality disorder is covered, and extended to use in the treatment of other disorders.
9. Early Childhood Mental Health: This course is an introduction to early childhood mental health at child development centers subsidized by the State to serve low-income, high-risk families. The course begins with theoretical frameworks, including a review of systems, attachment and reinforcement theory. It then addresses understanding child behavior, and the underlying meaning it communicates to caretakers and providers, within cultural context. The culture of the classroom is also explored, as is the role of psychologists in working with educators in such classrooms. Parental and family influences on early childhood mental health are also addressed in the context of diversity.
10. Feminist Approaches to Psychotherapy: This seminar addresses the theory and practice of feminist therapy. The approach is considered in historical context, and the epistemological base of more traditional approaches, as well as the feminist approach, are explored. The emphasis is on application and focuses upon discussion of clinical issues and case supervision through discussion and role play. 
11. Mindfulness Appr to Health Psych: This asynchronous on-line course examines mindfulness approaches to health psychology. It consists of two major parts. The first part of the course surveys literature related to the definitions, concepts and measurement of mindfulness. Theoretical and experiential exploration of mindfulness will be emphasized. Students will be expected to maintain mindfulness practices and to keep a journal of their experiences. Mindfulness is considered as a personal and professional tool in therapeutic settings. The second part of this course will be organized around the clinical applications of mindfulness meditations, and mindfulness based intervention in clinical health settings. Students will review evidence based studies on using mindfulness concepts with chronic health problems, e.g., pain, cancer, insomnia, addiction, etc.
12. Narrative Approaches: This course introduces students to the theory and practice of Narrative Therapy. It focuses on the work of Michael White and David Epston and their development of a “storied therapy”. The course assists students in conceptualizing problems as located within stories that influence identity. Problems are also situated within a socio-cultural context. In addition, the course attends to those moments that stand in contradiction to the plot of problems, and represent the promise of potential “counterstories” that may profoundly reshape identities. 
13. Psychother. For Personality Dis.: This seminar examines the clinical phenomena of narcissism, masochism, borderline conditions, and perversions from a variety of psychodynamic perspectives. Classical, Object-Relations, Self-Psychological, and Contemporary Relational perspectives on the etiology and treatment of these personality disorders are considered and contrasted. Clinical, literary, and film material is used to illustrate the manifestations of these conditions in both the internal and inter-personal worlds of the patient.
14. Psychotherapy with Older Adults: This course reviews normal aspects of the aging process; demographics of the changing older adult population; special features of counseling older adults including developmental tasks, life review, unfinished issues from the past, grief work, gender and cultural issues, and family dynamics; assessment of depression, dementia, delusions, elder abuse and substance abuse among older adults; special issues and needs of caregivers and adult children of aging parents; resources for professionals caregivers, adult children and their parents; ethical issues with older adults;  and professional opportunities in gero-counseling.  This course meets the BoP requirements for coursework in aging and long-term care.
15. Trauma Identification, Assmnt, Trtmnt: This course will cover best-practices and evidence-based practices for the screening and intervention of trauma, both incidents and trauma-related diagnoses including Acute Stress Disorder, PTSD, and PTSD with dissociative features.  The course will span different populations and theoretical orientations.  We will discuss cultural perceptions of trauma, response, and intervention. We will also cover issues in the field related to identification, assessment, diagnosis, and intervention and emerging practices.

2 unit courses:

