Course Syllabus

Semester & Location:	Fall 2025 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:	Elective Course - 3 credits
Major Disciplines:	Psychology
Prerequisite:	One psychology course at university level.
Faculty Members:	Kamilla Lange  (current students please contact via the Canvas Inbox)
Program Contact:	Department email address psy.cns@dis.dk
Time & Place:	Mondays  11:40-14:35 Classroom: V23-301

 

Description of Course

In the Western world, psychotherapy is a growing field that touches many people's lives. But what is psychotherapy? We will learn about some of the most commonly used psychotherapeutic treatment approaches. How were they developed, why do they have the form they have today? What do we know about what it is that makes psychotherapy effective? What are some side effects of therapy?

We will explore the field of applied psychotherapy from the perspective of therapist and client, and from a wider perspective: How does therapy relate to culture? Can therapy be harmful? Are we getting better at understanding and treating mental suffering?

This course introduces diverse theoretical approaches to counseling methods and incorporates the use of integrated therapeutic approaches with focus on pragmatic therapeutic elements .

 

This course requires active participation in and observation of group-based and individual exercises focusing on counseling skills.

Students will be introduced to exercises in practical counseling skills and various theories of counseling and psychotherapy. We will review how theoretical knowledge can be applied to real life therapy . Major theoretical traditions regarding therapy and counseling will be discussed. Assorted counseling methods and integrated approaches are presented and compared.

The class will consist of a group based presentations by students on the topic of the day which focuses on theoretical principles, applications and research. A significant part of the class is based on class discussion, role plays and other exercises and DVD observations of experts conducting therapy.

 

Learning Objectives

• Explore the theoretical framework behind different counseling and therapeutic approaches, in general and in a Danish context. 

• Apply and compare methods in which professionals work with adult clients and evaluate difficulties and strengths of intervention techniques.

• Experiment with several counseling and creative techniques individually and in small group settings.

 

Faculty

Kamilla Lange
Msc. Psychology (2006, University of Copenhagen). BA. Psychology (2003, University of Copenhagen). Works as a clinical psychologist and mindfulness instructor. Teacher and supervisor for both psychologists, medical doctors and other professionals. Author of a book on mindfulness and body acceptance. With DIS since 2015.

 

Readings

Readings available on Canvas:

• Ayers, A., David, S., Boniwell, I., (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Happiness. UK: Oxford University Press.

• Bao, K.J. & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). Making Happiness Last: Using the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model to Extend the Success of Positive Interventions. In A.C. Parks & S.M. Schueller (Eds). The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Positive Psychology Interventions. Oxford: John Wiley. pp. 373-384. 

• Beck, Judith S. Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Basics and Beyond, Guilford Press, New York, 2011.
• Bracken et al.: Psychiatry beyond the current paradigm. The British Journal of Psychiatry Dec 2012, 201 (6) 430-434.
• Carmody, J. et al.: An empirical study of the mechanisms of mindfulness in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program. Journal of Clinical Psychology. Volume 65, Issue 6, June 2009 , Pages 613–626
• Bystritsky, A. et al. Current Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders. Pharmacy and Terapeutics. 2013 Jan;38(1):30-57.
• Daya, R., (2001). Changing the Face of Multicultural Counselling with Principles of Change. Canadian Journal of Counselling / Revue canadienne de counseling, 2001, Vol. 35:1, 49-62.

• Finsrud, I., Helene A. Nissen-Lie, Karianne Vrabel, Andreas Høstmælingen, Bruce E. Wampold & Pål G. Ulvenes (2022) It's the therapist and the treatment: The structure of common therapeutic relationship factors, Psychotherapy Research, 32:2, 139-150

• Fonagy, P.: The effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapies: an update. 2015. World Psychiatry;14:137–150.
• Fried, E. I. What are ´good´ depression symptoms. Comparing the centrality of DSM and non-DSM symptoms of depression in a network analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders 189 (2016) 314–320.
• Hall, K, Gibbie, T. and Lubman, GI.: Motivational interviewing techniques - facilitating behaviour change in the general practice setting. Aust Fam Physician. 2012 Sep;41(9):660-7.
• Henrich, Joseph, Steven J Heine, and Ara Norenzayan. “The weirdest people in the world?” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 33, no. 2-3 (2010): 61-83.

• Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future. Clinical Psychology, Vol. 10 (2), pp. 144-156.

• Kellogg, S. H., Young, J. E. Schema therapy for borderline personality disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2006, Vol. 62 Issue 4, p445-458.

