Please consult the New School Course Catalog for a full list of courses. Fall 2024 courses include:
Adult Psychopathology, GPSY5155
McWelling Todman, Professor of Clinical Practice and Co-Chair of Psychology
This course is a comprehensive introduction to the history, theories and research associated with some of the more important types of adult psychopathology.
Introduction to Applied Psychology and Design, GPSY5158
Michael Schober, Professor of Psychology (CSD)
This course provides an overview of how empirical psychological findings and methods can be applied to the design of interfaces, objects, and environments. Students will review how theories of human perception, cognition and interaction have informed human factors and ergonomics, and how attention to the psychology of individual capacities along with environmental and social factors can inform design. They will also encounter widely used lab and field research methods, including task analysis, usability testing, experimental design, and observational and self-report measures of users’ experience, cognition and affect. Throughout, critical questions about the ethical treatment of humans—both research participants in the design process and the eventual users of what is being designed—and about broader social impacts will be addressed. Prior coursework in psychology is useful but not required.
Cognitive Neuroscience, GPSY6101
Hossein Adeli Jelodar, Part-time Lecturer
This course provides an overview of the brain mechanisms supporting perceptual and cognitive processes, including vision, object recognition, attention, memory, cognitive control and emotions. Students are also introduced to the structure and function of neural substrates of behavior and motor control. In addition to learning about brain organization and function, students in the course will acquire a basic understanding of scientific design and methods in the brain sciences.
Language and Thought, GPSY6107
Ruthe Foushee, Assistant Professor of Psychology (CSD)
This course surveys research on psycholinguistics, cognition, and the relation between language and thought. Topics include the psychological reality of grammars proposed by linguists; individual and dyadic processes in language planning, production perception, and comprehension; meaning, categorization, and knowledge representation; universals in language and thought.
Introduction to Substance Abuse Counseling, GPSY6109
Lisa Litt, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Assistant Director of the MA Concentration in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counseling
This course is an introduction to understanding and working clinically with individuals misusing substances and those who are dually-diagnosed. A variety of theoretical and commonly employed practical approaches to counseling and intervention techniques are explored and discussed using case material. This is a required course for those individuals who wish to obtain an MA degree with a concentration in mental health and substance abuse counseling.*Psychology majors in their senior year at Lang College, and School of Public Engagement may enroll in this course.
Introduction to Statistics and Research Design, GPSY6133
Sam Winer, Associate Professor of Psychology (Clinical)
This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of behavioral research methodology and statistics. The emphasis will be on descriptive statistics, non-experimental and experimental research designs and how to report them in APA format. We will focus on deepening three core areas of competency. First, scientific method and research design: Understanding how to apply the scientific method to design rigorous research that can contribute to our understanding of behavior. Second, data analysis and presentation: Understanding how to summarize, analyze, and interpret data from psychological research projects to reach conclusions about patterns and causes of behavior. Third, scientific communication and literacy: Understanding how to properly report the results of psychological research with brevity and clarity.
Research Methods, GPSY6238
Adam Brown, Associate Professor of Psychology (Clinical) and Vice Provost for Research
This course provides hands-on experience in designing, running, and reporting psychology experiments. Class time is devoted to discussion on individual research projects at each phase of the work.
Collective Memory, GPSY6326
William Hirst, Malcolm B. Smith Professor of Psychol (CSD)
Whether a group is small or large, a group will share memories of its past. These collective memories can provide an identity for the group. They have been responsible for providing a group its sense of place, as well as exacerbating ethnic and national tension. This course is concerned with the way these collective memories are formed, maintained and remembered. Interdisciplinary in its content, it will focus on the way memories are transmitted across a group, how distinctive renderings of a group can converge on a shared recollection, and how collectively held memories remain stable, often over centuries. The course will read relevant literature in anthropology, history, political science, sociology, and psychology, though its main focus will be on understanding the contribution psychology can make to the study of collective memory.