1. Acceptance & Commitment Therapy: An overview of the history, philosophy, methods and application of mindfulness and acceptance within cognitive-behavioral therapy, with emphasis on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).  Students will learn about the theoretical and empirical background of this burgeoning field, practice mindfulness and other experiential methods, observe videos of therapy sessions, integrate empirical literature and clinical experience, and explore techniques in clinical role play.  By the end of the course, students should be familiar with the major models of mindfulness-based therapies within the cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) field.  They will have extensive experience with mindfulness meditation and have practiced basic skills of ACT. 
2. Assessing/Remediating Legal Competency:  The focus is on the legal, psychological, theoretical, and ethical issues pertaining to competency in a variety of contexts. Students will review research and practice issues involved in assessing and treating a various types of legal incompetence. They will also review benchmark legal cases addressing various aspects of competency. Specific topics include competency theory, competency to stand trial, other criminal competencies (e.g., to consent to searches/seizures, to confess, to waive the right to counsel, to testify, and to be sentenced to death), competency restoration and involuntary medication, competence to consent to medical treatment, testamentary capacity (e.g., for wills, trusts, and advance medical directives), other civil competencies (including conservatorships, guardianships, and substituted judgment), juveniles and developmental immaturity, and competency issues pertaining to people with developmental disabilities.
3. Clients with Substance Use Problems: This course will provide student clinicians with a general overview of treatment for substance use disorders, focusing on current empirically validated approaches to treatment. This course will identify and examine the etiology of substance use disorders and current interventions, including the various approaches for conceptualizing addiction and chemical dependency. Included are illicit, prescription, over-the-counter, marijuana, and alcohol use, and comorbidities. Special attention will be paid to treatments geared toward specific substances of abuse, treatment modalities, and treatments for special populations of substance using clients.
4. Disability, Law & Families: Course provides an overview of key concepts, including prejudice, stigma and discrimination against persons with disabilities, and statutes and case law on the civil rights of persons with disabilities as they relate to procreation, custody, parenting, and family life. Psychologists’ roles as consultants and providers in these contexts are explored. Specific legal issues are covered, including the IDEA, IEPs, early intervention laws, and California statutory requirements for mental health services for minors in special education.
5. East Asian Meditation in Health:  This course explores East Asian meditation practices and ways in which they can be used to work with the mind and emotions to enhance physical and psychological well-being.  Students will gain an understanding of views and practices of Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian schools of meditation and exposure to the techniques of therapies that involve the use of meditation.  Meditation techniques covered will include various types of evidence-based mindfulness therapies, compassion practices, dream yoga, and meditation practices focusing on self-cultivation through interpersonal interactions.  The course will include an examination of current physiological, neuropsychological and clinical research on effects of meditation practice.  Additionally, the class will discuss views of the self, mind, and world associated with East Asian meditation traditions and possible implications for psychotherapy with populations influenced by these cultural views.
6. Family Violence & Psychol. Trauma: Focus on family violence conceptualized as pathologies of power. Clinical theory, research and implications for practice examined from cultural, psychological, psychoanalytic, feminist and sociopolitical perspectives. Discussions of patriarchy, the politics of power and violence, gender entrapment, gender role socialization, constructions of masculinity and cultural complexities will illuminate the intersection of individual and social pathologies that result in family violence.
7. Integrating Spirituality into Psychotherapy:  This course is designed to increase students’ awareness and knowledge of client spirituality in the context of psychotherapy.  Course material focuses on an understanding the developmental and existential nature of how people seek and find meaning in traditional and non-traditional spiritual and religious experiences. Techniques are presented to engage clients in accessing spiritual resilience, addressing current conflicts and traumatic backgrounds, and artfully engaging spirituality in the therapy process.  Students will develop self-awareness skills and knowledge of client’s spiritual experiences to inform therapeutic interventions and enrich the therapeutic alliance.  Spirituality is viewed in a larger context as an important aspect of multicultural and personal diversity.
8. Palliative Care:  Serving those with life-limiting illness is an integral and important part of health care. When working with patients and their families and communities at the end of life, it is essential to assess the overall quality of care they are receiving, to identify sources and ways of alleviating suffering as appropriate, and to help patients and their families determine what decisions need to be made and who needs to be involved in making/implementing those decisions. Psychologists can play vital roles in the field of palliative care, providing clinical servicers, research, teaching, public policy design and evaluation, organizational leadership, and advocacy. This course provides students with a foundation on which to build this unique and increasingly necessary set of skills and knowledge, and how to develop interprofessional relationships through which these activities can be successfully accomplished.
9. Psychother. for Loss/Grief/Mourning:  From graduation to divorce to retirement to death, loss is a fundamental human experience. Losses, and the subsequent processes of grief and mourning, are the foci of this course. We will weave together three strands of inquiry during the term: responses in the personal, clinical, and social realms. Taking a lifespan approach, varieties of loss that are developmentally expected as well as unanticipated will occupy the majority of our study. Particular attention to death and its personal and societal implications for clinical practice includes interventions to facilitate mourning and adjustment to loss on the individual, family and community levels. Social justice approaches to loss on both a micro as well as macro level, e.g., colonization and genocide, will be addressed.
10. Psychotherapy Practice Management: This course addresses the practical dimensions of managing a psychotherapy practice. It includes office selection and structuring, financial arrangements and billing, record keeping systems, hiring and managing clerical staff, developing and maintaining electronic records, HIPAA compliance, advertising, developing and maintaining referral networks, linkage to community services, and valuing, selling and closing a practice. Ethical considerations are addressed with respect to each of these areas of concern. Psychologists as Managers in Community and Health Care Organizations Psychologists are increasingly finding themselves in the position of managing other people, but are often not trained to perform this function. This course addresses basic management theories and practical applications. Historical and current approaches to management roles are reviewed, and problems related to community services and health care settings are addressed.
11. Therapy for Sleep Disorders:  This course covers basic sleep hygiene, sleep cycles, diagnosis of sleep disorders, apnea, prescription and OTC medications uses and contraindications, and evidence-based treatments.

1 unit courses

1. Approaches to Pain Management:  This course covers the physiology and types of pain, uses and misuses of pain medications, pain beliefs and attributions, and mind-body techniques for pain management.
2. Clinical Applications of Psychopharm: This course explores psychopharmacology from several perspectives. The medications for mental illnesses: Depression, Bipolar illness, Anxiety, and Psychosis especially, are examined considering individual case examples. The use of herbal and other non-prescription alternative treatments are also discussed. Applications of psychopharmacology in key patient populations such as children, adolescents, women, varying ethnic groups, substance abusers and the elderly are explored.
3. Suicide Prevention: The Advanced Clinical Skills Workshop provides small-group presentation and discussion of suicide and suicide prevention at an advanced level. Students will learn to assess and address risk factors associated with suicide, and critically discuss the application of treatment approaches to individuals presenting with increased suicide risk. Included is discussion of therapeutic relationship issues, and the interplay of disability status, sexual orientation, social class, culture, gender, and ethnicity with suicide assessment and treatment.
4. Therapist Expressive Behaviors: This course presents an overview of research on the value of expressive nonverbal behavior for physicians, educators, leaders, and psychotherapists.  The bulk of the course is devoted to practicing improvisational methods designed to promote expressive nonverbal behavior.  At the end of the course, students will be familiar with extensive research linking expressive nonverbal behavior to positive social outcomes.  They will have explored their own expressive range, including in clinical role-play application.
5. Using Telehealth/Internet Interventions:  Covered in this course are newer methods of therapy delivery, including phone follow-up, phone appointments, online interventions, apps, and indications and contraindications for telehealth, structuring sessions, ethics and legalities, and security of communications.

