This is a great class! You will be happy you took it. It is
also a demanding course, in which you will learn a lot about things
you may think you know and many things you've never heard of before.
I consider this to be the most challenging class I teach here
at UCSC, and it is really meant to be a course for senior psychology
majors, designed primarily for students who believe they would
like to become psychotherapists or have an interest in the topic...
Paradoxically, most everyone ends up with an A or B.
Course Requirements.
In order to pass, you must achieve at least 300 of 500 possible points (60%):
(1) Regular in-class journaling assignments (assigned in class). (You must turn in 5 of these). (10 points each, P/NP)
(2) Psychodynamic project. Options: (a) A psychodynamic treatment plan for a "client" from Yalom's Love's Executioner or Momma and the Meaning of Life. You'll choose one of the psychodynamic systems we cover and write a paper in which you use that system to develop a treatment plan for the fictional client. (b) Dream series paper. You'll explore a series of dreams from a real client, attempting to answer in a paper several questions about the client depending upon the system you choose. (c) If you have another idea, email it to me. (0-150 points)
(3) Three quizzes, short answer, covering (1) introductory material (2) cognitive psychotherapy and (2) psychodynamic psychotherapy (object relations, Jungian analytic). (0-100 points each).
Evaluations: You will be evaluated on your project,
quizzes, and in-class journaling assignments. Each is mandatory
to your passing the class. For those taking P/NP, 65% and above
= P. For those opting for grades, 90%-100%=A; 80%-89%=B; 70%-79%=C;
60%-69%=D; 59% and below = F). (I may assign -s and +s based on
the final distribution of scores.) Try to forget about whether
or not you will earn an 'A' or an 'excellent.' Whether or not
you learn something here is much more important. You can make
this shift by asking yourself what exactly you hope to learn for
yourself and your own future, and then focus on that. Paradoxically,
this attitude often produces an A as a side effect. Your writing
quality will be mentioned in your evaluation. Unless you are a
stellar writer, have someone read over your paper before you turn
it in! Plagiarism will result in failing the course. Please
familiarize yourself with it by reading the links on the home
page.
Requests: (1) Respect the ideas, thoughts, and feelings
of your fellow students. (2) If you tend to speak up a lot in
class, please make sure that what you are saying will benefit
others. As a guide, if you speak a lot, try to limit yourself
to 3 times per class (in order to avoid discouraging others from
speaking). (3) If you don't speak up in class, this will probably
be a safe place to practice. People will be kind to you. (4) If
you must come in late or leave early, please sit by the door.
(5) Make copies of what you turn in, just in case. (6) Keep up.
Keep up. Keep up. (Lessen life stress whenever possible.) (7)
Make sure not to schedule anything else for the times the quizzes
are given. Late exams are unfair to the other students. Genuine
documented emergencies are of course a different matter.
Disclaimer: As a licensed psychologist in private
practice, as well as an academic psychologist, I've had lots of
experience with the concepts and methods discussed in this course.
All names and identifying characteristics of clients I use as
examples will be changed before I start talking; I tend
to combine several people into one when using examples... Also,
please remember that this is a course, and as such, it is inappropriate
and unethical for me to allow you to reveal your sensitive, personal
history in class--i.e., I evaluate you, and this is not a therapy
setting. In my role here, I'm a teacher, not a therapist. ~:)
Goals: I will be using a variety of teaching methods
to promote your active involvement in the course with the intent
that this will be an enjoyable and involving way to learn. You
should come away from the class with a general understanding of
the practice of psychotherapy and its most frequently used models.
You will learn a lot about what psychotherapists are feeling and
planning and doing while they are working.