Theories of Mind & Society, GPSY6433
Lawrence Hirschfeld, Professor of Anthropology and Psychology (CSD)
A major task facing all humans is to make sense of the actions of others. Unsurprisingly, given the importance of meeting this challenge, humans everywhere display dedicated capacities that enhance our ability to interpret and predict the behavior of others. On one hand, humans readily mentalize--that is, they attribute to others unseen mental states and expect that these mental states systematically give rise to action. On the other hand, humans readily recognize others as being *sorts* of people, occupying *sorts* of roles, and they use this information to understand others' behavior. This seminar explores these capacities, particularlly the psychological and social mechanisms that subserve them. Of particular interest is how these capacities develop, both over an individual's lifetime, evolutionarily, and comparatively across cultural environments and across species.
First Year Training Clinic Practicum, GPSY6905
Faculty TBA
This course is required for 1st year clinical psychology students and involves training at The Safran Center for Psychological Services. During the required 8-hour practicum, first-year clinical students will carry 2 cases at time in individual psychotherapy for 20 sessions per case. Students will receive 2 hours of weekly supervision (individual and group). Students will also participate in a year-long weekly practicum course led by the Center Director. Students will learn, practice, and hone diagnostic and risk assessment, initial formulation, treatment planning, and clinical documentation. Students will also gain practice in conceptualizing and presenting their cases; they will present videotaped segments of their clinical work for group discussion and supervision. These meetings additionally provide opportunities for students to address administrative and clinical issues related to their work at The Safran Center. Students are required to complete two clinical case assignments, attend supervision and case conference weekly, read and be prepared to discuss assigned readings, and participate actively during the open discussions. Students' progress in their clinical work is assessed by individual and group supervisors twice per academic year, allowing ample feedback on each student's development as a clinician. Meeting time is Wednesday 4:00pm-5:50pm. Client contact and supervision hours are flexible and dependent on student, supervisor and client schedules.
Diagnostic Testing 1, GPSY7002
Ali Khadivi, Part-time Faculty
The purpose of this class is to provide a comprehensive introduction to psychological assessment for school age children and adolescents. Students successfully completing the course will demonstrate competency in the administration, scoring and interpretation of tests of intellectual, academic and emotional functioning. Case material will be woven into the seminar in order to introduce aspects of psychodynamic, cognitive, family systems and neuropsychological diagnostic perspectives. Although this is an introductory course, the emphasis will be on synthesizing results of testing data, clinical observation and collateral information to provide a thorough, child-centered evaluation. Students may have the opportunity to administer and write up a testing battery.TA Session participation is especially important for learning assessments that students will include in evaluations during the semester.
Diagnostic Interviewing, GPSY7005
Ali Khadivi, Part-time Faculty
The focus of this course is on mastering the diagnostic interview in the context of the initial phase of the treatment. The course will cover interviewing techniques for establishing the therapeutic alliance and for arriving at a diagnostic formulation. Issues of differential diagnosis, psychiatric mental status examination, and suicide and violence risk assessment will be covered. In addition, students will be introduced to the Cultural Formulation Interview, Motivational Interviewing, and other specialized interviewing techniques.
Clinical Theory and Technique: Psychodynamic Therapy, GPSY7006
Julia Belotserkovsky, Part-time Lecturer
This course focuses on mastering basic clinical theory and techniques in psychodynamic therapy. Issues covered include therapeutic neutrality, transference/countertransference, resistance, differential therapeutics, treatment planning, and psychodynamic case conceptualization. Relevant biological, psychological, and social factors, along with research perspectives, are considered. This course includes a clinical lab component. Co-requisite: course to be taken concurrently with GPSY 7002.