PSY8554 - Advanced Clinical Skills

(1 to 3 units)

3 unit courses:

1. Advanced Assessment: this is the second semester of a two-semester course in psychological assessment of adults, adolescents, and children. Heavy emphasis will be placed on integrating cognitive/ achievement, and personality measures within the context of clinical history, behavioral observations, and cultural considerations into a well-organized assessment report. Verbal feedback of assessment findings will be covered as well. A collaborative therapeutic assessment approach is utilized. Please note there is a mandatory lab assessment fee for this course.
2. Case Formulation: The clinical case formulation is an integral element of the assessment, treatment planning, and therapeutic process in all psychotherapeutic encounters. This seminar provides a rigorous method for creation of a formulation that accounts for the patient’s current functioning and capabilities in all domains of living. The case formulation method used in this seminar is informed by developmental, cultural, biological, and social domains of the patient’s life. Students prepare and discuss numerous clinical case formulations during the semester.
3. Child Therapy: This course will explore the theory, research and clinical applications in the field of child psychotherapy. Students are expected to learn the professional procedures for initiating a therapeutic relationship with a child as a client, as well as their legal and ethical responsibilities regarding that relationship. The course covers a variety of therapeutic interventions and the typical problems they are best suited to treat, with the emphasis on developmentally, ethnically, legally, and culturally responsive strategies in order to meet treatment needs of child clients.
4. Clients with Chronic Illness or Disability: There are expanding roles for mental health professions to treat clients with chronic illness or disability (CID). In addition to supportive psychotherapy, many types of interventions can have an impact on a client’s symptoms, functioning and quality of life. This skill-building course covers psychosocial aspects of CID, common medical and psychological diagnoses, treatment issues, multicultural aspects of health and treatment, and evidenced-based interventions. Particular attention will be on autoimmune diseases and pain, depression, anxiety, and stress management with CID populations. 
5. Complex Trauma: Brain/Body/Health: This course will explore the theory, research and clinical expression of complex trauma in adults and children. Specifically, this course will look at how complex trauma impacts the brain, both anatomically and functionally, the autonomic nervous system and body senses, and consequently health and health behaviors. Students will learn about how complex trauma can impact the developing brain, the autonomic nervous system, and the somatic nervous system.  This knowledge will build a foundation to help understand illnesses and risky health behaviors to which survivors of complex trauma are vulnerable.  This course will also emphasize critically thinking about interventions that would match this model/formulation of complex trauma’s impact and appropriate cultural adaptations. 
6. Contemporary Issues in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy:  In recent years there have been significant developments in the theoretical purview and clinical and social applications of psychoanalytic psychology. In this seminar we will focus on the areas of trauma, gender and sexualities, multiculturalism, dynamic systems theory and neuroscience, attachment and development. We also consider current research about the empirical foundations and evidence based-practice of psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy. Clinical illustrations and research findings are considered in each area of study.
7. Couples: This section of Advanced Clinical Skills provides an overview of the most important theories of couple therapy. The course introduces students to the clinical assessment of couples, techniques of interview, and strategies of intervention. Special emphasis is given to systems theory, mechanisms of change, and issues of diversity. It is designed to be a skills-based course in which students will learn theory and practice techniques from a variety of relationship models, including Sue Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Therapy, John Gottman’s Sound Marital House, and Dan Wile’s Collaborative Couples Therapy.The course combines diverse teaching-learning strategies, such as lectures, group discussions, dyad/triad presentations, videotape analysis, experiential exercises, and guest speakers on special topics. 
8. Dialectic Behavior Therapy: This course focuses on developing an understanding of the DBT model and being able to utilize it effectively. It includes a review of the behavioral and cognitive therapy underpinnings of DBT, with extensive coverage of the dialectical principles that differentiate it from other approaches. The biosocial factors that lead to emotional, interpersonal, cognitive, and behavioral dysregulation will be explained.  Included are methods of assessing, gaining client commitment to therapy, enhancing motivation, interventions, and specific skills training to help clients who have difficulty regulating emotions and behaviors. Emphasis will be on specific DBT strategies for suicidal, parasuicidal, and other impulsive and disruptive behaviors. Included is examination of cultural differences, the roles these play in expression of emotion and behaviors, and how individual differences can be assessed and treated. DBT for borderline personality disorder is covered, and extended to use in the treatment of other disorders.
9. Early Childhood Mental Health: This course is an introduction to early childhood mental health at child development centers subsidized by the State to serve low-income, high-risk families. The course begins with theoretical frameworks, including a review of systems, attachment and reinforcement theory. It then addresses understanding child behavior, and the underlying meaning it communicates to caretakers and providers, within cultural context. The culture of the classroom is also explored, as is the role of psychologists in working with educators in such classrooms. Parental and family influences on early childhood mental health are also addressed in the context of diversity.
10. Feminist Approaches to Psychotherapy: This seminar addresses the theory and practice of feminist therapy. The approach is considered in historical context, and the epistemological base of more traditional approaches, as well as the feminist approach, are explored. The emphasis is on application and focuses upon discussion of clinical issues and case supervision through discussion and role play. 
11. Mindfulness Appr to Health Psych: This asynchronous on-line course examines mindfulness approaches to health psychology. It consists of two major parts. The first part of the course surveys literature related to the definitions, concepts and measurement of mindfulness. Theoretical and experiential exploration of mindfulness will be emphasized. Students will be expected to maintain mindfulness practices and to keep a journal of their experiences. Mindfulness is considered as a personal and professional tool in therapeutic settings. The second part of this course will be organized around the clinical applications of mindfulness meditations, and mindfulness based intervention in clinical health settings. Students will review evidence based studies on using mindfulness concepts with chronic health problems, e.g., pain, cancer, insomnia, addiction, etc.
12. Narrative Approaches: This course introduces students to the theory and practice of Narrative Therapy. It focuses on the work of Michael White and David Epston and their development of a “storied therapy”. The course assists students in conceptualizing problems as located within stories that influence identity. Problems are also situated within a socio-cultural context. In addition, the course attends to those moments that stand in contradiction to the plot of problems, and represent the promise of potential “counterstories” that may profoundly reshape identities. 
13. Psychother. For Personality Dis.: This seminar examines the clinical phenomena of narcissism, masochism, borderline conditions, and perversions from a variety of psychodynamic perspectives. Classical, Object-Relations, Self-Psychological, and Contemporary Relational perspectives on the etiology and treatment of these personality disorders are considered and contrasted. Clinical, literary, and film material is used to illustrate the manifestations of these conditions in both the internal and inter-personal worlds of the patient.
14. Psychotherapy with Older Adults: This course reviews normal aspects of the aging process; demographics of the changing older adult population; special features of counseling older adults including developmental tasks, life review, unfinished issues from the past, grief work, gender and cultural issues, and family dynamics; assessment of depression, dementia, delusions, elder abuse and substance abuse among older adults; special issues and needs of caregivers and adult children of aging parents; resources for professionals caregivers, adult children and their parents; ethical issues with older adults;  and professional opportunities in gero-counseling.  This course meets the BoP requirements for coursework in aging and long-term care.
15. Trauma Identification, Assmnt, Trtmnt: This course will cover best-practices and evidence-based practices for the screening and intervention of trauma, both incidents and trauma-related diagnoses including Acute Stress Disorder, PTSD, and PTSD with dissociative features.  The course will span different populations and theoretical orientations.  We will discuss cultural perceptions of trauma, response, and intervention. We will also cover issues in the field related to identification, assessment, diagnosis, and intervention and emerging practices.

