Clinical Psychology and Contextual Behavioral Science

Course code: FHS0165
Selectable PhD course within the subject of psychology, 7.5 credits

Kursen ges på engelska, därför finns kursplanen endast tillgänglig på engelska.

Course plan

Goal

After the course, the student will be able to:

Explain the how Clinical Psychology can be regarded applied behavioral science.
Apply a Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS) approach to psychological problems.
Describe the implications of CBS in psychological treatment development and research methods.
Demonstrate a select set of key clinical methods as examples of techniques used in current clinical psychology treatments.

Content

The course will be given in English. The course will selectively examine the current state of the art in cognitive behavior theory and treatment approaches. From this base the functional contextual wing of these approaches will be further examined, including key philosophical assumptions, behavioral principles, and current models of human performance and wellbeing. From this point a further focus will be taken on ideographic methods, intraindividual processes of therapeutic change, and process-based therapy. Example in research and clinical methods discussed will come from areas of general mental health and behavioral medicine, including chronic pain.

Teaching

The course consists of weekly seminars, including segments selected and led by each seminar participant from within the course material. Seminar methods will include lecture and discussion as well as demonstrations and experiential methods, including role-play of clinical methods when appropriate. Hence, the seminar will include a focus on philosophy, theory, evidence, and practice. Active group discussions and participation in demonstrations are expected.

Examination

The course will be examined through quality of (a) contribution to shared teaching and training in the seminar (including submission of teaching material for review), (b) extent of participation in seminar discussions, and (c) through results from submission of a short review paper as if to a scientific journal. These will entail a novel point of view and an argument for a new direction in a field, well-reasoned and backed up with evidence, or present a critical, “topical” methodological or conceptual review. These will be 2000 to 2500 words in length (excluding references) and critically apply themes of the course to a selected research area.

Grading

Pass or fail.

Literature (pages in total 289 + articles)

Books

Hayes, S. C. & Hofmann, S. G. (Eds.)(2020). Beyond the DSM: Toward a process-based alternative for diagnosis and mental health treatment. Oakland, CA: Context Press.

Key Articles (additional article assignments to follow)

Borsboom D. (2017). A network theory of mental disorders. World psychiatry: Official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 16(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20375

Fisher, A. J., Medaglia, J. D., & Jeronimus, B. F. (2018). Lack of group-to-individual generalizability is a threat to human subjects research. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(27), E6106–E6115. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1711978115

Hayes, S. C., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Wilson, K. G. (2012). Contextual Behavioral Science: Creating a science more adequate to the challenge of the human condition. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science1, 1-16.

Hayes, S. C., Ciarrochi, J., Hofmann, S. G., Chin, F., & Sahdra, B. (2022). Evolving an idionomic approach to processes of change: Towards a unified personalized science of human improvement. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 156, 104155. (23 pages) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104155

Hayes, S. C., Hofmann, S. G., & Ciarrochi, J. (2020). A process-based approach to psychological diagnosis and treatment: The conceptual and treatment utility of an extended evolutionary meta model. Clinical Psychology Review, 82, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101908

Hayes, S. C., Hofmann, S. G., & Wilson, D. S. (2020). Clinical psychology is an applied evolutionary science. Clinical Psychology Review, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101892

McCracken, L. M. (2021). What is third wave behavior therapy? Chapter in W. ODonohue and A Masuda (Eds), Behavior Therapy: First, Second, and Third Waves. Springer.

McCracken, L. M. (2024). Psychological Flexibility, Chronic Pain, and Health. Annual Review of Psychology,75:1, 601-624.

Molenaar, P. C. M. (2004) A Manifesto on Psychology as Idiographic Science: Bringing the Person Back Into Scientific Psychology, This Time Forever. Measurement, 2(4), 201-218. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15366359mea0204_1