Syllabus for
Master of Science (Psychology-Clinical )
Academic Year  (2023)

One of the first departments to be founded in Christ (Deemed to be University), the Department of Psychology has grown in leaps and bounds with innovations in curriculum, pedagogy and ground-breaking initiatives. The Vision of the Department of Psychology is to promote high academic standards and scholarship in psychology, by creating an optimal and enriching learning environment, fostering on going professional and personal development and contributing effectively to societal needs. The Department in Delhi NCR campus was initiated in 2019 and runs a range of programmes that include Certificate courses, Undergraduate programmes, Post Graduate programmes with two specializations and Research degree in psychology (Ph.D.). Through these programmes we encourage students to consider careers and life missions that integrate psychological understanding to life. Our programmes integrate scholarship with professional awareness are service oriented and are encouraged to embrace humane values in their vocation.

1. The Vision of the Department of Psychology is to Promote High Academic Standards and Scholarship in Psychology, by Creating an Optimal and Enriching Learning Environment, Fostering Ongoing Professional and Personal Development and Contributing Effectively to Societal Needs. The Department realises its vision to promote high academic standards through a continuous and dynamic curriculum review process based on feedback from peers, professionals, potential employers and students. A variety of student-centred teaching and training pedagogies are practised by the faculty members. Prominent among them are the use of seminars, experiential methodologies, laboratory training, conferences, workshops, field based studies, and film based discussions and interactions with field experts, practise and we offer courses that are cutting edge in the field of psychology. Students who complete programmes in Psychology from the University demonstrate high degrees of self.

The Department of Psychology offers a two-year full-time M Sc program in Psychology with specialization in Clinical Psychology. Keeping pace with the disciplinary advances the program would address knowledge about psychological functioning at individual and social levels in an all-encompassing manner. With the goal of acquiring specialized knowledge, the program would allow students to nurture their academic interest in clinical psychology, along with personal growth and awareness. The spirit of interdisciplinary growth is kept in view while conceptualizing a three-tier system- A) CORE COURSES in the first three PG semesters (courses, which can be considered to be fundamental in giving PG students a larger perspective of Psychology as a social science discipline, irrespective of specialization); B) SPECIALIZATION COURSES (specific theory courses within the subject of Clinical Psychology); and C) ELECTIVE COURSES ( a wide variety, across all disciplinary specializations, primarily conceptualized by individual faculties (based on their own interest/expertise), offered from time to time and chosen by students according to their preference. The program would strive to prepare competent professional psychologists who would excel in knowledge, orientation, and practice in psychology, with high ethical standards and social relevance.

Assessment pattern for PG programmes offered by Department of Psychology

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA) for all courses : 70%

End-Semester Examination  (ESE): 30% (30 marks out of 100)

Continuous Assessment

The assessment and grading of the students will take place in the following manner:

• A formative assessment of the competencies is carried out the beginning of the course. This is not graded.
• Assessment of the acquisition of the competencies is done continuously throughout the course with a minimum of one assessment per month.
• Two CIAs have to be submitted which will be graded on 30 and 35 marks respectively. 

Class engagement: 05 marks

Attendance : 05 marks

CIA 1 and 2 are conducted by the respective faculty in the form of different types of assignments within the stipulated time for awarding the marks.

The students have to attain minimum pass marks in each assignment or will have to repeat the assignment within the time stipulated by the department.

Marks scored by the students for CIA will be displayed in the student login within a week after the last date of submission of marks by the faculty. Any discrepancy shall be informed immediately to the faculty concerned for correction of marks.

Students who either fail   or do not appear for   CIA  will have to apply for repeat CIA immediately after publishing the results of each CIA component. Application to be forwarded  through the HoD and Dean to the Office of Examinations and obtain necessary approvals. Number of chances for repeating each CIA is only one

. Students who  fail in the  CIA  in a semester have to apply for CIA repeat of the whole course in the subsequent semester

End Semester Examination

• The End semester (competency) examination for the theory as well as practical courses is held at the end of the semesters .
• The End semester (competency) examination might take place in the form of written examination, project submission and Viva Voce examination and managed by Office of Examinations
• Generally the duration of is 2 hours but it may vary for certain courses.
• Absentee's parents will be alerted through SMS within 1 hour after the commencement of the examination.
• ESCE for all courses will be conducted for 50 marks and reduced to out of 30 marks
• Hall ticket with timetable and seating allotment is compulsory for ESCE which can be downloaded from the Student Login or obtained from the department office.
• Dress code of the University should be followed during the examination days except wearing ties.
• Permission for admission to the ESCE is granted only if
• A student has passed in CIA’s for that course with a minimim grade for overall CIA.

o   A student has at least 85% of the attendance in aggregate at the end of the semester.

o   The Vice-Chancellor is satisfied with the character and conduct of the student.

For 2 and 8 credit courses, a similar system will be followed with marks adjusted accordingly. All Internships, practicum, seminars and research related courses will follow the same pattern.

Pass Criteria

A student shall pass each course with a minimum aggregate score of 50 marks with minimum of  50%  for CIA and 40 % for ESE. The overall aggregate to pass a semester is 50%.  Student failing a course due to less than minimum in ESE  shall repeat the ESE while his/her internal scores shall remain valid.

All other regulations pertaining to assessment and evaluation are same as other programmes of the CHRIST (Deemed to be University)

 urse Course Prerequisites (if any) NIL Course Description This course will introduce students to the domain of academic writing and its intricacies. Every student, regardless of his or her area of interest, will be called upon to use an academic style of writing at different levels and at various points in time. This course will therefore seek to impart such knowledge about the styles of writing used in the current academic scenario. It will provide students with opportunities in the classroom setting to practice such styles, both individually and in collaboration with others

 An overview of the status of academic writing and its importance; different approaches and processes; Experiential Learning as Assessment Strategies: Individual/Group presentations on forms and issues in Academic Writing; classroom assignments in generating abstracts, posters, reviews, etc

Key issues: plagiarism, biases, and frequent errors 

Guidelines and rules in Academic Writing: Introduction to style and formatting guidelines from the American Psychological Association (APA); specific guidelines pertaining to in-text citations, references and structures of academic courses

Forms of Academic Writing: Abstract writing; summarisation; review of literature; scientific poster presentations; reflective, analytic, and descriptive reports; book review; film review; tables and graphs in academic courses; 

2. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6 th ed.). (2009). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

2. Leki, L (2010). Academic Writing 2/E South Asian Edition, Cambridge University Press

CIA-2 (25 marks)

Attendance (5 marks)

All CIAs are must pass assessments, A grade of 50% is required to pass. If a student fails to meet the grade, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA.

The student must pass all CIAs.

This course has been conceptualized in order to inculcate awareness about legal and ethical aspects of practicing Clinical Psychology in India. It highlights the commonly encountered ethical dilemmas in clinical practice and facilitates ethical decision making in a multicultural context. The courses also address licensure and certification issues in clinical psychology practice in India.

 ● General Ethical Principles: Beneficence and Non-maleficence, Fidelity and Responsibility, Integrity, Justice, Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity;

● Ethical standards: Resolving Ethical Issues, Competence, Human Relations, Privacy and Confidentiality, Advertising and Other Public Statements, Record Keeping and Fees, Education and Training, Research and Publication, Assessment, Therapy, Ethics in Indian context

● Ethics and the personal context: Morals, Virtues, Emotions;

● Multiple relationships and Boundary issues, Close Encounters, Attraction, & Sexual Misconduct; Psychotherapy contract: Informed consent, confidentiality and guidelines for contacting;

● Ethics and confidentiality in digital age, Ethics in online therapy.

● Developing a personal model for ethical decision making. 

