Psychology

The positive psychological movement formulated three aims: to focus on well-being and happiness instead of abnormal behavior and psychopathology; to be concerned with building positive qualities and strengths instead of repairing damage; to prevent future problems instead of correcting past and present problems. In this course, students unlock character strengths and focus on helpful ways to support themselves during difficult times. The course covers the most important theories in Positive Psychology and encourages students to search for scientific literature that applies the topics covered to their specific areas of interest. The course includes a combination of lectures, experiential workshops, group meetings, and self-study.

This course offers students an overview of the psychological, pharmacological, neurobiological, and neurophysiological bases of drug use, abuse, and contemporary understanding of addiction (and some mental conditions), and has a strong natural science (neuroscience) orientation. The acute and long-term effects of selected drugs of abuse on behavior, mood, cognition, and neuronal function are discussed using empirical findings and theoretical developments from both human and non-human subject studies on the neurobiological and psychological basis of drug action and addiction.

This course provides a cultural perspective on human development. Specifically, the course emphasizes the usefulness of a (cross-)cultural approach to understand parenting and psychological functioning, to assess culturally diverse children and families, and to implement culturally sensitive interventions. The course discusses the role of culture in human development and in socialization processes, as well as identifying the risk and protective factors involved in the adaptation of migrant families. The course addresses topics including theoretical approaches to culture and human development; cross-cultural and cultural psychology; individualism and collectivism; parenting, cultural models, and socialization practices; cognitive and socio-emotional development across cultures; immigration and acculturation processes; and assessment and interventions in multicultural settings. The course requires basic knowledge of developmental psychology concepts as a prerequisite.

This course discusses disorders or alterations that may appear throughout development-- from childhood to adolescence--, the instruments used to evaluate the symptomatology, and methods for designing disorder-specific interventions.

Psychological disorders are common and very diverse across the lifespan. In this course, the most common disorders in childhood and adulthood are discussed. Topics include theoretical models applied to psychopathology (biological, cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, and systemic); the efficacy of recommended treatments; significance of experimental psychopathology to good clinical psychology research; controversies and issues, such as stigma, diagnosis, and cultural issues; and research methods in clinical psychology.