Prospectus

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Psychology of Health and Disease

Minor

Duration of minor

This minor is worth 30 EC, spread over a full academic year. The credits are not divided equally between the two semesters: 20 EC in semester 1 and 10 EC in semester 2.

Application

You can apply for this minor via uSis between 1 May and 1 August 2019. The code is 6000MPSGZM. You will be notified about enrolment or placement for the courses included in the minor.

Objectives

This minor focuses on the relationships between behaviour, health and illness, looking not only at abnormal behaviour and psychopathology (clinical characteristics of psychological disorders, their causes and treatment) but more generally at the psychological consequences of somatic and non-somatic health problems in children, adolescents and adults. Examples here also include problems with adjustment to chronic disease and addiction. In this minor, students acquire knowledge about theories in the field of health psychology, clinical theories, and research and intervention methods, with the aim of gaining knowledge and understanding of how psychology contributes to health care.

See under the ‘More info’ tab for an additional description.

Contact

For questions about registration, please contact the Student Services Centre
For questions about the content of the courses, please contact the Psychology study advisor

More info

Learning outcomes

After completing this minor, students will have knowledge and understanding of:

  1. the broad discipline of Psychology, including evolutionary psychology, biopsychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, personality psychology and clinical psychology (all at an introductory level);
  2. the wide range of research methods that have been developed throughout history, which enable us to make a distinction between scientific psychology and intuitive understanding of human nature;
  3. methods within health psychology for promoting health, preventing illness (stress, burn-out) and influencing psychological consequences of somatic disease;
  4. bio-psycho-social perspectives on sexual development, research in the area of sexology, sexual dysfunctions and their therapeutic treatment;
  5. issues in the area of culture, health and illness, for example in the interaction between health care professionals and patients or clients (detection, diagnosis, intervention and prevention) viewed against the societal background of increasing cultural diversity.

On the basis of exercises in understanding and applying this knowledge, students will learn to take a critical and analytical approach to issues in the area of social and organisational psychology drawn from everyday life, to collect information independently, to evaluate the validity of this information and to formulate proposals for further research with a more fundamental or more applied (solution-oriented) character. Students will be able to present these insights and analyses in written and/or oral form.

Maximum number of participants: 25 students

Due to the limited number of participants, students who apply for the full minor of 30 EC will be prioritised over students who apply for the 15 EC minor. Students who opt for the 15 EC minor will study the following courses:

  • Introduction to Psychology

  • Personality, Clinical and Health Psychology

  • Psychological and Neurobiological Consequences of Child Abuse

 

Minor

The courses Psychological and Neurobiological Consequences of Child Abuse, Sexology en Cross-cultural Psychology of Health and Illness can only be followed upon completion of the courses Introduction to Psychology and Stress, Health and Disease.

Course EC Semester 1 Semester 2
Introduction to Psychology 5
Stress, Health and Disease 5
Personality, Clinical and Health Psychology 5
Psychological and Neurobiological Consequences of Child Abuse 5
Sexology 5
Cross-cultural Psychology of Health and Illness 5