2 unit courses:

1. Acceptance & Commitment Therapy: An overview of the history, philosophy, methods and application of mindfulness and acceptance within cognitive-behavioral therapy, with emphasis on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).  Students will learn about the theoretical and empirical background of this burgeoning field, practice mindfulness and other experiential methods, observe videos of therapy sessions, integrate empirical literature and clinical experience, and explore techniques in clinical role play.  By the end of the course, students should be familiar with the major models of mindfulness-based therapies within the cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) field.  They will have extensive experience with mindfulness meditation and have practiced basic skills of ACT. 
2. Assessing/Remediating Legal Competency:  The focus is on the legal, psychological, theoretical, and ethical issues pertaining to competency in a variety of contexts. Students will review research and practice issues involved in assessing and treating a various types of legal incompetence. They will also review benchmark legal cases addressing various aspects of competency. Specific topics include competency theory, competency to stand trial, other criminal competencies (e.g., to consent to searches/seizures, to confess, to waive the right to counsel, to testify, and to be sentenced to death), competency restoration and involuntary medication, competence to consent to medical treatment, testamentary capacity (e.g., for wills, trusts, and advance medical directives), other civil competencies (including conservatorships, guardianships, and substituted judgment), juveniles and developmental immaturity, and competency issues pertaining to people with developmental disabilities.
3. Clients with Substance Use Problems: This course will provide student clinicians with a general overview of treatment for substance use disorders, focusing on current empirically validated approaches to treatment. This course will identify and examine the etiology of substance use disorders and current interventions, including the various approaches for conceptualizing addiction and chemical dependency. Included are illicit, prescription, over-the-counter, marijuana, and alcohol use, and comorbidities. Special attention will be paid to treatments geared toward specific substances of abuse, treatment modalities, and treatments for special populations of substance using clients.
4. Disability, Law & Families: Course provides an overview of key concepts, including prejudice, stigma and discrimination against persons with disabilities, and statutes and case law on the civil rights of persons with disabilities as they relate to procreation, custody, parenting, and family life. Psychologists’ roles as consultants and providers in these contexts are explored. Specific legal issues are covered, including the IDEA, IEPs, early intervention laws, and California statutory requirements for mental health services for minors in special education.
5. East Asian Meditation in Health:  This course explores East Asian meditation practices and ways in which they can be used to work with the mind and emotions to enhance physical and psychological well-being.  Students will gain an understanding of views and practices of Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian schools of meditation and exposure to the techniques of therapies that involve the use of meditation.  Meditation techniques covered will include various types of evidence-based mindfulness therapies, compassion practices, dream yoga, and meditation practices focusing on self-cultivation through interpersonal interactions.  The course will include an examination of current physiological, neuropsychological and clinical research on effects of meditation practice.  Additionally, the class will discuss views of the self, mind, and world associated with East Asian meditation traditions and possible implications for psychotherapy with populations influenced by these cultural views.
6. Family Violence & Psychol. Trauma: Focus on family violence conceptualized as pathologies of power. Clinical theory, research and implications for practice examined from cultural, psychological, psychoanalytic, feminist and sociopolitical perspectives. Discussions of patriarchy, the politics of power and violence, gender entrapment, gender role socialization, constructions of masculinity and cultural complexities will illuminate the intersection of individual and social pathologies that result in family violence.
7. Integrating Spirituality into Psychotherapy:  This course is designed to increase students’ awareness and knowledge of client spirituality in the context of psychotherapy.  Course material focuses on an understanding the developmental and existential nature of how people seek and find meaning in traditional and non-traditional spiritual and religious experiences. Techniques are presented to engage clients in accessing spiritual resilience, addressing current conflicts and traumatic backgrounds, and artfully engaging spirituality in the therapy process.  Students will develop self-awareness skills and knowledge of client’s spiritual experiences to inform therapeutic interventions and enrich the therapeutic alliance.  Spirituality is viewed in a larger context as an important aspect of multicultural and personal diversity.
8. Palliative Care:  Serving those with life-limiting illness is an integral and important part of health care. When working with patients and their families and communities at the end of life, it is essential to assess the overall quality of care they are receiving, to identify sources and ways of alleviating suffering as appropriate, and to help patients and their families determine what decisions need to be made and who needs to be involved in making/implementing those decisions. Psychologists can play vital roles in the field of palliative care, providing clinical servicers, research, teaching, public policy design and evaluation, organizational leadership, and advocacy. This course provides students with a foundation on which to build this unique and increasingly necessary set of skills and knowledge, and how to develop interprofessional relationships through which these activities can be successfully accomplished.
9. Psychother. for Loss/Grief/Mourning:  From graduation to divorce to retirement to death, loss is a fundamental human experience. Losses, and the subsequent processes of grief and mourning, are the foci of this course. We will weave together three strands of inquiry during the term: responses in the personal, clinical, and social realms. Taking a lifespan approach, varieties of loss that are developmentally expected as well as unanticipated will occupy the majority of our study. Particular attention to death and its personal and societal implications for clinical practice includes interventions to facilitate mourning and adjustment to loss on the individual, family and community levels. Social justice approaches to loss on both a micro as well as macro level, e.g., colonization and genocide, will be addressed.
10. Psychotherapy Practice Management: This course addresses the practical dimensions of managing a psychotherapy practice. It includes office selection and structuring, financial arrangements and billing, record keeping systems, hiring and managing clerical staff, developing and maintaining electronic records, HIPAA compliance, advertising, developing and maintaining referral networks, linkage to community services, and valuing, selling and closing a practice. Ethical considerations are addressed with respect to each of these areas of concern. Psychologists as Managers in Community and Health Care Organizations Psychologists are increasingly finding themselves in the position of managing other people, but are often not trained to perform this function. This course addresses basic management theories and practical applications. Historical and current approaches to management roles are reviewed, and problems related to community services and health care settings are addressed.
11. Therapy for Sleep Disorders:  This course covers basic sleep hygiene, sleep cycles, diagnosis of sleep disorders, apnea, prescription and OTC medications uses and contraindications, and evidence-based treatments.

