PSYC506: Professional Issues in Multicultural Psychology (3 hours lecture)

This course is designed to expose students in school psychology to multicultural issues which are central to theory, practice, and research. The course has an awareness, knowledge, and skills focus. Awareness is centered on understanding multiple value systems and world views and gaining insight into one's own cultural socialization and inherent biases. Knowledge focuses on acquiring accurate understanding of the various cultural groups with whom one will work. Skills relate to specific culturally appropriate and tailored interventions. The course incorporates multicultural modes of learning and performance evaluation. 3 sh.

PSYC510: Research Methods in Psychology (3 hours lecture)

This course provides the essentials needed to read, understand and critically evaluate research reports. Students will also learn how to carry out the entire research process, starting with identifying the research problem and ending with a thesis or research report. Factorial analysis of variance and the major multiple correlational designs are explained. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: Undergraduate laboratory course in experimental psychology.

PSYC561: Developmental Psychology (3 hours lecture)

Philosophical, conceptual, theoretical and research issues pertinent to human development from prenatal life to adulthood are presented. The core conceptual issues of development, such as the nature-nurture controversy, the continuity-discontinuity issue, and the issue of stability-instability, are discussed, and their relationships to the major theories in developmental psychology are examined. 3 sh.

PSYC565: Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (3 hours lecture)

This course emphasizes the diagnosis of psychological disorders usually first evident in infancy, childhood or adolescence. Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to, affective disorders, anxiety disorders, conduct disorders, substance abuse, sexuality/gender identity disorders, pervasive developmental disorder and behavioral aspects of developmental disabilities. Students will be expected to understand DSM-IV categories. Each student is expected to be familiar with developmental psychology and personality development. Issues associated with evaluation, classification and diagnosis will be discussed extensively. Guidelines for appropriate interventions will be provided. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: Matriculation in the Child/Adolescent Clinical program or permission of the department.

PSYC574: Cognitive Assessment (3 hours lecture)

Students learn how to administer, score and interpret individual intelligence tests. Theories of intelligence and the appropriateness of the tests to specific populations are discussed. Students administer and report on the three Wechsler Intelligence Scales and the Stanford-Binet(4th Edition), Development Achievement Scales, Adaptive Behavior Scales, and other cognitive assessment techniques. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: Departmental approval and approved certification candidacy in the School Psychology program, the Bilingual Clinical concentration, or the Child/Adolescent Clinical programs.

PSYC575: Personality Assessment (3 hours lecture)

The basic instruments of projective testing, particularly the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test, DAP, HTP, TAT, TEMAS, and Sentence Completion Tests are studied. Students will also understand how cultural diversity impacts on assessment. Instruments are reviewed from the standpoints of basic research and the mechanics of administration and scoring. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: Departmental approval and approved certification candidacy in the School Psychology Program, the Bilingual Clinical concentration or the Child/Adolescent Clinical programs.

PSYC578: Psychological Tests and Measurements (3 hours lecture)

This course surveys the theory, construction and application of psychological tests. Topics include the statistical concepts underlying measurement; reliability and validity; critical analyses of selected intelligence, ability and personality tests; evaluation and interpretation of test data in practical situations; and the role of testing in clinical, educational and remedial settings. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: Departmental approval, and an undergraduate Psychology statistics course or equivalent.

PSYC593: Clinical Interviewing (3 hours lecture)

This course integrates the theory and practice of clinical interviewing. The goals of this course are to facilitate the development of the student's listening, diagnostic, and therapeutic interviewing skills. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: Departmental approval, and 12 graduate credits in Psychology or related fields.

PSYC659: Special Topics Seminar in Psychology (3 hours seminar)

This course provides an in-depth view of important theoretical and methodological issues in various areas of psychology. It is designed to permit faculty with particular interests and expertise to provide students with a comprehensive analysis of a selected contemporary issue (or issues) in psychology. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: Departmental approval, and completion of 15 or more credits in one's program.

PSYC670: Introduction to Psychotherapy (3 hours lecture)

This course surveys theories, research and practices in individual and group psychotherapy, and introduces the student to various treatments for emotional maladjustment and behavioral pathology. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

PSYC679: Family Systems and Childhood Disorders: A Multicultural Approach (3 hours lecture)

This course will use a multicultural lens to examine the various family therapy approaches such as Structural, Bowenian, Behavioral, Strategic and Paradoxical approaches and their corresponding techniques. Special emphasis will be placed on applying these approaches to the prevailing childhood DSM diagnoses (e.g., Childhood Depression and Anxiety, Substance Abuse, Eating Disorders, ADHD, Developmental Disorders, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder). A segment of the course will focus on special topics and their relevance to family functioning (e.g., trauma, incest/sexual abuse, domestic violence, illness/death, poverty and parental psychopathology). 3 sh.

Prerequisites: PSYC 565 or PSYC 667.

PSYC680: Externship in Clinical Psychology

This course is a supervised, two semester, clinical experience designed to provide the skills necessary for professional practice in Mental Health Clinics or other settings where there is a significant Hispanic clientele. On-site supervision will take place under the direction of a fully licensed clinical psychologist (the field-based supervisor) in close cooperation with the Bilingual Clinical Program Director at Montclair State. The student will also meet with a Montclair State faculty supervisor on a weekly basis. At least one of the supervisors will be a bilingual/bicultural individual. A contract will be signed between the student intern, field-based supervisor and the Montclair faculty supervisor before the start of the internship. 3 sh.

Prerequisites: Departmental approval, and matriculated status in the Clinical Psychology for Spanish/English Bilinguals Concentration, and permission of the program director.