● Ethics in child psychotherapy;

● Couples and families, Survivors of sexual violence;

● Therapy with LGBT;

● Ethical Issues in the Consultation-Liaison Context;

● Assessment and Management of Suicide Risk;

● Ethics in Multicultural and Interpersonal context

● Mental healthcare act 2017;

● Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016;

● RCI Regulations and Act 2000;

● Process of getting certified as licensed clinical psychologists;

● Representing clients in court of law

● RTI Act,

● Consumer Protection Act

2. Bhola,P.& Raguram ,A.(Eds.) (2016). Ethical Issues in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice Walking the line .New Delhi: Springer

3. Rehabilitation Council of India (2000).RCI Amendment Act 2000.Retrived from http://www.rehabcouncil.nic.in/writereaddata/RCI_Amendments_ACT.pdf

4. The Mental Health Care Act (2017). Available from: http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Mental%20Health/Mental%20Healthcare%20Act,%2 02017.pdf.

2.  Right to Information Act (2005). Available from https://dopt.gov.in/sites/default/files/CompendiumIRDivision_Latest.pdf

3.  Consumer Protection Act (2019). Available from https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2019/210422.pdf

End semester examination (ESE) - 30%

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

CIA 1: 30 marks

CIA 2: 35 Marks Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE.

The Developmental Psychology course for Clinical Psychology builds upon principles of human development acquired at the undergraduate level. This course examines research in developmental psychology as it applies to real-world situations. The goal is to acquire a greater understanding of factors influencing development, such as biological, hereditary, environmental, or cultural effects that describe, explain and predict developmental changes in humans over the lifespan. The focus will almost exclusively be on typical development. As such, the course will not focus on therapeutic approaches, interventions, or clinical populations. We will examine how knowledge of developmental perspectives can inform parenting decisions, education, public policy, interventions and clinical practice. As this course is only a semester-long, it would be impossible to cover in-depth the entire field of applied developmental psychology. Instead, we will focus on selected topics related to child and adolescents in cognitive development and socio-emotional development and have separate discussion on adulthood and aging theories and its impact on adult development. 

Jean Piaget : A constructivist approach ; Objects and Space: Object Permanence, metacognitive thinking, personal fableness and adolescent risk behaviour; Vygotsky: A social contextual approach; Criticisms and application, Neo-Piagetian work Robbie Case, Changes in adult cognitive development-Schaie and William Perry; Play and play patterns 

Social cognition: Intentionality; Theory of mind, Favell’s perspective taking, false belief task, self-control; Moral development, reasoning and Prosocial behavior- Piaget, Kohlberg, & Gilligan; teaching moral values; Intentionality, Self and social understandingself-concept, self-perception, peer relationship and identity- Erickson, Marcia’s Identity status; health adolescent identity developmentpositive youth development model; Gender development-Bell; Sex 

Emotional development- still face experiment, emotional regulation and dysregulation, temperament, cycle of aggression, goodness of fit, attachment theories and stylesBowlby, Ainsworth, and Winnicot; factors that affect attachment-quality time and opportunity for attachment, infant characteristics, parents internal working model, family environment; Caregiving and Parenting-Diana Baumrind, impact of parenting, issues- co-sleeping, disciplining, abuse, resilience; the role of culture; Bronfenbernner’s Ecosystems model and importance of having a developmental lens

Development during Adulthood, Emerging Adults-Arnett, Bio-psycho-social model of development and developmental tasks- Robert Havighurst, Career and vocation changes-Super Donald, Life stages-Levinson, Erickson; Mid Life Crisis, adult attachment patterns and relationships; Sexuality and Menopause; Coping with death and dying- Kubler Ross; Agingpositive and successful aging; gains and losses in later adult life 

2. Broderick, P.C., & Blewitt, P. (2010). The life span: Human development for helping professionals. (3rd Ed.). Pearson.

3. Santrock, J.W. (2011). A topical Approach to life-Span Development. Tata McGraw-Hill Edition.

2. Dixon, W. E. (2003). Twenty studies that revolutionized child psychology. Prentice Hall.

3. Feldman, R. S. (2015). Discovering the life span. (Third Edition). Pearson Global Education.

4. Kail R V (2001) Children and their development. Prentice Hall Inc.

5. Newman & Newman (2003). Development through life: A Psychosocial Approach. Thomson Wadsworth

End semester examination (ESE) – 30%

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA) CIA 1: 30 marks

CIA 2: 35

Marks Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE.

This course is offered to students in the first semester to introduce them to the tradition of quantitative research in psychology. It begins by discussing the philosophical foundations of quantitative research followed by the scientific basis of research. Students are expected to see the links between scientific process of research and development of clinical psychology. Students will be introduced to research designs and process of research in quantitative methods. The course also provides opportunities to practice skills of research in laboratory setting.

Philosophical roots of quantitative research; History of scientific research in psychology; Definition of research; Purpose and need of psychological research. Experimental, Exploratory, Correlational and descriptive research in psychology; Ethical issues in psychological research Conceptualization, operationalization and measurement; Causality and experimentation; Definition and nature of variables; operationally defining variables; Independent variables; Dependent variables; formulation of research problems and hypothesis; Different types of hypothesis; 

Adequate vs Inadequate (faulty) research design; Types of experimental design based on subjects and factors; Within-subjects, between subjects, single-subject, single factor, and factorial design; Sources of error variance and its management in the various types of experimental designs; Mixed design Experimental manipulation and control of variables; steps in quantitative research (5 hours of lab work dedicated to developing problem statement and a hypothesis is suggested) 

Population and sample: Basic assumptions; Sampling distribution; Sampling techniques: probability and non-probability sampling; Methods of data collection: observational methods, surveys, questionnaires, interviewing methods, case study methods, and psychometric tests Difference between different sampling and data collection methods, when to use what. 

Elements of quantitative research proposal 

End semester examination (ESE) - 30%

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

CIA 1: 30 marks CIA 2: 35

Marks Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE.

 This course introduces students to mental health issues in clinical psychology by introducing clinical psychopathology. The use of diagnostic assessments using both DSM V-TR and ICD 11 will be explored in this course. Students will also be encouraged to integrate the bio-psycho-social model of health and illness with clinical interventions. 

Major theoretical models of psychopathology. Systems of classification, basic features; DSM-5- TR, ICD-11, similarities, differences and critical evaluation; new disorders in DSM-5- TR 

Psychopathology of Mood and Anxiety Disorders Depression, bipolar affective disorders; phobia, GAD, panic, OCD, PSTD, adjustment disorder; Clinical characteristics, etiology.

Psychopathology of Dissociative, Somatoform and Behavioral Syndromes: Dissociative disorder, somatoform disorder, other neurotic disorder; Clinical characteristics and etiology.

Schizophrenia, delusion, other psychotic disorders; Clinical characteristics, etiology; Psycho diagnostic assessments

Ahuja N (2002). A short textbook of Psychiatry (5th edition). New Delhi. Jaypee Brothers. 

End semester examination (ESE) - 30%

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

CIA 1: 30 marks

CIA 2: 35 Marks

Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE.

End Semester Examination (ESE)

The passing grade for the ESE is 40%

An overall grade of 50% is required to pass the course.(CIA+ESE)

 This Course intends to familiarize students with an introductory knowledge of the topics and methods of biological psychology to create an understanding of the underlying biological foundations of human behavior

The origins of biopsychology, Nature of biological psychology, basic cytology and biochemistry, Mind Brain relationship, Methods of study of research in biopsychology-anatomical methods, degeneration techniques, lesion techniques, chemical methods, stereotaxic surgery, micro-electrode studies, oscilloscope, polygraph, scanning methods & Ethical issues in research. Introduction to genetics. 