1 unit courses

1. Approaches to Pain Management:  This course covers the physiology and types of pain, uses and misuses of pain medications, pain beliefs and attributions, and mind-body techniques for pain management.
2. Clinical Applications of Psychopharm: This course explores psychopharmacology from several perspectives. The medications for mental illnesses: Depression, Bipolar illness, Anxiety, and Psychosis especially, are examined considering individual case examples. The use of herbal and other non-prescription alternative treatments are also discussed. Applications of psychopharmacology in key patient populations such as children, adolescents, women, varying ethnic groups, substance abusers and the elderly are explored.
3. Suicide Prevention: The Advanced Clinical Skills Workshop provides small-group presentation and discussion of suicide and suicide prevention at an advanced level. Students will learn to assess and address risk factors associated with suicide, and critically discuss the application of treatment approaches to individuals presenting with increased suicide risk. Included is discussion of therapeutic relationship issues, and the interplay of disability status, sexual orientation, social class, culture, gender, and ethnicity with suicide assessment and treatment.
4. Therapist Expressive Behaviors: This course presents an overview of research on the value of expressive nonverbal behavior for physicians, educators, leaders, and psychotherapists.  The bulk of the course is devoted to practicing improvisational methods designed to promote expressive nonverbal behavior.  At the end of the course, students will be familiar with extensive research linking expressive nonverbal behavior to positive social outcomes.  They will have explored their own expressive range, including in clinical role-play application.
5. Using Telehealth/Internet Interventions:  Covered in this course are newer methods of therapy delivery, including phone follow-up, phone appointments, online interventions, apps, and indications and contraindications for telehealth, structuring sessions, ethics and legalities, and security of communications.

PSY8555 - Neuropsychology: Foundations

PSY8556 - Neuropsychology: Advanced

PSY8557 - Family Violence and Psychological Trauma

PSY8558 - Disabilities, Law and Families

PSY8559 - Assessing and Remediating Legal Incompetencies

PSY8561 - Consultation

(1 to 2 units)

1. Consultation: Medical Settings This course addresses the varying and complex roles of psychologists in medical settings. The role of consultant is unique and involves assessment, individual and family psychotherapy, psychopharmacological recommendations, active involvement on multidisciplinary teams as well as more subtle interventions with multidisciplinary team members. These multiple roles are discussed with an emphasis on how to build a consultation practice. Ethical issues and dilemmas are presented as they relate to consultation in medical settings. Issues related to diversity including disparities in health care will be discussed.  Meets a requirement for PsyD’s Integrated Health Track.  Prerequisite: Some knowledge of health psychology and by consent of instructor.  

2. Consultation: Effective Teaching This course focuses on the role of psychologist as educator. A variety of teaching tools, and methods are reviewed. Students gain an understanding of theories of instruction, research on learning and teaching styles, and work with special populations of learners. Diversity (including ethnicity, race and disability) are emphasized. 

