Prospectus

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Intervention Strategies in Clinical Neuropsychology

Course
2022-2023

Entry requirements

Only open to master’s students Psychology with specialisation Clinical Neuropsychology.

Description

This course consists of a theoretical and a practical part, which will be offered simultaneously. The more theoretical part consists of lectures and web lectures on general aspects of neurological deficits and specific interventions in disorders for different etiologies and afflictions.
In subgroups students will examine intervention strategies, their background and applicability, and write critical appraisals of a topic.
The practical part consists of small group sessions running parallel to these lectures. Students will be taught basic techniques such as providing psycho-education, teaching restorative techniques, and teaching compensatory mechanisms. Theoretical and practical issues in treatment planning and execution will be discussed. In subgroups students will write and apply an intervention strategy on a case, and reflect on this process.

Course objectives

Upon completion of this course students will:
1. have acquired advanced knowledge of the theoretical background and of the current state of evidence-based practices of interventions in clinical neuropsychology.
2. have acquired skills in selecting and applying evidence-based neuropsychological interventions
3. have learned to reflect on their therapeutic attitude and their treatment skills
4. have know-how to conduct a mini-therapy as a scientist-practioner
5. have learned how to report on the progress on the progress of and outcome of a mini-therapy.

Timetable

For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable

Registration

Education

Students must register themselves for all course components (lectures, tutorials and practicals) they wish to follow. You can register up to 5 days prior to the start of the course.

Exams

It is mandatory for all students to register for each exam and to confirm registration for each exam in My Studymap. This is possible up to and including 10 calendar days prior to the examination. You cannot take an exam without a valid pre-registration and confirmation in My Studymap. Carefully read all information about the procedures and deadlines for registering for courses and exams.

Exchange students and external guest students will be informed by the education administration about the current registration procedure.

Mode of instruction

-4 2-hour review-type lectures (course objective 1, 2 & 4)
-8 2-hour supervised mandatory seminars/work group sessions (course objectives 2, 3, 4 and 5)
The lectures will be given in English. As the workgroups are primarily focused on practicing treatment skills, these are either given in Dutch or in English.

Attendance is mandatory for all seminars.

In the lectures a review of the theoretical background and the current state of evidence based practices of interventions will be given. Students will work independently to perform Critical Appraisals of Topics (CAT) in order to gain more knowledge of and skills in selecting neuropsychological interventions (Course objectives 1 & 2). In the seminars students will learn treatment and reflective skills (course objective 3). Outside of class, again in triads students practice their treatment skills themselves by giving a mini-therapy, observing the other triad members and giving and receiving constructive feedback from them. In the seminars students will receive feedback on the process and are also taught the principles of being a scientist practitioner: on how to select, measure and evaluate their treatments and adjust the treatment accordingly (course objectives 3 and 4) as well as how to report on these (course objective 5). Students then write their treatment report in the triad-subgroups and independently write an observation report and a reflection report on the mini-therapy they have conducted (course objective 3, 4 and 5).

Assessment method

The final grade is based on:

  • A CAT - assignment (40%; course objectives 1 & 2)

  • a paper on their treatment, treatment outcome, a reflection on their therapeutic skills and attitude, as well as the constructive feedback to triad group members regarding their therapeutic process and skills (60%,of which 50% is based on the group project and 50% on the individual contribution; course objectives 3, 4 and 5)

Students have to have a grade of 5.0 or higher for both papers. If the CAT or the treatment report is insufficient, students can -in the retake – only achieve a grade of maximally 6 on that particular assignment, because the amount of feedback they have received on the first version that has been examined. The CAT - assignment needs to be written in English. The treatment paper can be written in either English or Dutch.

The date and location of the post exam consultation will be posted on Brightspace. In order to be able to attend this post exam consultation, an appointment needs to be made.

The Institute of Psychology follows the policy of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to systematically check student papers for plagiarism with the help of software. Disciplinary measures will be taken when fraud is detected. Students are expected to be familiar with and understand the implications of this fraud policy.

Reading list

Book:

  • Wilson, B. A., Winegardner, J., van Heugten, C. M., & Ownsworth, T. (Eds.). (2017). Neuropsychological rehabilitation: The international handbook. Psychology Press.

Articles: the specific relevant articles need to be sought ought by students, examples thereof are

  • Zedlitz AMEE, Geurts ACH, Fasotti L (2011). Post-stroke fatigue. A treatment protocol that is being evaluated. Clinical Rehabilitation, 25(6) 487-500.

  • Kumar, K. S., Samuelkamaleshkumar, S., Viswanathan, A., & Macaden, A. S. (2017). Cognitive rehabilitation for adults with traumatic brain injury to improve occupational outcomes. Cochrane database of systematic reviews, (6).

  • Loetscher, T., Potter, K. J., Wong, D., & das Nair, R. (2019). Cognitive rehabilitation for attention deficits following stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (11).

  • Withiel, T. D., Sharp, V. L., Wong, D., Ponsford, J. L., Warren, N., & Stolwyk, R. J. (2018). Understanding the experience of compensatory and restorative memory rehabilitation: A qualitative study of stroke survivors. Neuropsychological rehabilitation.

Contact information