Neural and endocrine systems, brain and CNS, PNS. Structure of neurons, types, functions, neural conduction, communication between neurons, Synaptic conduction, Neurotransmitters. The endocrine system. Pituitary, pineal, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenaline glands, pancreas, gonads. Endocrine influences on behaviour; Basic features of nervous system, Meninges, Ventricular system, Cerebrospinal fluid, Blood brain barrier, Peripheral nervous system: Cranial Nerves, Spinal Nerves, Autonomous nervous system; Major structures and functions, spinal cord, Brain: Fore brain, Midbrain, Hindbrain, Cerebral cortex, temporal, parietal and occipital lobes; prefrontal cortex. 

Basic cognition Learning: Neurophysiology of learning, Synaptic plasticity; Memory: Neurological basis of memory, Language: Lateralization, Evolution and neurophysiology of speech. 

Disorders of cognitive functions and apply the neurological and biomechanisms in clinical practice. Brain damage and dysfunction of memory; Disorders of reading writing: aphasia, alexia & dyslexia. 

2. Schneider M Alles (1990). An introduction to Physiological Psychology (3rd Edition) USA: Random House.

2. Carlson, N.R. (1999). Foundations of physiological psychology (4th. Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

3. Kalat, J.W. (2004). Biological psychology (8th.ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson learning.

4. Kandel, E.R. Schwartz, J.H. & Jessel, T.M. (2000). Principles of neural science (4th .ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

5. Leukel, F. (1985). Introduction to physiological psychology (3rd .ed.). New Delhi: CPSPublishers. 

6. Pinel, J.P.J. (2000). Biopsychology (4th .ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

7. Rosenweig, M.R., Leiman, A.L. & Breedlove, S.M. (1999). Biological psychology: An introduction to behavioral, cognitive, clinical neuroscience. (2nd Ed.). USA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.

8. Wallace, B. & Fisher, L.E. (1991). Consciousness and Behavior (3rd Ed.). USA: Allyn & Bacon.

End semester examination (ESE) - 30%

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

CIA 1: 30 marks

CIA 2: 35 Marks

Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE.

End Semester Examination (ESE)

The passing grade for the ESE is 40%

An overall grade of 50% is required to pass the course.(CIA+ESE)

This course will introduce students to the tradition of qualitative research in social sciences with an emphasis of its applicability in psychology. Different methods of collecting qualitative data are discussed. Methods of Qualitative data analysis are also touched upon. Along with courses on research in the first and second semesters, this course intends to provide students with the theoretical background to develop their research proposal.

Defining qualitative research; Historical development of qualitative research; Key philosophical and methodological issues in qualitative research; Different traditions of qualitative research; Grounded theory, Narrative approach, Ethnography, Action research and Discourse analysis (8 hrs)

Research Lab (7 Hrs) 

1. Review of different article related to the different traditions of qualitative research
2. Skill training seminars

Conceptualizing research questions, issues of paradigm, Designing samples, Theoretical sampling, Contrasting qualitative with quantitative approach in research process; Issues of Credibility and trustworthiness (8 hrs)

Research Lab (7 Hrs) 

1. Qualitative research proposal lab
2. Simulated techniques on designing qualitative research

What is qualitative data? Various methods of collecting qualitative data: participant observation, interviewing, focus groups, life history and oral history, documents, diaries, photographs, films and videos, conversation, texts and case studies (8 hrs)

Research Lab (7 Hrs) 

1. Simulated techniques on different data collection methods
2. Skill training seminars

Different traditions of qualitative data analysis; thematic analysis, Narrative analysis, Discourse analysis, Content analysis (8 hrs)

Research Lab (7 Hrs) 

1. Qualitative data analysis software NVivo
2. Reporting qualitative research data

2.     Kvale,S.(Ed.) (1997).Psychology & Post-modernism. New Delhi:Sage Publications

3.     McGhee, P. (2001). Thinking critically about qualitative research in psychology. In P. McGhee, Thinking psychologically (pp.98-111). New York: Palgrave

4.     Smith,J.A.(ed.)(2003).Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods.New Delhi: Sage.

5.     Smith,J.A., Harre,R., & Langenhove,L.V.(eds.).(1995).Rethinking methods in psychology.  NewDelhi:Sage.

6. Willig,C.(2001).Introducing qualitative research in psychology: Adventures in theory and method. Buckingham:Open University Press.

End semester examination (ESE) - 30%

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

CIA 1: 30 marks

CIA 2: 35 Marks

Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE

In this course, students will spend four hours a week or a total of 30 hours during the semester involved in supervised community service. Students are encouraged to work alongside NGO’s or other professional bodies. Students will engage in activities such as children, adolescents and youth teaching/tutoring, community organization, psychological assessment, and mental health awareness. Reflections on their interactions are an integral part of this course. Student engagement will be assessed by the supervisor.

Course objectives

This course will help the learner

● To choose a community-based organization that they are interested in working with.

● To support organizations to help the community.

Community service: The concept, Objectives and Scope; Need for community and Academia (University) interface. The role of psychologist in community service: Social Psychologist, Community Psychologist & Counselor. Outcomes of community service: Personal outcome; Social outcome, Learning outcome and Career outcome.

Students in groups will partner with various NGO’s and organizations working in the areas of education, development, interventions and mental health. As part of the course requirement the students will be involved in the community oriented activities of the organizations they affiliate with. The NGO’s or Organizations along with the faculty coordinator will be responsible for the process delivery. These placements will offer students hands-on experiences in working with various issues in community and facilitate meaningful learning.

Reflection is a core component of Community service. It is a period of critical thinking performed by the student and is based on a specific or overall experience of the student.   It guides students towards greater personal development by coming to a better understanding of their own values, opinions, and assumptions. The types of reflection which can be used are, class discussion, brainstorming, sharing of critical personal and group incidents, directed writings, experiential research paper, student portfolios and so on. The students are expected to discuss in groups at the end of this course using the following guidelines.

Reason for choosing the organization

•The planning phase of service learning initiatives

•Logistics for the initiative of the action

•Stakeholders/beneficiaries

•Execution of the action initiative

•Specific learning outcome

•Evaluation

2. America’s Promise—The Alliance for Youth (2004). Connecting Communities with Colleges & Universities. 909 North Washington Street, Suite 400, Alexandria,VA 22314-1556.

2. Swaminathan, M., & Baksi, S. (2018). How Do Small Farmers Fare? – Evidence from Village Studies in India. New Delhi: Tulika Books.

3. Sarkar,S. (2015). Social Problems in India (1st ed). Kalpaz Publications.

Course Description: In this course the students are required to identify and select a topic of their interest to conduct research on.

Course Objectives:

This course intends to help the learner

● identify a research problem

● develop a research proposal to study the problem

Identifying a problem; Presentation of research idea; Presentation of research idea; Training on review of literature; Research proposal (Quantitative ); Research proposal (Qualitative )

Issues in Methodological frame work; Presentation of methodology; Presentation of methodology; Submission and Presentation of first draft; Submission and Presentation of first draft; Final presentation; Final submission of proposal

CIA 1: 15 marks

CIA 2: 25 Marks

Research supervisor feedback +Attendance: 10 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with an overall CIA mark of 25/50 to pass the course.

This Course intends to familiarize students with an introductory knowledge of the topics and methods of biological psychology to create an understanding of the underlying biological foundations of human behavior

Course Objectives: At the end of this course, students will be able to:

● Identify basic brain structures and related functions

● Describe contemporary research methods for studying brain and behavior

● Interpret how drugs and hormones influence behavior

● Identify the process by which memories are formed

● Analyze the neurological pathways related to hunger, emotions, and sleep

● Recognize the ways various emotions are expressed

● Describe biological and social origins of sexual behavior / motivation

● Differentiate lateralization of brain function and language development

● Apply biological elements to common psychological disorders

Emotions as response patterns: fear, anger and aggression; Hormonal control of aggressive behavior; Neural basis of the communication of emotion: Recognition and expression; Physiological correlations of Arousal: consciousness and sleep, Factors affecting consciousness. Sleep: Rhythms of sleeping and waking, neural basis of biological clocks, Stages of sleep, brain mechanisms of REM sleep and dreaming, physiological mechanisms of sleep and waking; Hunger –theories, neural signals; Thirst-neural mechanisms; Sexhormones and sexual development, neural mechanism of sexual behavior, sexual orientations, hormones and the brain.

