200254 SE Advanced Seminar: Clinical Psychology and Health Psychology (2025S)

Aim: The aim of the seminar is to develop your understanding of biological basis of stress and its modulation by social and psychological factors, as well as to develop your skills in discussion leading and moderation.

Content: During the course, we will read the following book:
Lovallo, W. R. (2016). Stress and Health: Biological and Psychological Interactions. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071801390

Through these chapters, you will gain insight into central theories about stress systems, and state-of-art research paradigms.
Are you interested in delving into the details of stress to understand such phenomenon that we are affected so much in our daily life? This class will give a basic coverage of the field of stress and health through questions such as:
How does stress affect psychosomatic disorders? What kind of early experiences make one more vulnerable to stress? What does the working of the immune system tell us about the relationship between thoughts and emotions and health? What are the key structures in the brain that might maintain this relationship? During natural disasters, what might cause some persons to experience sudden death?
We aim to cover the different class topics with the help of one chapter that gives the opportunity to discuss critically these theories and findings.
Methods: active participation, presentation of a selected topic, moving beyond the chapter and extending the topic with own interest and discussion leading/moderation, learning specific techniques on discussion moderation (e.g. World Café, Round Robin, Fishbowl discussion, Debate style etc.), and a written paper.
After completing this course, you will be able to:
• Understand biological basis of stress and its modulation by social and psychological factors,
• Discuss, explain several topics in the field of stress and health
• Read scientific literature critically (What is missing? What could be next steps?)
• Give academic presentation and lead, moderate a group discussion
• Construct a short academic paper
- find, compare different research angles
- discuss previous findings, and criticize their methods, approach
- formulate new research directions, potential applications

Schedule
1. 07.03.2025. Syllabus, Introduction
14.03.2025. (cancelled)
2. 21.03.2025. Chapter 1: Psychosocial Models of Health and Disease
3. 28.03.2025. Chapter 2: History of the Concept of Stress
4. 04.04.2025. Chapter 3: Homeostatic Regulation: Normal Function and Stress Responses
5. 11.04.2025. Chapter 4: Physical and Psychological Stress

----- SPRING BREAK ----

6. 02.05.2025. Chapter 5: Central Nervous System Integration of the Psychological Stress Response
7. 09.05.2025. Chapter 6: Stress and the Endocrine System
8. 16.05.2025. Chapter 7: The Immune System Stress and Behaviour
9. 23.05.2025. Chapter 8: Helplessness Coping and Health
10. 30.05.2025. Chapter 9: Genes, Stress and Behaviour
11. 06.06.2025. Chapter 10: Individual Differences in Reactivity to Stress
12. 13.06.2025. Chapter 11: Health Implications of Exaggerated and Blunted Stress Reactivity
13. 20.06.2025. Chapter 12: Behaviour, Stress, and Health- Dillemmas and Future
14. 27.06.2025. Written paper discussion with colleagues in a group, Feedback & Closing