3. Consultation: Program Evaluation: This course focuses on helping agencies conduct program evaluation within a social justice lens. This course meets the consultation requirement for students in the PsyD Social Justice Track.

4. Family Court Consultation and Expert Witness : It surveys common ethical, professional, and practical issues in contracting for and providing forensic psychology services to courts. Topics include forensic data organizing, report writing, court testimony, applied research skills, and diagnosis and testing within the forensic context. It is assumed that students enter this class with some knowledge of basic forensic theory and practice. The primary emphasis in this course is on navigating an ethical path and not losing one’s moral bearing in these often-treacherous waters. A secondary emphasis is to assist students in developing their critical reading and thinking skills.  Meets requirement of SF PsyD third-year Child/Family Track students.

5.  Child Custody Consultation: Evaluation and Mediation:  Focuses on the role that psychologists play in assisting families undergoing disputes about child custody. Major focus is the child custody evaluation as an assessment of the best parenting plan for the child. Clinical case material is presented and students become familiar with the process of conducting a child custody evaluation as well as with important issues related to making custody decisions. Special topics include parental alienation, “move away”, shared custody, supervised visitation, “substance abuse” and major mental illness, the mediation process, the Special Master process and the role of Family Court and Family Court Services in working with families experiencing divorce. Meets a requirement of SF PsyD third-year Child/Family Track students.

6. Multicultural Issues: The course covers basic principles and approaches to psychological consultation and collaboration and is focused on multicultural issues in consultation. The history of consultation as a competency in psychology is reviewed as well as the role of the psychologist as a consultant, and the skills, methods, theories and research guiding psychological consultation and collaboration as an area of special expertise in psychology.  Special attention is paid to multicultural issues, multicultural consultee-centered consultation, multicultural organizational consultation, and issues of collaboration and culture that arise in international context.  This course meets the consultation requirement for students in the PsyD Social Justice Track.
Prerequisites: Advance to candidacy

PSY8564 - Supervision

1. Learning to do Supervision. This course is designed to introduce students to the theory and practice of clinical supervision. It will highlight choice points in consultations, and explore the varying roles supervisors can play (e.g. consultant, teacher, evaluator). It also will assist students to arrive at a better understanding of their preferred supervision practices. The course exposes students to reflexive practices in supervision, including ways reflecting teamwork can be adapted to one-on-one consultations. Students also will gain practical experience in providing supervision.  
2. Supervision: Mental Health Head Start Trainees This course focuses on the supervision of preclinical level practicum students using an individual supervision model. Students in this course supervise Practicum I PsyD students in a Head Start preschool program in individual sessions once per week. The instructor provides supervision and training to class participants. Students learn to organize the information needed to supervise pre-clinical practicum students working with pre-school children. The course provides knowledge of basic concepts regarding individual supervision format, and ethical and legal aspects of the supervisor role. 

