Psychology and COunselling

PSYCHOLOGY & COUNSELLING What is psychology ? You might not be sure about what exactly psychology is. Psychology is a science. It is the study of human and animal behaviour. Some say the study of mind or the brain. Whilst others consider it to be the study of personality. Psychology considers what motivates people to do what they do.
So what is Abnormal Behaviour?
There are some main types of abnormal behaviour. These include -

DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS - An example is the Dissociative Identity Disorder - also known as Multiple Personality Disorder - the person possesses two or more distinct personalities, each complex and dominant one at a time. As shown in books and films such as All About Eve and Sibyl.
SEXUAL AND GENDER IDENTITY DISORDERS
*Paraphilias - A person will have unconventional sources of sexual gratification e.g. Voyeurism, exhibitionism, sadism and masochism.
*Sexual Dysfunctions - A person may be unable to complete the usual sexual response e.g. Inability to maintain erection, premature ejaculation, inhibition of orgasms.
*Gender Identity Disorder - The person may feel extreme discomfort at their anatomical sex and identify themselves with the opposite sex.

EATING DISORDERS
*Anorexia Nervosa - The person avoids eating, becomes emaciated and will usually have a severe fear of becoming fat.
*Bulimia Nervosa - The person will have binge-purge cycles, overeating to excess (binging) followed by purging e.g. Vomiting, excessive laxative use as a means to compensate for the overeating.
PERSONALITY DISORDERS
A well known personality disorder is the Antisocial personality disorder (otherwise known as psychopathy) - is a conduct disorder, usually manifested in truancy, delinquency, belligerence, running away from home etc. In adulthood, the person will find it difficult to hold down a job, be a responsible person or partner or staying on the right side of the law. They will feel no guilt or shame for not adhering to social norms, such as committing violent acts, other criminal behaviour.

IMPULSE CONTROL DISORDERS include kleptomania, pyromania, pathological gambling and others.
 
COURSE STRUCTURE
There are seven lessons in this course, as follows:
1. Stress
2. Abnormal Behaviour
3. Individual Behaviour
4. Group Behaviour
5. Methods of Dealing with Abnormalities
6. Conflict Resolution
7. Interpersonal Communication Skills
Aims

• Identify the nature of conflict and stress and why this issue affects so many people today.
• Identify and examine behaviours that are characterised as abnormal and compare and contrast these with behaviours characterised as healthy.
• Explain social influence on individual behaviour.
• Explain social influence on group behaviour.
• Describe alternative methods of dealing with psychological problems
• Develop skills for resolving conflict.
• Develop communication skills for counselling individuals.

WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE
Here are some examples of what you may do:
-Find someone you know who you suspect has a type A personality.
Talk to them to try to confirm if your suspicion is correct.
Note (write down) the ways in which they appear to be a type A personality.
-Talk with someone who is suffering, or has suffered stress. This might be a friend, relative, work mate, or anyone else you are able to find. Discuss their stress with them (current or past). Don't push them, but try to discern from what they are happy to tell you, whether their stress was (or is) chronic or acute.
-Consider conflict which occurs in either a workplace or recreation situation you are familiar with.
This might be a place where you work, or a workplace you visit frequently (eg. A shop or office);or perhaps a sporting club, gymnasium or social group which you regularly attend. Make up a list of disputes or conflicts which you remember to have occurred in the past.
-Consider an individual in your life, or else a character in a film or book, who you regard as abnormal.
Consider why they are abnormal.
Write down a list of reasons you are able to identify.
Which method or defining abnormality was influencing your judgement of this character
-Find a teenager who you can interview.
This might be a person you know (a relative, work colleague, member of an organisation you belong to etc), or perhaps you might contact and visit a youth club or organisation that deals with teenagers and arrange to interview someone.
The person needs to be someone who exhibits some type of deviant behaviour, even if not extreme. Most teenagers will at some stage exhibit behaviour that is a deviance from social norms (even if the behaviour is not a deviance from age or peer group norms).
Interview this teenager for at least 15 minutes. Make notes of your conversation, their responses (verbal and non-verbal).
Duration: 100 hours

The study of psychology is fascinating. This course covers a variety of interesting topics, such as Abnormal Psychology, Group psychology and much more. 
This course is a useful foundation course if you are planning to work towards a career in psychology and/or counselling.  It will develop your ability to analyse psychological conditions, and apply that knowledge in counselling, or advisory situations. Or you might just want to take the course because you are interested in psychology and counselling.
So what else is covered in the course? We also

"How to recognise stress
It is important to recognize whether you or someone you know or a client is under stress. Often, even if we are under the influence of a stressful condition and our body reacts to it internally as well as externally, we fail to realize the symptoms of our stress. This also happens when the causes of stress are there long enough for us to get used to them. The body may try to tell us that it is stressed or that something is wrong, through symptoms such as:
· heart palpitations
· dizzy spells
· tight and sore muscles or
· various body pains and conditions
· blurry vision
· inability to eat or over-eating
· loss of interest in usual activities
· unexpected emotional reactions and more...
It is important to remain attentive to such symptoms and to have a stress management system in place to counter the adverse affects of stress." (taken from our Psychology and Counselling Course)