The stress response, stress and gastric ulcers, Psychoneuroimmunology, stress and the hippocampus; Fear conditioning: amygdale, contextual fear conditioning and the hippocampus; Human obesity. Implications in eating disorder; Schizophrenia, Substance abuse disorders, Major affective disorders, and Anxiety disorders; Implications in sleep disorders;sexual deviance

Schizophrenia, Substance abuse disorders, Major affective disorders, and anxiety disorders. Case discussions of psychiatric disorders.

2. Kalat, J.W. (2004). Biological psychology (8 th .ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson learning. 

2. Garrett, B. (2003). Brain and Behavior. Wadsworth, Thomson Learning Inc, USA.

3. Freberg, L A. Discovering Biological Psychology (2nd ed.) (2006), Wardsworth, Belmont: USA

4. Wagner, H., & Silber, K. (2004), Physiological Psychology, Garland Science, Abingdon: UK.

5. Rosenweig, M.R., Leiman, A.L. & Breedlove, S.M. (1999). Biological psychology: An introduction to behavioral, cognitive, clinical neuroscience. (2nd ed.). USA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.

6. Wallace, B. & Fisher, L.E. (1991). Consciousness and Behavior (3rd ed.). USA: Allyn & Bacon.

7. Pinel, J.P.J. (2000). Biopsychology (4th .ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon

8. Kandel, E.R. Schwartz, J.H. & Jessel, T.M. (2000). Principles of neural science (4 th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

9. Leukel, F(1985). Introduction to Physiological Psychology (3rd. ed.). New Delhi: CPS Publishers

End semester examination (ESE) - 30% Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

CIA 1: 30 marks

CIA 2: 35 Marks

Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE. End Semester Examination (ESE) The passing grade for the ESE is 40% An overall grade of 50% is required to pass the course (CIA+ESE)

Course Description: This course extends the learning in Quantitative research methods in Psychology by introducing students to the measurement and statistical techniques in research. Students will be given opportunity in this course to practice in labs the techniques of tool construction and statistical analysis. Students will be trained in software packages such as SPSS and Excel.

Definition and purpose of psychological statistics; Definition of measurement; scales of measurement; measures of central tendency and variability Probability distribution and normal curve; Levels ofsignificance; Type 1 and 2 errors, one tailed two tailed tests; Parametric and non-parametric tests Correlation

Linear regression: simple, multiple and stepwise Multiple linear regression t-tests with non-parametricsolution; One-way ANOVA; Twoway ANOVA and its non-parametric equivalent; ANCOVA, MANOVA

Development of Psychological test Item generation, analysis; item difficulty; item discrimination; and Item reliability

Assumptions and theories of test construction: Item response theory and Classical test theory

Estimation of Reliability, validity; Learning and developing test norms

2. Coolican, H.(2004).Research methods and Statistics in Psychology. London: Hoddes Arnold

3. Anastasi, A.& Urbina,S(1997).Psychological testing .New Delhi: Pearson Education Asia

4. Gregory, R.J (2004).Psychological testing. History, principles and applications. New Delhi: Pearson Education Asia

5. Garrett,H.E (2005).Satistics in psychology and Education. New Delhi: Paragon international Publishers.

2.Cohen, R.J., & Swerdlik, M.E. (2005). Psychological testing and assessment: An introduction to tests and measurement (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

3.Heiman, G.W. (2001). Understanding research methods and statistics: An integrated introduction for psychology (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company

4. Kaplan, R.N.,& Saccuzzo, D (2001). Psychological Testing, Principles, Applications and issues. New York Kerlinger, N. (1996). Foundations of behavioural research. India: Prentice Hall

5.King, B.M., & Minium, E.M. (2003). Statistical reasoning in psychology and education (4th ed.). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

6.Leong, F.T., & Austin, (1996). The psychology research handbook: A guide for graduate students and research assistants. Delhi: Sage Publications

7.Levin, J., & Fox, J.A. (2006). Elementary statistics in social research (10th ed.). New Delhi: Pearson Education.

8.McCall, R.B. (2001). Fundamental statistics for behavioral sciences (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

9.Miles, J. (2001). Research methods and statistics. Exeter: Crucial

10.Murphy, K.R., & Davidshofer, C.O. (2001). Psychological testing: Principles and applications (5th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

11.Schweigert, W.A. (1997). Research methods psychology: A handbook. Delhi: Sage Publications

12.Singh, A.K. (1997). Test, measurements, and research methods in behavioural sciences. Patna: Bharathi Bhavan Publishers and Distributors

End semester examination (ESE) - 30%

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

CIA 1: 30 marks

CIA 2: 35 Marks

Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE.

End Semester Examination (ESE)

The passing grade for the ESE is 40%. An overall grade of 50% is required to pass the course (CIA+ESE)

This course introduces students to mental health issues in clinical psychology by introducing clinical psychopathology. The use of diagnostic assessments using both DSM V-TR and ICD 11 will be explored in this course. Students will also be encouraged to integrate the bio-psycho-social model of health and illness with clinical interventions.

Course objectives:

•To understand the etiology and current classificatory systems of mental disorders

•To learn about the different symptoms, courses and prognoses of mental disorders

Dementia, delirium, head injury, epilepsy, other amnesic syndromes;

Clinical characteristics and etiology and treatment. Sleep disorder; Clinical characteristics, etiology and treatment. 

Clinical characteristics, etiology, models of addiction, assessment in addiction.

Motivational intervention and behavioral assessment.

Feeding and Eating disorders- Anorexia and Bulimia, Binge eating disorder.

Clinical characteristics, etiology and theories of cluster A, B and C personality disorders. Differences in ICD and DSM V.

Clinical characteristics, etiology of sexual dysfunctions, gender dysphoria, and paraphilias.

Specific developmental disorder of scholastic skills; Pervasive developmental disorders,

behavioural and emotional disorders, disorders of social functioning.

2. Adams, H.E., Sutker, P.B. (2001). Comprehensive handbook of psychopathology (3rd Ed.). New York: Kluwer Academic publishers.

3. Millon, T., Blaney, P., & Davis, R.D. (1998). The oxford textbook of psychopathology. London: Oxford University Press.

4. Smith, N.W. (2001). Current systems in psychology: History, theory, research & applications. USA: Wadsworth/Thomson learning.

5. American Psychological Association. (1998). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th .ed.): text revision (DSM-1V-TR). New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (pvt) Ltd

CIA 1: 30 marks

CIA 2: 35 Marks

Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE.

End Semester Examination (ESE)

The passing grade for the ESE is 40%. An overall grade of 50% is required to pass the course (CIA+ESE)

This course is part of the first years master's program in Clinical Psychology and comprises a core methodology that underlies the understanding of both normal and abnormal human behaviour. This course contributes to the Clinical Psychology program objectives of (a) developing domain knowledge (b) enhancing observation skills and critical analysis (c) inculcating evidence-based inference and finally (d) enhances self awareness and self regulation. At the same time the course also exemplifies the University expectation of excellence and service and contributes to the following graduate attributes of academic excellence, professional excellence and personal enhancement. This course will provide students with an understanding of normal mental processes and their relationship to brain, mind and behavior. This course will give an overview antecedents and influences on Cognitive Psychology and the basic concepts from an information-processing and computational perspective. Domain wise understanding of cognition will be highlighted in the understanding of attention and perception. The course will require the use of labs and experiments to demonstrate concepts in the course. Application to the practice of evaluating behaviour in the context of clinical psychology will be highlighted in this course.

