Psychology 135:



Psychology 595B

Practicum in Clinical Psychology: Assessment

Spring 2012

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Course Description

The course will be divided into a practicum discussion time and lecture/discussion time. Please bring in issues and interesting cases from your practicum settings to discuss. The goal of that portion of time is to give you a chance to work through scientific or ethical questions that have come up on your placement, learn about diverse cases from your peers, and contemplate the sometimes complex connections between clinical science and clinical practice. During the lecture and discussion time, we will be addressing issues related to empirically-based assessment, diagnosis, and intervention planning.

This course is a complement to the on-site learning you are doing at your assessment practicum. We will be using your clinical material in order to facilitate learning of widely generalizable skills rather than focusing on this material in its own right. Please keep in mind that your first recourse for guidance about how to do your clinical work is your placement supervisor. At times, other perspectives may emerge in our class discussions, but you must ultimately work alongside your placement supervisor to make decisions related to your clinical work. If you are having difficulties of any kind with your supervisor or are not meeting at least one time per week for supervision, please let me know as quickly as possible.

Major Course Objectives: This course is meant to facilitate experiential learning through which you will acquire the ability to:

1. Select appropriate hypothesis-driven test batteries, administer and score psychological tests, interpret the results of these tests, and present the results of each component of these evidence-based assessments in both written and oral formats.

2. Reach appropriate, scientifically informed DSM-IV diagnoses and case conceptualizations, and present the results of these efforts in both written and oral formats.

3. Develop preliminary treatment and referral recommendations based on evidence-based assessment findings.

4. Account for human diversity issues in the selection, scoring, and interpretation of evidence-based assessment techniques in order to create a richly contextualized understanding of clients.

4. Behave with a high degree of integrity, recognize limits of competence and seek supervision as required, and apply the APA ethics code to all practice within the course.

5. Work productively in a clinical setting with staff members and other professionals within the health care system.

Learning Resources and Course Requirements

A. Required Texts: Required supplemental readings (mostly research articles related to proposed DSM-V alterations) are denoted in quotation marks and are posted on the course blackboard website.

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., Text Revision). Washington DC: Author.

American Psychological Association. (1999) Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Washington DC: APA.

B. Highly Recommended texts: If you choose not to buy these, you can use photocopies (let me know that you need a copy).

Lezak, M.D. (2004). Neuropsychological Assessment (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Note: a newer edition is about to come out, but the 2004 edition is fine and will be much cheaper to buy online. This is my favorite assessment book and I highly recommend owning a copy.

Groth-Marnat, G. (2009). Handbook of Psychological Assessment (5th ed). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

C. Formal Class Presentation: Toward the end of the semester, you will be required to present one of your case evaluations to your classmates. Please create powerpoint or other handouts to accompany your presentation. Handouts are due to me on the Friday preceding your presentation. Handouts should help your classmates to keep track of assessment findings and historical information. Please do not put any identifying information on these handouts. All handouts must be collected and shredded following your presentation. The grade for this presentation will be pass/fail.

In addition to this formal presentation, you will be asked to present less formally throughout the semester on clinical issues you encounter at your placement and on the assigned readings.

D. Assessment & Scientific Reports: You are required to write up two case assessments during the course of the semester based on real cases you have seen through your placement. The specific form and instruments used in these reports will vary, depending on the particular presentation of the client you select. All assessment should employ a logical, empirically supported approach to the clinical question and should be thoroughly described in your report. If possible, I would prefer to see a mixture of cognitive assessment, performance measures, structured diagnostic interviewing, less formal intake or history collection through interview, review of medical and treatment records, use of collateral sources when appropriate, and use of personality assessment when clinically relevant. Not all of these sources of information will be relevant in all clinical settings or with every case you see, but please make an effort to select cases on which you have a rich data set.