Advanced Diagnostic Testing and Assessment: Adult Psychopathology, GPSY7007
Andrew Twardon, Part-time Faculty
The course will introduce students to advanced diagnostic testing and assessment of personality-related spectrum of adult psychopathology. Building upon the standard psychological testing battery (Diagnostic Testing I & II), the course will (i) review the most recent new developments in multidimensional research and conceptualizations of personality disorders and co-occurring interpersonal / relational vulnerabilities; (ii) review the dimensional interpretation of the standard testing results (WAIS-IV, MMPI-3; TAT, R-PAS); (iii) introduce some of the new, dimensional measures of adult, personality-related psychopathology, including the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-IV (MCMI-IV) and the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology (DAPP); (iv) discuss key neurobiological substrates of personality-spectrum disorders and (v) discuss the advanced, personality-centered, differential diagnosis of DSM-5-TR disorders and multidimensional approach to psychodynamic interpretation and case formulation. Students will (i) administer, score and interpret all aforementioned assessment measures; (ii) learn how to use some of the new, online assessment platforms (Q-Global, R-PAS, Sigma, PAR) and (iii) learn how to write an evidence-based psychological testing report.
Clinical Externship Seminar 1, GPSY7009
Reese Minshew, Part-time Lecturer
One credit per semester.
Clinical Externship Seminar 2, GPSY7010
Miriam Steele, Marrow Professor of Psychology (Clinical)
Two years of supervised field experience in a mental health agency approved by the Clinical faculty is required for the PhD in clinical psychology. The field experience consists of a two-day-per-week placement in an agency, with in-house supervision. Weekly class meetings link practical issues and problems to theoretical discussion and the research literature, including issues of gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. These courses cannot be counted toward fulfillment of PhD seminar requirements.
Seminar on Professional Issues and Ethics, GPSY7011
Faculty TBA
This seminar focuses on current issues related to training, evaluation, and accreditation. Social controls over professional practice are examined, along with the role and structure of national, regional, and local psychological associations. APA ethics guidelines and legal guidelines for professional conduct are discussed. Issues surrounding codes of conduct and accountability inside and outside institutions; scope of practice; special populations; issues of ethnicity, social class, and social orientation in professional practice; and professional relations in multidisciplinary settings are also explored. Prerequisites: GPSY 6350 and GPSY 6351; or enrollment in the CMHSAC and successful completion of GPSY 6109 and GPSY 6112. This course cannot be counted toward fulfillment of the PhD seminar requirements. This course provides 75 clock hours of New York SOASAS approved CASAC training.
Ethnicity in Clinical Theory Practice, GPSY7012
Judelysse Gomez, Part-time Lecturer
This course examines the cultural, historical, and sociopolitical factors that shape the worldviews of the client and therapist, and their impact on the therapy process. Students will explore the influence of culture on the phenomenology of distress and learn practical skills for conducting culturally responsive assessment and therapy. Techniques for improving therapeutic engagement and case conceptualization with diverse client populations also will be discussed. Finally, students will also deepen their awareness, knowledge and ability to work with a specific cultural group by conducting a series of experiential exercises, a group presentation, and focused reviews of the literature.
Perception in Virtual Worlds: Experiments in Design and Psychology, GPSY6456
Colleen Macklin, Professor of Media Design & Ben Van Buren, Assistant Professor of Psychology
This course will explore the interplay between perceptual psychology and the design of interactive systems and games. Students from psychology and design will learn a variety of useful concepts from perception research and interactive design, including how to make interactive digital games and experiences. Together, we will explore questions such as: how do humans perceive the world? How do our interactions in games reveal underlying systems? How is “intelligence” perceived in artificial agents? And how do we understand each other through perceptual cues? We’ll develop experiments using simple programming environments and tools (Javascript/Python and Unity) to study how people interact with, perceive and understand artificial worlds. While some experience in these tools and programming languages will be helpful for this course, it is not necessary, as long as there is a willingness to learn the basics. *Open to NSSR Psychology students. Students from other divisions and programs, including Lang College, may register for the psychology section only after receiving permission from Ben van Buren. Parsons students must register for the PSAM section of the course.
Clinical Practicum: New School Counseling Center, GPSY7015
Sam Winer, Associate Professor of Psychology (Clinical
Advanced clinical students will participate in a clinical practicum at The New School Counseling Center where they will conduct weekly psychotherapy sessions with a maximum of 6 patients per week, receive individual supervision with a staff member and group supervision with the director of the counseling service. Students will be invited to attend the Student Counseling Center professional development meetings.