• Keng et al. (2011). Effects of Mindfulness on Psychological Health: A Review of Empirical Studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 31 (6), pp 1041-1056.

• Kennard, D., (2004). The Therapeutic Community as an adaptable treatment modality across different settings. Psychiatric Quarterly, 75 (3), 295 – 306.

• Milrod, B. et al. (2007). A randomized controlled clinical trial of psychoanalytic psychotherapy for panic disorder. In: The American Journal of Psychiatry,164 (2), 265-272.

• Rubak, S., Sandbæk, A., Lauritzen, T & Christensen, B. Motivational interviewing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2005. British Journal of General Practice; 55: 305–312.
• Shamdasani, S., & Loewenthal, D. (Eds.). (2020). Exploring transcultural histories of psychotherapies. Routledge. Chapter 1, Exploring transcultural histories of psychotherapies.

• Simons et al., (2006). Metacognitive Therapy versus Exposure and Response Prevention for Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 75, pp 257-264.

• Teasdale et al., (2002). Metacognitive Awareness and Prevention of Relapse in Depression: Empirical Evidence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 70 (2), pp 275-287.

• Wampold, B. E. How important are the common factors in psychotherapy? An update. 2015. World Psychiatry;14:270–277. 
• Wendt, D. C., Gone, J. P., & Nagata, D. K. (2015). Potentially harmful therapy and multicultural counseling: Bridging two disciplinary discourses. The Counseling Psychologist, 43(3), 334-358.  For this reading, focus mainly on page 343-353. 
• Werbart, Andrzej & Annevall, Amanda & Hillblom, Johan. (2019). Successful and Less Successful Psychotherapies Compared: Three Therapists and Their Six Contrasting Cases. Frontiers in Psychology. 10.

• Whitley, S., (2004). The evolution of the therapeutic community. Psychiatric Quarterly, 75 (3), 233-248.

• Sabine Wilhelm, Hilary Weingarden, Ilana Ladis, Valerie Braddick, Jin Shin, Nicholas C. Jacobson, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in the Digital Age: Presidential Address, Behavior Therapy, Volume 51, Issue 1, 2020, Pages 1-14.
• Yosep I, Suryani S, Mediani HS, Mardhiyah A, Maulana I. Digital Therapy: Alleviating Anxiety and Depression in Adolescent Students During COVID-19 Online Learning - A Scoping Review. J Multidiscip Healthc. 2023 Jun 21;16:1705-1719. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S416424. PMID: 37366385; PMCID: PMC10290852.

• Zak, P. J. , 2015, Why Inspiring Stories Make Us React: The Neuroscience of Narrative. Cerebrum: the Dana Forum on Brain Science. Jan-Feb; 2015: 2.

 

Field Studies

• Ecotherapy. We will explore the role of nature in therapeutic processes and visit the therapeutic gardens in Valbyparken. 

 

Guest Lecturers

• "En af os" - the National campaign project working to destigmatize psychiatric illness. We will meet a user of the Danish psychiatric care system and a volunteer from the project. 
• Topic: What is living with psychiatric illness like?

 

• Lasse Damgaard: Cognitive Science M.Sc. at Aarhus University, Denmark. 
• Topic: The therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs.

 

• Rikke Kjellgaard: Clinical psychologist, lecturer. Expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. 
• Topic: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

 

• Kamilla Kisbye Clinical psychologist working in a psychiatric hospital. 
• Topic: Psychiatric care. Kamilla will share her experiences from working in various psychiatric hospital departments.

 

Approach to Teaching

The class will be a mixture of lecturing, data collection, research design, student group presentations, and class discussion. I see it as collaborative learning, where I serve as the facilitator, but the whole class is instrumental for the outcome. I welcome questions and discussion. 

 

Students should be able to feel confident in presenting their differing viewpoints even if those are different to other class members. Differences should always be approached with respect and students to be able to think about these differences in a reflective manner in relation to their own life experiences and how each one digests and processes the different theoretical perspectives presented.

 

Expectations of the Students

Attend all classes having read the materials prior to class

Participate actively in discussions in class and in group exercises

Develop and exercise critical thinking throughout the course

Classroom etiquette includes being respectful of one another’s opinions; listening to others and entering into dialogue in a constructive manner

Students are required to treat the contributions from each other with confidentiality and respect for privacy. Any personal information revealed in this class is confidential. You may share ideas and experiences with people outside the class, but no information referring to personal identities should be revealed. Any violation of this confidentiality will be taken seriously.