History & Emergence of Cognitive Science; Information Processing: Serial v/s Parallel Processing

Perception: Brain and Perception: Dorsal and Ventral pathways; Theories of Perception: Gestalt approach, Top–Down vs.

Bottom- up Processing, Information Processing; Pattern Recognition: Feature detection analysis, Template matching, Prototype matching;

Attention: Basic Concepts: Divided attention, Selective Attention; Theories and current developments: Bottleneck and Capacity theories; Automatic and Controlled processing, switching attention.

Memory: Architecture of Memory, Working Memory and Levels of processing;

Remembering: Autobiographical and eyewitness memories; traumatic and false memories, Confabulation;

Models of Knowledge Representation: Semantic Memory, Episodic Memory, Procedural (Implicit and Explicit)

Perception: Achromatopsia, Akinetopsia, Optic Ataxia, Prosopagnosia, Aphantasia, Apraxia

Attention: Spatial Neglect, Pseudo Neglect, Extinction

Experiments in Perception

Experiments in Attention

Methods: Cognitive Tasks, EEG/ERP; Eye Tracking; fMRI, TMS, fNIRS; Studies on Perception; Studies on Attention

Experiments in Psychophysics, Signal Detection Theory; Experiments in Attention

● Galotti, K.M. (2017). Cognitive Psychology In and Out of the Laboratory. 6th Edition. SAGE Publications, Inc.

● Kellogg, R.T. (2012) Fundamentals of Cognitive Psychology. 2nd Edition, Sage South Asia.

● Smith, E. E. & Kosslyn, S (2013). Cognitive Psychology: Pearson New International Edition: Mind and Brain, Pearson.

● Goldstein B E (2010). Sensation and Perception (8th Edition) Wadsworth.

● Solso, R, L. (2014) Cognitive Psychology. 8th Edition. Pearson Education.

● Eysenck M.W. and Keane M.T. (2015) Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook. 7th Edition. Psychology Press.

● Reed, S.K. (2007). Cognitive theories and applications. International Edition. 8th edition. Wadsworth.

● Millar S (2008) Space and Sense. Essays in Cognitive Psychology. Psychology Press, England.

● Stevens S, S. (1966) ( Ed) Hand book of Experimental Psychology, Wiley.

● Woodworth R S & Schlosberg H (1954). Experimental Psychology.

End semester examination (ESE) - 30%

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

● CIA 1: 30 marks

● CIA 2: 35 Marks

● Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE.

End Semester Examination (ESE)

● The passing grade for the ESE is 40%

● An overall grade of 50% is required to pass the course.(CIA+ESE)

This course will cover issues in the assessment of personality using self-report measures and cognitive functions such as intelligence and memory. This course is meant to provide students with skills of administering, scoring, interpreting and conveying report in clinical settings using simulated labs and field exposure. A part of this course will be linked to community service course where students will conduct free assessment camps in community settings such as schools catering to poor students; NGO’s working with children etc.

The basic objective of this course is

● To introduce central concepts of psychological measurement – personality and cognitive functions.

● To critically examine psychometric considerations, methodologies, data acquisition, data analyses, and communications related to real world applications of

using psychometrics within social science and educational environments.

Introduction and Psychometric properties of assessments in Personality, Intelligence and Memory

Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Raven’s Progressive matrices: Standard progressive matrices (SPM), Binet-Kamat test of Intelligence (BKT), Bhatia’s performance battery; Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), Wechsler Adult Performance Intelligence Test

Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS)

2. Kaplan, R.M & Saccuzzo, D. P (2009). Psychological testing: Principles, Applications and Issues. 7 th Edition, Wadsworth, Belmont, USA

● CIA 1: 20 marks

● CIA 2: 25 Marks

● Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with an overall CIA mark of 25/50 to pass the course.

This course aims at providing students with the skills of clinical interviewing, assessment and formulations in order to help them prepare for clinical work in their practicum.

- Basic listening skills

- Reflection of feeling

- Reflection of meaning

- Influencing skills

- Establishing therapeutic alliance

- Mental status examination

- Clinical case history

- Psycho-diagnostic formulation

- Multi axial diagnosis

- Developing goals in therapy

- Skills of treatment planning

- Skills of treatment planning

- Dealing with breaches and transference

- Establishing therapeutic alliance

- Ethical considerations

2. Ivey, A., Ivey, M., & Zalaquett, C (2009). Intentional Interviewing and counselling :Facilitating client development in a multicultural society. Cengage

3. Green.,Ben.(1996).Problem - based Psychiatry.B.I.Churchill Livingstone Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.

End semester Viva Voce - 30%

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

⋅ CIA 1: 30 marks

⋅ CIA 2: 35 Marks

⋅ Attendance: 5 marks

⋅ ESE: 50

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, they will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE.

End Semester Viva

● The passing grade for the ESE is 40%

● An overall grade of 50% is required to pass the course.(CIA+End Semester Viva)

In this course, students will spend four hours a week or a total of 30 hours during the semester involved in supervised community service. Students are encouraged to work alongside NGO’s or other professional bodies. Students will engage in activities such as children, adolescents and youth teaching/tutoring, community organization, psychological assessment, and mental health awareness. Reflections on their interactions are an integral part of this course. Student engagement will be assessed by the supervisor.

Course objectives

This course will help the learner

● To choose a community-based organization that they are interested in working with.

● To support organizations to help the community.

The concept, Objectives and Scope; Need for community and Academia (University) interface. The role of a psychologist in community service: Social Psychologist, Community Psychologist & Counselor. Outcomes of community service: Personal outcome; Social outcome, Learning outcome and Career outcome.

As part of the course requires the students will be involved in the community-oriented activities of the organizations they affiliate with. The NGO’s or Organizations along with the faculty coordinator will be responsible for the process delivery. These placements will offer students hands-on experiences in working with various issues in the community and facilitate meaningful learning.

Reflection is a core component of Community service. It is a period of critical thinking performed by the student and is based on a specific or overall experience of the student. It guides students towards greater personal development by coming to a better understanding of their own values, opinions, and assumptions. The types of reflection which can be used are, class discussion, brainstorming, sharing of critical personal and group incidents, directed writings, experiential research paper, student portfolios and so on. The students are expected to discuss in groups at the end of this course using the following guidelines.

Reason for choosing the organization

•The planning phase of service-learning initiatives

•Logistics for the initiative of the action

•Stakeholders/beneficiaries

•Execution of the action initiative

•Specific learning outcome

•Evaluation

2. America’s Promise—The Alliance for Youth (2004). Connecting Communities with Colleges & Universities. 909 North Washington Street, Suite 400, Alexandria,VA 22314-1556.

● CIA 1: 20 marks

● CIA 2: 25 Marks

● Class participation & Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with an overall CIA mark of 25/50 to pass the course.

Psychotherapy-1 is a post graduate course offered in the third semester to students of Clinical Psychology (MPCL). The course aims to integrate the theoretical knowledge imparted through prior courses such as History  and Philosophy of Clinical Psychology (MPS 131), Theories of Personality (MPS 132), Biological foundations of Behaviour (MPS 135, MPS 235), Law and Ethics in Clinical Psychology (MPS 231), Psychopathology-1 (MPS 232) and Psycho Diagnostic Lab (MPS 251) with therapeutic skills than can be applied in clinical settings, thereby fostering  graduate attributes of academic excellence while upholding the vision of the department by nurturing professional development. Furthermore, it builds upon essential elements of functional competencies, ethical and reflective practise within the scientist-practioner model. This course has been conceptualized with an intention to orient students to the theoretical foundations, processes, skills and techniques underlying different psychotherapeutic approaches for the treatment and care of persons with mental illness.  A review of evidence-based practices for psychological interventions, ethical dilemmas in decision making, legal mandates for therapeutic professions and reflective practices in psychotherapy will explored. Designed as an introductory course in psychotherapy, it allows students to walk the bridge that connects theory with practise and in turn helps them comprehend and reflect on the psychotherapeutic assessments and interventions during their clinical internship

This course will help the learner understand 

·     The elements of psychotherapeutic process

·     Theoretical foundations underlying different psychotherapeutic approaches

·     Therapeutic skills and techniques unique to each psychotherapeutic approach

·     Evidence based practices for psychological interventions and their specific areas of application

·     The ethical guidelines that govern decision making during the therapeutic process

·     The need and significance of reflective practices in psychotherapy

●      Describe the psychotherapeutic process, discuss psychotherapy research, identify training needs and supervision requirements.