As a complement to these assessment reports, you will be required to write a brief (no more than four pages) report describing the scientific foundations of the tests you used in your assessment reports. This paper should have a reference list and citations should be in APA format. There is no prescribed format, but your paper should discuss the clinical, ethical, cultural, scientific or measurement issues arising in the case. For example, were the tests that you used normed on a population that matches your client’s characteristics in important ways? Were there limitations on the types of data that could be collected or evaluated due to client characteristics or ethical concerns? How solid is the evidence of the reliability and validity of the tests that you used in the particular context in which you used them? A table of potential questions you could address is found on page 9 of Groth-Marnat (2009). You need not answer any particular set of questions, but this paper should demonstrate that you are thinking clearly about the nature of assessment through a science-based and evidence-based lens.

E. Grading: This course is graded credit/ no credit. Credit will be awarded for the successful completion of your formal class presentation, assessment reports, scientific foundation papers, and on-site supervised assessment work. Each requirement must be completed in order to receive credit.

Class Lecture and Reading Schedule

Dates may change somewhat depending on our progress in covering the material.

| Date |Lecture Topics Readings Class Tasks |

|Week 1 |1/9 |Introduction to Empirically Supported|Standards chapters 7 &10 | |

| | |Assessment |“Psychological Testing and Psychological Assessment: A | |

| | | |review of evidence and issues” | |

| | | |DSM Introduction (xxiii- xxxv) | |

|Week 2 |1/16 |MLK DAY—NO CLASS | | |

|Week 3 |1/23 |Introduction to DSM-IV diagnosis |“The Conceptual Development of DSM-V” | |

| | | |DSM pgs 1-12, 27-37, skim 745-757 | |

|Week 4 |1/30 |Childhood Disorders part 1 |“Autism Spectrum Disorders in the DSM-V” |Class meets at Boone |

| | |(Addie, Bruna, Christine) |DSM 69-84 |Fetter |

| |2/3 |Childhood Disorders Part 1 |“Autism Spectrum Disorders in the DSM-V” |Class meets at Boone |

| | |(Serenita, Claire, Tana) |DSM 69-84 |Fetter |

|Week 5 |2/6 |Childhood Disorders part 2 |“Developmental Focus in DSM-V” | |

| | | |DSM 39-69, 85-133 | |

|Week 6 |2/13 |Substance Related Diagnoses |DSM 191-223 (skim rest of substance section) | |

| | | |“How should we revise diagnostic criteria for substance | |

| | | |use disorders in DSM-V” (this article is a bit long but | |

| | | |very interesting) | |

|Week 7 |2/20 |PRESIDENTS DAY- NO CLASS | | |

|Week 8 |2/27 |Psychotic disorders |“Should Psychosis Risk Become a Diagnostic Class?” |Assessment & |

| | | |DSM 297-343 |Scientific Paper #1 |

| | | | |Due |

|Week 9 |3/5 |Dementia and Delirium |Relevant sections of Lezak: Chap 7 207-244 |Case Presentation #1 |

| | | |DSM 135-180 | |

|Week 10 |3/12 |SPRING BREAK-NO CLASS | | |

|Week 11 |3/19 |Mood and Anxiety Disorders |“Saving PTSD from itself in DSM-V” |Case Presentation #2 |

| | | |DSM 346-400 (skim rest of section) | |

| | | |DSM 429-484 | |

|Week 12 |3/26 |Eating, Somatoform, Factitious, |“Eating Disorder NOS” and “Anorexia/Bulimia crossover” |Case Presentation #3 |

| | |Dissociative, and Sleep Disorders |DSM 485-517, 583- 595, 597- 609 (skim rest of section) | |

|Week 13 |4/9 |Personality Disorders |“Evidence-based assessment of personality disorders” |Case Presentation #4 |

| | | |“The future of personality disorders in the DSM-V?” | |

| | | |DSM 685-729 | |

|Week 14 |4/16 |Traumatic Brain Injury, Stroke, and |Lezak, Rest of Chapter 7 and Chapter 18 pgs 718-734 |Case Presentation #5 |

| | |Infectious Processes | | |

|Week 15 |4/23 |Adjustment Disorders & V codes |Groth-Marnat chapters 13 and 14 |Case Presentation #6 |

| | |Using assessment to inform therapy |“Information-Gathering and Therapeutic Models of | |

| | |and therapeutic models of assessment |Assessment” | |

| | | |DSM 731-743 | |

|Finals |5/2 (Wed) |Final paper due to my office | |Assessment & |

| | | | |Scientific Report #2 |

| | | | |Due |

Additional Resources

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:

I hope this course will provide a learning environment in which all students can perform to the best of their abilities. We will make every effort to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities. Please let me know of any special requirements as early in the quarter as possible so that I can ensure that appropriate accommodations are made. This information will be kept private. Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.