 

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated throughout the term by completing various group and individual assignments.  All students will be assigned their groups in the beginning of the term and will be required to complete all coursework in order to receive a pass grade.  Students that are able to produce work beyond the obvious and predictable will be awarded full marks for their efforts.  Students are also expected to contribute to class discussions and show active participation throughout the term in order to receive full marks for the course. 

 

Grading

Assignment	Percent
Readings Quizzes	10%
Perspectives on therapy	20%
Class Attendance and Participation Includes participation in class and in group work	25%
Group Led Discussion	15% (Group)
Critical Analysis Paper	30% (Individual)
Reflections on the course	Complete/incomplete

 

Perspectives on therapy

• 4 pages (excluding title page and references) – word count must be included (1page =300 words)

• Paper based on class readings and a minimum of 2 additional readings.

• Citations and references must be written in APA style.

The paper should include the following:

Discussion of psychotherapy in a historical context. How has the view of mental suffering and mental treatment changed over time?

Reflections on how therapy relates to societal norms and values. Who has defined what is "normal" and "abnormal", and what should be "treated"? 

Discuss how you perceive the current ideas about therapy. Which role does it play in our modern society and in our individual lives? Are there future developments that you would like to see in the field of psychotherapy?

 

Class Attendance and Participation :

Participation in class requires arriving on time and being prepared in relation to readings and other assignments. Your participation grade reflects the importance of being active in this course, which relies in great part on the reflections, discussions, and exercises in class. Active participation is essential in both the classroom, on field studies, and in group work. Furthermore, attendance is mandatory.

 

Group Led Discussion:

Each group facilitates a class reflection and discussion on a chosen topic related to therapy. This could be a wide variety of things - perhaps the merits of CBT, diversity in the field of psychology, dilemmas involved in therapy, the use of medicine, the quality of evidence research... you get the picture. 

The group should prepare some form of interactive activity relating to the topic. This can be role play that the group do themselves and/or have the class do, it could be using a therapeutic worksheet or other types of tools, the main requirement is that it involves an experiential component. You are invited to think outside the box, as long as the purpose is to create engagement and participation. The group should also consider how they plan to facilitate reflection and discussion in class. 

 

Critical Analysis of Evidence Based Therapy

We often hear a call for evidence based therapy, but how do we provide the basis for this? What can we study scientifically, and what do we find?

What are some limitations for the research and where might future studies take us?

Below are some guidelines for the paper, but it is not a guide for how to format or sequence the paper. You can cover the different parts in whatever order you wish, combine them and address them as you think best. 

Choose one or more studies regarding the efficacy of therapy to critically analyze. (It is possible to choose a meta-analysis, but if you do, please contact me as there are specific considerations to have in mind for this kind of publication. )

• Present the study you have chosen. Why is this study a good choice when evaluating the evidence base of therapy? What was the purpose of the study? Which methods were chosen? Which findings are presented?
• Does the study look at a specific therapeutic approach? If so, what are the theoretical foundations for how mental suffering is understood in this approach, and what are the proposed mechanisms of therapeutic change? Does the study look at the specific effect of those mechanisms?
• Critically analyze the study:
  • Evaluate the link between the methods used and the purpose of the study. Are the outcome measures valid or might other tools/methods have been preferable?
  • Is there a meaningful control group?
  • What are the effect sizes? Is there a significant effect?
  • Are the findings presented in a nuanced way? Gauge the validity of the conclusion. 
  • Is the study generalizable? To what extent? 
  • Are there other limitations to the study you want to point out?
• Discuss the broader issue of evidence based therapy. What are some challenges to this? What are the opportunities? How might this field develop in the future?

 

Reflections on the course

• In a 1-2 page (1 page = 300 words) essay, write your reflections on the course. 
• What are some key takeaways for you?
• Did the course change some of your perceptions on therapy or other aspects?
• How can you carry these learnings with you in your future life, professionally and/or personally?

The assignment is a complete/incomplete grade, so that you should feel free to write authentically. 

 

Late Papers

Late papers will be accepted, but your grade for the paper will be reduced by half a letter point for each day that it is late.

 

Academic Accommodations

Your learning experience in this class is important to me.  If you have approved academic accommodations with DIS, please make sure I receive your DIS accommodations letter within two weeks from the start of classes. If you can think of other ways I can support your learning, please don't hesitate to talk to me. If you have any further questions about your academic accommodations, contact Academic Support academicsupport@dis.dk

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

• Course Enrollment and Grading  
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code