●      Describe the theoretical foundations underlying various psychotherapeutic approaches, the skills and techniques associated with them.

●      Identify evidence-based practices specific to particular mental health conditions.

●      Develop psychotherapeutic case formulations using different therapeutic approaches 

●      Critique the strengths, limitations and the unique features associated with each form of psychotherapy.

● CIA 1: 20 marks

● CIA 2: 25 Marks

● Class participation & Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with an overall CIA mark of 25/50 to pass the course.

This course has been conceptualized in order to critically address theory informing group and family therapy and facilitate the development of mastery n developing treatment plans based on empirical research. This Course is meant to provide students of clinical psychology an opportunity to examine the theoretical underpinnings of group and family therapies. Students will be encouraged to view the historical and cultural contexts within which group psychotherapy and family and marital therapy (including couples counseling) has emerged.

Course objectives: This course will help the learner to

Gain a familiarity with historical aspects of family and group therapies

Assess and conceptualize dynamics that contribute toor maintain pathology

Plan appropriate interventions to address the same

Understand the historical aspects of family and group therapy

Assess family and group dynamics in a structured manner

Critically analyze the nature of theory informing couples, marriage and family therapy

Develop treatment plans for couples and families.

Examine the relevance of group therapy as a preferred treatment plan for clientele with psychological dysfunctions.

● CIA 1: 20 marks

● CIA 2: 25 Marks

● Class participation & Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with an overall CIA mark of 25/50 to pass the course.

This course has been conceptualized in order to critically address theory informing group and family therapy and facilitate the development of mastery n developing treatment plans based on empirical research. This Course is meant to provide students of clinical psychology an opportunity to examine the theoretical underpinnings of group and family therapies. Students will be encouraged to view the historical and cultural contexts within which group psychotherapy and family and marital therapy (including couples counseling) has emerged.

Course objectives: This course will help the learner to 

Gain a familiarity with historical aspects of family and group therapies

Assess and conceptualize dynamics that contribute to or maintain pathology

Plan appropriate interventions to address the same

Understand the historical aspects of family and group therapy

Assess family and group dynamics in a structured manner

Critically analyze the nature of theory informing couples, marriage and family therapy

Develop treatment plans for couples and families.

Examine the relevance of group therapy as a preferred treatment plan for clientele with psychological dysfunctions.

● CIA 1: 20 marks

● CIA 2: 25 Marks

● Class participation & Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with an overall CIA mark of 25/50 to pass the course.

Course Description

This course aspires to inculcate intersectional understanding of sexual orientation and and gender identities with special focus on South Asia. This course will sensitise students on recent advancements in the area of sexuality and gender for application in psychological services in light of various judicial pronouncements on LGBTQIA+ rights.

Course objectives:

-To inculcate basic theoretical understandings of sexuality and gender

- Appreciate and evaluate the history of the intersection among psy disciplines, law, society and marginalised sexual subjects

- Engage with LGBTQIA+ people with enhanced sensitivity employing queer affirmative principles.

Sexual orientation and gender identity; Sexuality, genders and mental health disciplines in India: A brief history of sexuality and genders in colonial and post-colonial India; Global developments

Queering psychological practice: Role of language; CBT, Family and couples Therapy, Person-Centred Therapy, Trans-affirmative practice; Guidelines and Manuals from India and outside. 

Ranade, K. (2018). Growing up gay in urban India. Critical Psychosocial perspectives. Springer Singapore.

Kumar, P. (2021). Sexuality, Abjection and Queer Existence in Contemporary India. Routledge.

Ranade, K., Hastak, Y. Growing Up and Sexual Identity Formation - Mental Health Concerns of lesbian women, In Davar, B.V., Ravindran, S. (2015). (eds), Gendering Mental Health: Knowledges, Identities, Institutions, New Delhi: Oxford University Press

Threadgold L. ‘Commentary on: Medical imagination‘. En-Gender! 2020 3(2): 16-17. Available from: https://engenderacademia.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/price-finished.pdf

Vanita, R. Queering India: same-sex love and eroticism in Indian culture and society. Routledge;2001.

Ranade, K., Shah, C., & Chatterjee, S. (2016). Making sense: Familial journeys towards acceptance of gay and lesbian family members in India. The Indian Journal of Social Work, 77(4), 437-458.

Ranade K, Chakravarty S. ‘Coming Out’ of the comfort zone: challenging heteronormativity through affirmative counselling practice with lesbian and gay clients. In: Bhola P, Raguram A, editors. Ethical issues in counselling and psychotherapy practice. Singapore: Springer Science; 2016. p. 141-54.

Ranade K, Chakravarty S. Gay-affirmative counselling practice: resource and training manual. Mumbai: Saksham; 2013. 

CIA 1: 20 marks

CIA 2: 25 Marks

Class participation & Attendance: 5 marks All

CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he,they will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with an overall CIA mark of 25/50 to pass the course

Clinical neuropsychology addresses the link between brain and behaviour. Neuropsychological assessments provide a scientific way of quantifying and describing the cognitive, behavioural and emotional sequelae of changes in brain function caused by damage or disease. This module introduces you to neuroanatomy, neuropsychological assessment, and neuropsychological rehabilitation.

History, basic anatomy, elements of neurology, methods of study of research in neuropsychology-anatomical methods, degeneration techniques, lesion techniques, chemical methods, stereotaxic surgery, micro-electrode studies, oscilloscope, polygraph, scanning methods & ethical issues in research.

Major structures and functions of spinal cord and brain: fore brain, mid brain, hind brain; cerebral cortex, temporal, parietal and occipital lobes; prefrontal cortex; Syndromes of the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobes.

Spiritual dimensions of neurology, neurology and emotions, neurological changes during cousnelling interventions.

Neuropsychology of psychiatric conditions: schizophrenia, substance abuse disorders, major affective disorders and anxiety disorders; Neuropsychological assessments

CIA-2 (15 marks)

Class participation & Attendance (5 marks)

Summative Assessment (15 marks)

This course aims to sensitize the students about the nature, characteristics, and etiology of learning disabilities. The course has been designed to impart theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to deal with children and adults struggling with various learning difficulties and disabilities. Keeping in mind the rising number of cases with learning disabilities coming to clinical and other mental health setups, the course aims to introduce the students with various assessment tools and techniques used for screening and certification of learning disabilities, especially the ones relevant in the Indian settings. The course will further provide scope for students to learn various intervention strategies (educational remediations, institutional and psychological) which can be applied to mitigate the impact of learning disabilities on individuals as well as family and caregivers.

The course will help the learner

1. To understand the nature, concept, definition, and theoretical underpinnings of learning disabilities (LD).

2. To screen and identify the individuals having LD and to diagnose the subtypes of LD

3. To draft reports based on psychological/educational assessments of individuals with LD.

4. To prepare intervention plans for individuals with LD

The Concept of Learning disability: Historical perspective on the concept and definition of learning disabilities; characteristics of learning disabilities; etiological factors and theories; Diagnostic criteria and subtypes of learning disability as per ICD-11 and DSM-5. 

