UCL - Psychopathology

[PSY1332]

[30h] 4 credits

This course is taught in the 2d semester.

Teacher(s): Philippe Lekeuche

Language: French

Level: First

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

To provide students interested in psychology and health with some tools to analyse the contribution made by clinical psychology to the field of mental health.
By concentrating on the study of the basic concepts which lead to a better understanding of the various processes underlying pathological phenomena, this course provides an introduction to clinical anthropology, helping students to understand the human being as a significant structure.

Main themes

Introduction to the issue of the normal and the pathological.
Examination of the basic concepts to understand life from a psychological perspective and the various forms of pathologies it may generate.
Presentation of the links in structural nosography differentiating the major registers of pathology and how they relate to one another.

Content and teaching methods

As an introduction, the definitions of the normal and the pathological are examined together with the possible links between them. Analysis of the basic concepts centres on drives, fantasies, symptoms etc. and other factors in the processes underlying life from a psychological perspective and the major "defence mechanisms" (repression, projection, denial, split, etc.)
Study of the nosological units highlights the special features of key pathologies : mood disorders, psychopathy and related problems ;inversions and perversions ; neuroses ;psychoses.
There is special emphasis on certain new figures in pathology in the field of changes in society, reflecting current malaise.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

As a complement to Psychiatry and psychopharmacology 1 and 2 (PSY 1263 and PSY 1333), this course places emphasis on the psychological and dynamic mechanisms and processes at work in the pathogenesis and the possible development of various mental disorders. There are additional supervised exercises.