PSY8566 - Child Custody Consultation: Evaluation and Mediation

PSY8568 - Education, Consultation and Advocacy

PSY8569 - Pragmatic Foundations of Clinical Practice

PSY8571 - Third Year Clinical Practicum

PSY8572 - Third Year Clinical Practicum

PSY8577 - Third Year Clinical Practicum

PSY8578 - Third Year Clinical Practicum

PSY8600 - General Elective

1. Psychology of Spirituality (2 units) Exploration of the history of the psychology of religion and survey of the variety of theories within the field. Develops understanding of the workings of psychological phenomena within religion and spiritual phenomena within psychology. Includes discussion of ideas of Freud and Jung, post- Freudian developments, contemporary psychoanalysis and a neo-Lacanian framework. Religions examined in relationship to psychoanalysis include Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and native forms of Shamanism.
2. Women’s Life Choices (2 units) Exploration of a woman’s perception of choices in making specific life span transitions. Issues discussed are those which repeatedly surface as presenting problems for female clients: having a child, having a “career,” being single or partnered, caring for parents and “creating” an adult (and aging) body. Multicultural influences on these “choices” will also be explored including ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic class and disability.
3. Adolescent Girls/Teen Women (2 units) An examination of the development and identity formation of adolescent girls/teen women from a social constructionist perspective. The impact of social and contextual factors are considered, including cultural attitudes about women and girls, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and class, on young women’s development. Problems that young women frequently bring to therapy are considered (e.g., eating disorders, self-mutilation, teen pregnancy).
4. Psychologists Working in Complex Systems (2 units) Develops a theoretical foundation for intervention with complex systems based upon the cognitive model, social learning principles and general systems theory. These analytical models are applied to organizational case studies which have been investigated and presented by the students. Practical interventions will be designed, critiqued, implemented and refined throughout the course.
5. Supervision (2 units) An examination of the role of the supervisor and supervisee in psychotherapy and related treatment activities from psychodynamic and other perspectives. The course will focus on the major issues and challenges inherent in the supervision process. Theories of supervision, reviews of recent literature, guidelines for practice will be addressed There will be ample opportunity for role play, demonstrations of supervision and guest speakers.
6. Feminist Approach to Supervision, Teaching and Consultation (2 units) This course emphasizes collaboration rather than competitive models in teaching. The course also teaches team building and cooperation in conflict resolution and consultation. The course also emphasizes empowerment and collaboration in supervision.
7. Educational Consulting: Developing Effective Interventions for Behavior and Learning Problems in Children (2 units) An in-depth look at a model intervention program for young children ages two to five and at delivery of effective interventions to school-age children. Core competencies include teacher and parent interviewing, classroom observation and functional assessment, team-based problem solving, evaluating intervention design and outcome and legal and ethical safeguards. Includes discussion of the Individualized Education Plan process, understanding medications for children, AB3632 services, wraparound family team processes and emergency responses to trauma in schools.
8. Self Psychology (3 units) Traces the development, major concepts and clinical application of psychoanalytic self psychology. Emphasis will be placed on current perspectives and interventions.
9. Integration of Individual and Systemic Therapy (3 units) Encourages students to integrate individual and systemic therapeutic approaches. Both theory and practice of integrated model will be taught and discussed.
10. Psychotherapy East and West (3 units) Explores Eastern concepts of consciousness, personal identity and sanity and compares and contrasts these with Western views, especially psychodynamic and existential perspectives. Emphasis is placed on integrating Eastern and Western concepts into a unified view of the nature of change and transformation. Acquaints students with the phenomenology of transcendental experience, including similarities and differences between mystical and psychopathological experience.
11. Metaphorical Interventions in Psychotherapy (3 units) Uses metaphorical/ symbolic interventions in contrast to literal/analytical communication to promote therapeutic change. Through skill training emphasizing visio-spatial, perceptual, imagery, and holistic/systemic skills, students learn to use metaphorical interventions in their therapy. The role of metaphorical therapy in psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral and family systems therapy is explored.
12. Forensic Psychology (3 units) Examines the nature of forensic evaluations, reports and expert witness testimony and the professional and ethical responsibilities involved. Surveys the primary areas of the law including family law, mental health law, criminal law, child abuse and juvenile law, personal injury law and Workers’ Compensation. Students role-play the presentation of testimony in trial simulations.
13. Understanding Violence and Nonviolence (3 units) Focuses on understanding of structural, interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics that contribute to war and other forms of violence versus the creation of peace. Emphases on processes of problem definition, in creation of theory, research and intervention for prevention of violence and promotion of peace on a community, national and international basis. Dynamics of justice, equality and connectedness are related to peace and processes of separation, dominance and oppression are related to war and violence. Roles for professional psychologists are stressed.
14. Dream Interpretation (3 units) The interpretation of a dream in a psychodynamic setting requires the therapist’s full understanding of and ability to apply advanced analytic concepts. This course will focus on the therapist’s exploration of and development of capacity with the client’s intrapsychic functioning, free association, resistance and censoring, and ability to remember and work through. Students will also explore the therapist’s unconscious process when listening to a dream as well as the therapist’s ability to provide meaning for the dream in relation to the client’s current life and conflict. The reading will cover both Freudian and Jungian perspectives on interpretation.
15. Employee Assistance Programs (1 unit) Includes a history and overview of employee assistance programs, clinical interventions in the workplace, organizational development, substance abuse in the workplace, the role of the psychologist in employee assistance programs and opportunities for employment in the field.
16. Clinical Empathy in Theory and Practice (3 units) Explores the definition and concept of empathy from classical psychoanalytic and self psychology points of view. Designed for internship level clinicians who have already gained experience in the therapeutic process. Provides the opportunity to reflect on their developing clinical style and to sensitively examine those touching moments of “I-thou” interaction that embody the essence of psychotherapy. Covers the factors that contribute to good and poor empathic connection in the clinical situation. Students share interactions from their own case material or personal work.
17. Family Violence and Sexual Abuse (2 units) Critically examines differing theoretical models that seek to explain the existence and continuity of family violence in our society. Explores current research in the areas of family violence and sexual abuse. Studies individual, family and societal characteristics that are associated with domestic violence. Examines multiple types of abuse and victims of abuse. Familiarizes students with therapeutic models of intervention for domestic abuse and how to determine the efficacy of those treatment models and programs.
18. Suicidality/HIV Treatment (1 unit) The first part of this course focuses on suicide rates, demographics, correlates and explanatory theories. The second half of the course is an up-to-date review of treatment approaches for HIV-positive clients.
19. HIV Treatment (1 unit) Update on treatment approaches for HIV positive clients.
20. Eating Disorders (1 unit) The historical and sociocultural context of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa is discussed. Course focuses on diagnosis, testing, assessment and treatment.
21. Gay and Lesbian Issues from a Multicultural Perspective (1 unit) This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the theoretical and applied issues related to working with ethnic minority gay and lesbian clients. The course takes a historical/social approach to the issues related to population and balances with perspective to issues related to intrapsychic development.
22. Suicidality (1 unit) Suicide rates, demographics, correlates and explanatory theories.
23. Spirituality and Spiritual Development in Psychotherapy (3 units) An examination of the role of religion and spirituality in psychotherapy and the psychological healing process. Course focuses on critical analysis of representative literature, discussion of the ethical implications of the use of spirituality in psychotherapy and identifying and understanding countertransference issues that relate to religion and spirituality. Spiritual factors within faith traditions and their impact on mental health and mental health service delivery is explored. Attention is given to the role of the therapist’s spirituality, the process of spiritual development, spirituality as an integral part of one’s cultural heritage and community ties and therapeutic approaches that are appropriate with religiously oriented clients both at the individual and community levels in prevention as well as intervention efforts.
24. Belief Systems and Psychotherapy (3 units) This course explores interrelationships between spirituality, cultural diversity and the process of psychotherapy. Examines recent literature in this area. The goal of this course is to expand awareness of the range of diverse belief systems held by human beings and to increase the student’s skills in working with culturally diverse clients. Integrates didactic material with group and individual learning experiences to facilitate exploring potential areas of transference and countertransference. Students are challenged to examine personal values, beliefs and assumptions and how these impact their work as psychotherapists.
25. Clinical Aspects of Dream Interpretation (3 units) Clinical implications and the implementation of dream interpretation in the psychotherapeutic process will be discussed. Freud’s thoughts on dreams as well as later psychoanalytic revisions or modifications of these ideas will be reviewed to provide a conceptual context for dream interpretation. The amount of emphasis given to the interpretation of dreams, the timing of such interpretations, the repetitive dream and childhood dreams are among the technical aspects to be considered.
26. Interprofessional Collaboration for Psychologists: Individual, Group, Organizational and Cultural Contexts (2 units) Given the need for psychologists to work effectively with professionals from a diversity of disciplines and backgrounds (e.g., school, law enforcement, probation, medical, legal, social service), this course presents the philosophy, theory, ethics and practice of interprofessional collaboration. With the goal of preparing psychologists for the evolving healthcare environment, multiple professional roles and creative/effective interventions for underserved populations in diverse settings (schools, hospitals, community mental health, child welfare, etc.), the course will present practice skills in interprofessional collaboration. These include: diagnosis and intervention in dysfunctional collaboration, eco-systemic and transorganizational systems thinking, team development and leadership, negotiation/ conflict resolution, unconscious group dynamics and self-assessment of interpersonal needs.
27. The Creative Imagination in Psychotherapy: A Case Seminar (3, 3 units) The goal of this year-long track sequence is to help students develop and use their own and their clients’ creative imagination in psychotherapy. Through lectures, in-class supervision, role-playing, student presentations and experiential exercises, students will (1) learn to use client-generated metaphor and imagery in language, dreams, early memories and behavioral patterns to increase the depth and perhaps accelerate the rate of change in their therapy; (2) deepen their empathy for their clients and increase their ability to use their own inner experience, affective metaphoric imagery and creative imagination, to resolve therapeutic impasses; and (3) develop an understanding of resistance as co-created by both client and therapist as a conflict of their unconscious goals. Class discussion will include comparative/ integrative case conceptualization and interventions using psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral and family systems approaches.
28. Clinical Case Conference with Multicultural Populations (3, 3 units) This course will examine multiculturalism and its impact on the treatment process. Through readings, lectures, classroom discussion and formal case presentations students look at the issues of race, ethnicity, gender, class, age and sexual orientation as critical factors in psychotherapy. Explores how these factors interact with psychological theories and traditional psychotherapeutic approaches to enhance the treatment of multicultural populations.
29. Analytic Dream Interpretation (2 units) Introduction to Jungian dream interpretation. Will review the basic working techniques of association and amplification and clarify dream functions as well as subject and object levels of interpretation.
30. Psychodynamic Case Conference  This course will provide students with a rudimentary understanding of the theory ad techniques of dynamic psychotherapy. Building on the skills developed in the Introduction to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, students who successfully complete this course should be able to evaluate a client from a dynamic point of view and be able to perform basic psychotherapeutic interventions using dynamic therapeutic strategies. Prerequisite: Introduction to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy or its equivalent
31. Sociocultural Diversity: Intersectionality of Identities in the LGBT Community (3 units) The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the social, political, and psychological issues impacting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of color, including immigrants, all ethnic groups, those with primary languages other than English, socioeconiic issues, and to provide appropriate clinical interventions. This course will cover critical issues including: development and maintenance of multicultural identity; the intersection of racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism; relationships, religion/spirituality; politics; health and the importance of integrating potentially conflicting cultural demands.