Assessment in Learning Disabilities: Assessment of educational needs of children with LD; NIMHANS Neuro Psychological Battery, DALI,  the need for early identification of children with learning disabilities; identification criteria – inclusion, exclusion, and discrepancy; the response to intervention model; distinguishing individuals with LD from slow learners and those with intellectual disabilities; various psychometric tools to identify the LDs, report writing and certification.

Nature and purpose of interventions for LD; Various types of interventions - phonemic awareness training, instruction and comprehension strategies, thinking and reasoning strategies, strategies for enhancing receptive and expressive language; metacognitive training;  Interventions at various levels - preschool, primary school, middle and secondary school; common comorbidities in LD - internalizing and externalizing disorders; role of psychoeducation and family interventions, policies and provisions for children with LD

1. Ashlock, P. (1972). Errors Patterns in Competition. A Semi-Programmes Approach. Columbus. Ohio-Charles 

2.  Bender, W. N.,(1995)Identification and Teaching Strategies Learning Disabilities, characteristics, identification and coaching categories New York: Allyn bacon 

3.  Lerner, J. W(1985). Learning Disabilities. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

4. Lindsay, G. (Ed.) (1984). Screening for children with Special Needs. London: Groom

5.  Swady, E.R. (1989) Diagnosis & Correction of Reading, Difficulties, Boston: Allyn & Bacon 

6.  Lee. S H., Harris Karen R., Graham Steve. (2003) Handbook of Learning Disabilities, the Guilford Press, Ist Edition,

7. Taylor, B and others (1988) Reading Difficulties: Instruction and Assessment, Random House, New York. 

8. Venkateswarlu, D.,( 2005) Diagnosis and remediation of mathematical difficulties, New Delhi: Neel Kamal publications.

9. Hirisave, U., Oommen, A., & Kapur, M. (2002). Psychological assessment of children in the clinical setting, Bangalore: NIMHANS Publications.

10.  Pat Talbot, Geoff., &Tom Mason (2010). Key concepts in Learning Disabilities: Sage Publications.

Uslu, R., Erden, G., & Kapci, E. G. (2006). Psychoeducation and expressed emotion by parents of children with learning disorders. Psychological reports, 98(2), 291-306.

CIA 1: 20 marks 

CIA 2: 25 Marks 

Class participation & Attendance: 5 marks 

All CIAs must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he, they will have to repeat the CIA before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with an overall CIA mark of 25/50 to pass the course.

This course has been designed keeping in mind that individuals to a large extent are shaped by interaction between them and their surroundings. The focus, here, is on understanding how cognitions, feelings and behavior are impacted by physical environment (both natural and built). Therefore, Environmental Psychology is considered as an interdisciplinary approach which provides an in-depth understanding of the role of environment in providing opportunities and hindrances for optimal human performance and sustainable development.  

Course Objectives: This course will help the learner to

• Understand various perspectives on human-environment interrelationship

• Be aware of the impact of physical surroundings on human behavior 

• Apprehend psychological barriers to pro-environmental actions 

• Gain a familiarity of various strategies to promote pro-environmental wellness behaviors.

History, scope and principles of environmental psychology, environmental stress, health benefits of nature, Restorative environments, children and natural environment, urban environmental quality, environment and wellbeing

Environmental Attitudes, Assessments and Preferences, environmental perception and cognition, values and pro-environmental behavior, social norms and pro-environmental behavior, emotions and pro-environmental behavior, promoting pro-environmental behavior with rewards and penalties

Theories and processes of behavioral change, informational strategies to promote pro‐environmental behavior: changing knowledge, awareness, and attitudes, designing interventions for promoting waste reduction and recycling behaviors among individuals

CIA-2 (15 marks)

Class participation & Attendance (5 marks)

Summative Assessment (15 marks)

Course Description: This course aims at providing students with the skills of clinical interviewing, focusing on specific techniques and techniques to interview specific clinical population and help them prepare for clinical work in their practicum.

Course Objectives:

This course will help the learner

1. Understand and develop skills of assessment and case history taking in specific clinical population.

2. Develop specific techniques that promote positive Doctor-Patient relationship.

Specific techniques: Facilitating interventions: Reinforcement, reflection, summarizing, education, Reassurance, encouragement, acknowledgement to emotion, Humour, Silence. Nonverbal Communication; Expanding Interventions: Clarifying, Associations, Leading, Probing, Transitions, Redirecting. Obstructive Interventions: Closed- Ended question, Compound questions, why questions, judgemental questions, or Statements, Minimizing patient’s concerns, premature advice, Premature interpretations, Transition. Interviewing the difficult Patient: Patients with Psychosis, Depressed and potentially suicidal patients, Hostile Agitated and Potentially violent patients, Deceptive patients. Clinical history taking; Mental Status Examination for children

What is motivational interviewing, The method of Motivational Interviewing, Engaging, Focusing, Evoking and Planning. Motivational Interviewing in everyday practice

Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2015). Kaplan & Sadock's synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (Eleventh edition.). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.

Ivey, A., Ivey, M., & Zalaquett, C (2009). Intentional Interviewing and counseling :Facilitating client development in a multicultural society. Cengage

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

CIA 1: 30 marks

CIA 2: 35 Marks

Attendance: 5 marks

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, they will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 including class participation to be eligible to write the ESE.

End Semester Viva

The passing grade for the ESE is 40%

An overall grade of 50% is required to pass the course.(CIA+End Semester Viva)

Course Description: Students shall complete an observership at an agency providing mental health services for a minimum of 30 days. 

Course Objectives: The course will give an opportunity to

• Observe clinical practice under the supervision of a mental health professional.

• Understand different facets of clinical practice 

Observing clinical practice, note taking, Reflection and analysis

This course has been conceptualized to empower the students with skills of preparing a research manuscript and aiming to publish the same. 

Course Objective: This course will help the learner to gain familiarity and develop skills associated with the processes of data collection, data analysis, writing a manuscript and publishing it.

Identifying appropriate research journals, preparing manuscripts according to author guidelines. 

Giles, D. (2013). Advanced research methods in psychology. Routledge.

End semester viva voce (ESE) - 30%   

Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA)

CIA 1: 30 marks

CIA 2: 30 Marks

Class participation: 5 marks

Attendance: 5 marks 

All CIAs are must pass assessments with a passing grade of 50%. If a student does not meet the passing grade for CIA, s/he will have to repeat the CIA again before moving to the next CIA. The student must pass all the CIA components with a minimum overall CIA mark of 33/65 (excluding attendance) to be eligible to write the ESE. 

End Semester Viva Voce

The passing grade for the ESE is 40%

An overall grade of 50% is required to pass the course.(CIA+ESE)

Course Description: This course has been conceptualized in order to provide knowledge in social psychology to conceptualize the subject matter of the social individual in its deepest sense.  Building from the preliminary knowledge of social psychology at the undergraduate level, this course offers learners a more hands-on experience in social behaviour dynamics. 

This course is structured to provide students a culturally informed and contextualized view of the discipline.  Students are encouraged to appreciate and analyze the changing cultural diversity in the present Indian society, therefore, equipping them to approach social issues with its implications. The course will be augmented with field work and labs to enhance learning.

Course Objectives:

This course will help the learner to gain familiarity with :

• The historical development of social psychology as a discipline, its nature and critical issues and current debates within it.
• The plurality and multiple research designs and methods that can be employed to undertake research in social psychology with an-depth understanding of the ethical issues associated with them.
• The nature of how the self and identity develop in a social and cultural context and how individuals engage in the processes of social perception and social cognition.
• An understanding of social interactions in the context of interpersonal relationships, group dynamics and aggression.

