PSBB040 Personalized Therapeutic Methods

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2019
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Zuzana Kasanová, Ph.D. (lecturer), PhDr. Zuzana Slováčková, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
Zuzana Kasanová, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jarmila Valchářová
Supplier department: Department of Psychology – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
This course draws knowledge from behavioral psychology as well as positive psychology and psychology of health, and the practical examples require basic knowledge of psychopathology and traditional intervention methods covered in clinical psychology. In-depth knowledge of these disciplines is not necessary, however.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 1 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/1, only registered: 0/1, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/1
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Personalized mental healthcare is based on the premise that an individual’s unique neurobiology, personality, psychology and environment play a significant role in the vulnerability to psychopathology, as well as in response to interventions. Personalized therapeutic methods aim to understand the set of individual specific risk factors, and target them in order to restore and optimize mental health. This course will present approaches to capturing the mechanisms of person-environment interaction, and illustrate a selection of personalized interventions in psychopathology such as depression and schizophrenia. In addition, it will present emerging mobile health (mHealth) technologies that rely on smartphones, tablets, apps and wearable devices to enhance clinical care.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be familiar with the unique principles and advantages of personalized mental healthcare including remote monitoring of clients' mental states and strategies for tailoring interventions delivered in the daily life of individuals with mental disorders. Participants will also be exposed to current trends in healthcare technology such as the use of smartphone apps and sensors measuring biological markers of stress, activity levels and general treatment response.
Syllabus
  • 1. Risk factors for the development of psychopathology There is growing evidence that some adversities such as childhood trauma, toxic family environment, negative life events, acute and chronic stress, migration, etc. can increase the risk of developing a mental disorder. The epidemiological and experimental evidence for the link between these risk factors and psychopathology will be highlighted.
  • 2. Mechanisms of increased vulnerability to psychopathology The proposed underlying biological and psychological mechanism by which environmental risk factors increase the vulnerability to psychopathology include biological and psychological processes. From these, stress sensitization, social defeat, cognitive biases and dysregulation of the brain neurotransmitter systems will be introduced.
  • 3. Approaches to capturing the individual unique risk factors and vulnerabilities Despite the wealth of neuroimaging, genetic and other empirical studies of psychopathology, no biomarker or psychological mechanism has been identified that would satisfactorily predict or treat psychopathology on a population level. In this part, novel approaches that capture the unique person-environment interactions, vulnerabilities and symptom dynamics will be presented.
  • 4. Personalized therapeutic methods The understanding of person-specific processes that promote vulnerability to environmental triggers can serve as a basis for designing therapeutic methods tailored to the needs of each individual client. Emerging evidence-based mHealth interventions, and their implementation in the clinical practice will be discussed, concretely: a) Aceptance and Commitment Therapy in Daily Life b) Ecological momentary interventions c) Remote monitoring-based approaches
Literature
    recommended literature
  • 1. Belbasis L, Kohler CA, Stefanis N, et al. (2018) Risk factors and peripheral biomarkers for schizophrenia spectrum disorders: an umbrella review of meta-analyses. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 137: 88-97.
  • 2. Myin-Germeys I, Lataster T, Lardinois M, et al. (2008) Stress-sensitivity: a mechanism underlying the positive symptoms of psychosis? Early Intervention in Psychiatry 2: A18-A18.
  • 3. Myin-Germeys I, Birchwood M and Kwapil T. (2011) From environment to therapy in psychosis: a real-world momentary assessment approach. Schizophrenia Bulletin 37: 244-247.
  • 4. Myin-Germeys I, Klippel A, Steinhart H, et al. (2016) Ecological momentary interventions in psychiatry. Curr Opin Psychiatry 29: 258-263.
  • 5. Batink T, Bakker J, Vaessen T, et al. (2016) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Daily Life Training: A Feasibility Study of an mHealth Intervention. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 4: e103.
Teaching methods
2-day course consisting of presentations, hands-on exercises and discussions
Assessment methods
Students should attend both days of the course, actively participate in discussions and exercises, and write a short (2-page) essay on the topic to be announced at the end of the course.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: in blocks.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2019/PSBB040