Sensitivity and Privacy

We will be discussing information about the clients that you encounter in your outside placements. It is expected that you will treat this information with appropriate sensitivity, and that you will keep all information that you learn about patients in the course of our discussions absolutely confidential. Please do not put client names or identifying data on any information that you distribute to the class or turn in to me.

Academic Integrity

I will not tolerate any plagiarism or misrepresentation in the writing of the assessment reports or scientific papers. All work submitted in this class must be yours and yours alone. You are expected to understand and abide by the principles outlined in Scampus, the student guidebook. The Student Conduct Code is in section 11.00 and recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: .

Emergency Preparedness/Course Continuity:

In case of emergency, if travel to campus is difficult, USC executive leadership will announce an electronic way for instructors to teach students in their homes using a combination of Blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technologies. If this situation arises, you will be assigned a "Plan B" project that can be completed at a distance.

References

Carpenter, W.T. (2009). Antiicpating DSM-V: Should psychosis risk become a diagnostic class? Schizophrenia Bulletin, 35, 841-843.

Eddy, K.T., Dorer, D.J., Franko, D.L., Tahilani, K., Thompson-Bremmer, H., & Herzog, D.B. (2008). Diagnostic crossover in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: Implications for DSM-V. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 245-250.

Fairburn, C. G., Cooper, Z., Bohn, K., O’Connor, M.E., Doll, H.A., & Palmer, R.L. The severity and status of eating disorder NOS: Implications for DSM-V. Behavioral Research and Therapy, 45, 1705-1715.

Finn, S.E., & Tonsager, M.E. (1997). Information gathering and therapeutic models of assessment: Complementary paradigms. Psychological Assessment, 9, 374-385.

Martin, C.S., Chung, T., & Langenbucher, J.W. (2008). How should we revise diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders in DSM-V? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117, 561-575.

Meyer, G.J., Finn, S.E., Eyde, L.D., Kay, G.G., Moreland, K. L., Dies, R.R., … Reed, G.M. (2001). Psychological testing and psychological assessment: A review of evidence and issues. American Psychologist, 56, 128-165.

Pine, D.S., Costello, E.J., Dahl, R., James, R., Leckman, J., Leibenluft, E.,…Zeanah, C. (2011). Increasing the developmental focus in DSM-V: Broad issues and specific potential applications in anxiety. In Regier, D.A., Narrow, W.E., Kuhl, E.A., & Kupfer, D.J (Eds.) The Conceptual Evolution of DSM-V (305-321). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Regier, D.A., Narrow, W.E., Kuhl, E.A., Kupfer, D.J. (2009). Conceptual development of the DSM-V. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166, 645-650.

Skodol, A.E., & Bender, D.S. (2009). The future of personality disorders in the DSM-V? American Journal of Psychiatry, 166, 388-391.

Spitzer, R.L., First, M.B., & Wakefield, J.C. (2007). Saving PTSD from itself in DSM-V. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21, 233-241.

Widiger, T.A., & Samuel, D.B. (2005). Evidence-based assessment of personality disorders. Psychological Assessment, 17, 278-287.

Wing, L., Gould, J., & Gillberg, C. (2011). Autism spectrum disorders in the DSM-V: Better or worse off than the DSM-IV? Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32, 768-773.

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Meetings: Mondays 1:00- 4:50 @ PSC

Units: 4 units

Instructor: Danielle Keenan-Miller, Ph.D.

Office: SGM 931

Office Hours: By appointment and Wednesdays 2-3

E-mail: KeenanMi@usc.edu

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