The diverse social issues that exist in society and the application of social psychological principles and theories to address these issues, with a special focus on mental health in India.

The definition and nature social psychology; Growth of social psychology; Alternative conceptions of social psychology; Crisis of confidence in the discipline and its resolution;  Development of social psychology in India; Current status of the discipline; Indigenization of social psychology; Issues in experimental social psychology; Emerging alternative methods in social psychology;  Ethical issues in social psychological research.

Third edition. New Delhi : Cengage publishers.

2. Fraser, C., and Burchell, B. (2001). Introducing Social Psychology. Cambridge: Polity

Course Description: This elective is aimed at providing students an understanding of the inter-links between psychology and education. Application of psychological principles to educational settings will be imparted in this course. An understanding of Biological foundations of behaviour and developmental psychology is a pre-requisite for this course. Completion of this course would equip students to deliver clinical interventions in educational settings. 

This course will help the learner to

• Understand the Educational Psychology field, Interventions and Research Models.

• Gain knowledge of  Educational Psychology theories and conceptual frameworks.

• Develop skills on various models and strategies of Educational Psychology assessment and intervention with students, parents, teachers, educators and other professionals. 

• Develop a critical, creative and intended approach regarding psychological intervention in different educational settings.

Introduction to Educational Psychology; Intervention & Research in Educational Psychology 

Applied Theoretical Frameworks of Learning, Teaching and Development; Motivation and Learning; Metacognition, Self-regulation and Learning 

Vocational Counseling and Guidance; Indiscipline, Teacher-Student Relationship and Classroom management 

Learning disabilities, Special needs & Multicultural classrooms; Parenting Education Prevention Approaches in Educational settings

The prime focus of the Forensic Psychology course is to introduce the students to the representative areas of forensic psychology and orient how psychology research contributes to the legal system. The course includes an overview of the methods used by forensic psychologists to investigate and control crimes, including criminal profiling. It gives insight into what forensic psychologists have discovered, how they have made these discoveries, and how they contribute to the legal system. Emphasis will be given to the most prevalent mental health issues associated with forensic evaluations and how forensic psychologists assists law enforcement agencies and juries to determine criminal responsibility and punishment. Psychological underpinnings and motivation behind the serial killing, spree killing, mass murder, and recidivism will be discussed.

·      Forensic Science: Definition, history and development - scope and need of forensic science in the criminal justice system

·      Forensic Psychology: Definition and scope - Sub-specializations of forensic psychology- Relationship between psychology and law- Relationship between forensic psychology, criminology and criminal psychology- Ethical issues in forensic psychology.

·      Daubert standard and Frye standard- Mc’Naughten rule- Insanity definition in Indian Penal Code (IPC section 84): Legal and medical insanity- Stages of mind.

·      Forensic Psychology research methods

·      History of crime- Criminal behaviour: Definition and causal factors (biological, psychological and social factors).

·      Schools of Criminology: Pre-classical thought, Classical school of thought, Neo-Classical and Positive school of thought.

·      Psychobiology of crime: Introduction- Inhibitive and disinhibitory systems in the brain, Frontal controlling functions and response inhibition.

·      Interrogation and Confession: Reid Techniques in Interrogation of Suspects.

·      Eye-witness Testimony: Assessment of false memory, Confabulations and Contamination of Eye-Witness Witnesses

·      Court Structure and Jurisdiction- Civil and Criminal courts- Stages in Judicial Process in forensic psychological cases.

·      The Criminal Psychopath- General behavioural characteristics of psychopaths - Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy- Prevalence of criminal psychopathy- Offending patterns of criminal psychopaths.

·      Criminal Homicide-Multiple Murder, Serial Killers, Mass Murders.

·      Criminal Profiling: Introduction- Types of profiling: Inductive and Deductive profiling- Process of profiling- FBI stages of profiling.

·      Polygraph: Instrumentation, principles and procedure- Methods of formulation of relevant, irrelevant and control questions- Scoring and analysis.

·      Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling (BEOS): Principles and procedure- Designing of probes: audio and visual.

·      Narco Analysis: History- Principles and procedure.

·      The legal status of forensic psychological tests in India.

·      Arrigo, B. (2003). Introduction to Forensic Psychology: Issues and Controversies in Crime and Justice. London: Academic Press.

·      Bartol, C., & Bartol, A. (2008). Introduction to Forensic Psychology: Research and Application (Second ed.). London: SAGE.

·      Gordon, N. (2017). Essentials of Polygraph and Polygraph Testing. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

·      Gudjonsson, G. (2003). The Psychology of Interrogation and Confession: A Handbook. England: John Wiley & Sons.

·      Kocsis, R. (2006). Criminal Profiling: Principles and Practice. New Jersey: Humana Press.

·      Sadock, B., Sadock, V., & Ruiz, P. (2015). Synopsis of Psychiatry (Eleventh ed.). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.

·      Towl, G., & Crighton, D. (2010). Forensic Psychology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

·      Vrij, A. (2008). Detecting Lies and Deceit: Pitfalls and opportunities. England: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

·      Zulawski, D., & Wicklander, D. (2002). Practical Aspects of Interview and Interrogation (Second ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Course Description: This course aims at imparting knowledge on concepts of crisis and trauma. It will provide inputs on stages of crisis and trauma, and skills for dealing with crisis and trauma at personal,interpersonal and community levels. This course will also help the students gain knowledge on techniques relevant to crisis and trauma management and enable the students to understand the clinical outcome of crisis and trauma events so that they are able to plan out strategic interventions accordingly

Course Objectives:

• To provide the students an opportunity to learn the concept of Crisis and Trauma Counselling - skills training, case management and family education

To educate the students on crisis and trauma assessments and legislations related to it

This course furthers the aims of psycho diagnostics – 1 and provides students with an opportunity to develop skills in assessment, administration and scoring and interpretation of psychological test ( projective, aptitude and neuropsychological with adults and childeren)

• Rorschach Inkblot Test 

• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) 

• Children’s Apperception Test (CAT) 

• Sack’s Sentence Completion Test (SSCT) 

• Raven’s Controlled Projection Test (RCPT)

• Differential Aptitude Test (DAT)  
• Comprehensive Interest Schedule (CIS)

• Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS)  
• Connor’s rating scale for Attention deficit hyperactive disorder
• NIMHANS index for Specific learning disorders 
• Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)

• Clinical Rating Scales: BDI, HDRS, HARS, CARS-training
• Neuropsychological battery (adult)-training.            
• Rosharch – Exner
• TAT

Course Description: This course has been conceptualized in order to equip the students with the necessary skills of publishing their manuscript in an academic journal and presenting their research work in a conference. The process will be supervised by the respective research supervisors.

Course Objective: 

• To help the learner gain familiarity with the process of publication

To help the learner gain exposure to seminars and conferences

Identifying types of journals, preparing a manuscript according to author guidelines provided by the journal,

Preparing a scientific poster, preparing a presentation for an academic conference

Course Description: During Supervised clinical practicum students spend 200 hours engaging in clinical practicum in a mental health agency. Students are expected to attend group and individual supervision both on site and campus. As a follow-up of the theoretical and basic skill inputs the students have received in various clinical psychology specialization papers during II and III semesters, students need to learn clinical skills.

This course will help the learner to demonstrate

• Basic diagnostic and assessment skills.
• Interviewing skills.
• Basic therapeutic skills to engage in brief sessional work with clients.

Personal development as (future) clinicians.

This is a final end-of-the-academic-program internship for 30 days. Students are required to search, examine and carve their niche in the field. The basic purpose of this internship is to create awareness for the students about the areas that they want to specialize in and also to charter their future course of action. 

By the end of the internship, the student shall be able to 

1. Understand and bridge the gap between the theoretical knowledge and practical skills they have gained in four semesters,  in a clinical setting of their choice and interest