Psychology 343 - Calderwood Seminar: Psychosomatic Medicine

How we think and feel can have a profound impact on our health. Through the interdisciplinary lens of psychosomatic medicine, we critically evaluate empirically-supported embodiment practices (e.g., breathwork, meditation, visualization) for preventing metabolic and cardiopulmonary diseases, major causes of death globally. We highlight recurring psychologically-mediated processes including placebo effects, emotion, and patient-practitioner relationships. More broadly, we consider how individual healing is embedded in social structural, cultural, and historical contexts, and begin envisioning what decolonized and liberatory healing means in the 21st century. The key emphasis of this course is ethically translating scientific research in this domain for public non-specialist audiences. Prerequisites: PSY 140 & PSY 202. Juniors and Seniors only. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission required.

[CE] JR/SR only; Prereqs: PSY 140 & PSY 202