Psychology 356 - SEM:SCI BASIS/PSYCHOTHERAPY

This seminar provides a guided tour through the scientific literature on psychotherapy. We begin with a historical overview of the field including a review of the major systems of psychotherapy (psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive and humanistic). We then devote some time to developing critical skills for reading the scientific literature. These skills are nurtured throughout the semester as we move through the major research on psychotherapy "outcome" and "process." Outcome research traditionally asks the question, "Does psychotherapy work?" We explore the field's current position on that question and demonstrate that it leads naturally to the process question, "How does psychotherapy work?" We discuss the current literature on this question and gain some "hands-on" experience with psychotherapy process measures. Course readings are supplemented with videotapes and transcript material from actual psychotherapies. Prerequisites PSY100, PSY 202, PSY 150 or PSY 287.

Instructor permission. Not open to first-years, sophomores