PSY8605 - Functional Neuroanatomy and Neuropathology

PSY8630 - Clinical Aspects of Dream Interpretation

PSY8642 - Community Consultation

PSY8645 - Grant Writing

PSY8800 - Advanced Seminar

1. Treatment of Depression
2. Conduct Disorders and Anti-Social Behavior
3. Theoretical Psychodynamic Issues
4. Object Relations
5. Integrative Psychology
6. Humanistic Psychology
7. Research and Empirical Foundations of Psychoanalysis
8. Hypnotherapy

PSY8805 - Advanced Seminars in Theoretical Issues

PSY8901 - Dissertation Project

PSY8902 - Dissertation Project

PSY8905 - Research in Applied Settings

PSY8906 - Research in Applied Settings

PSY8907 - Dissertation Development

PSY8908 - Dissertation Development

PSY8911 - Clinical Dissertation

PSY8912 - Clinical Dissertation

PSY8913 - PsyD Clinical Dissertation

PSY8914 - PsyD Clinical Dissertation

PSY8980 - PsyD Clinical Dissertation Group

PSY8990 - PhD Doctoral Dissertation Research Design and Research Seminar

PSY9123 - PhD Portfolio

PSY9310 - Advanced Seminar: MFT

(1 to 3 units)

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and Art Psychotherapy - This elective course provides students with the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT; Segal, Teasdale, Williams, 2012) empirical based training. The premise is that the awareness of negative thoughts, feelings, emotions and bodily sensations assists in the prevention of depressive cycling and relapse. Student engagement with art psychotherapy techniques furthers their acquisition of mindfulness-based skills, mainly the recognition and acceptance of how non-verbal feelings and bodily experiences contribute to depressive cycling. The course information augments systemic interventions that support the recovery of individuals suffering from a history of depression and their families.

PSY9320 - Supervision in MFT I

PSY9321 - Supervision in MFT II

PSY9324 - Advanced MFT Research: Quantitative

PSY9325 - Advanced MFT Research: Qualitative