UCSC PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT; PSYCHOLOGY 169...
WELCOME TO

Community Mental Health

University of California, Santa Cruz; Instructor: Veronica Tonay, PhD

Do not come to class if you are sick! Thank you! (please see * below)

site last updated: 11/23/09

"Never doubt that a small group of commonly minded individuals can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

TPE#2 recent FAQ: You may use as many theoretical concepts and models as you want to. That is, you can mix psychodynamic and social-learning. For the part on how you'll tell if your interventions have worked, you just need to describe what you'll do to assess the effectiveness of your own program--survey? case studies? interviews? before and after assessment tests? The extra reading your likely doing for this project would be on what others have tried before you with this population, what the risk factors are for your population, and basic demographics (statistics regarding the incidence rate of your population's difficulty, etc.).

Handouts added (below). Lecture and Reading Schedule has been updated. TA Office hours and contact info (also on lecture & reading schedule): Denise Su, dsu@ucsc.edu, Tuesdays 1-2, 233 SS2; Chris Cochran, ccochran@ucsc.edu, Thursdays 1:40-2:40, 327 SS1.

Extra credit (15 points possible)! View one of the following (they are each about 90 minutes long, and are each worth your time, whether or not you do this for extra credit). Then write a few paragraphs in which you describe how what you viewed influenced your view of a population or populations in CMH, and influenced your ideas of how best to help them (the page limit would be about 2 double-spaced pages). Options: Blue Eyed (at McHenry library), OR God Grew Tired of Us (out on DVD), OR 30 Days (season 1) episodes on Minimum Wage and Straight Man in a Gay World; OR 30 Days (season 2) episodes on Immigration and Outsourcing; OR 30 Days (season 3) Working in a Coal Mine and Indian Reservation. (You can view episodes here.) Email your paragraphs in the body of an email directly to me here (do not use any other email address--thank you!) before midnight on Sunday night, 11/22. (If you email them elsewhere, you may not get credit.) Have fun!

TPE #2 suggestions: Make sure you know and say what you are trying to prevent with your agency, and that it is a Community Mental Health agency (rather than a healthcare agency, for instance)--meaning you are trying to prevent a mental health problem. You can set your agency anywhere within Santa Cruz County (which includes Watsonville). You should have finished 1-8, and be working on 9-11 (useful links below). Numbers 9 and 10 are the "meat" of your paper, so make sure to spend the most time on them!

Based upon CDC recommendations, members of the campus community who develop flu-like illness (fever and chills AND a cough or sore throat) should isolate themselves until at least 24 hours after they are free of the fever*. (This will likely be a period of 3-5 days.) Again, please DO NOT come to class if you're sick! Stay home, get better, and protect your fellow students, instructors and staff! Thank you.

The Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center always needs donations--cash, gently used or new warm clothing, sleeping bags, tents, and rainwear (including shoes) are especially appreciated, especially this time of year. On any given night in Santa Cruz, there are nearly 3,000 homeless people with, at the best of times, only about 400 shelter beds available.

Want to volunteer in Santa Cruz? Check out this link and this link. Don't forget about the Psychology Field Study program, where you can intern at one of dozens of community mental health agencies for credit!

COURSE INFORMATION:

Syllabus: Reading and Lecture Schedule (check for updates)

Syllabus: Course Information

Thought-Provoking Exercise #1: due 10/6

Thought-Provoking Exercise #2: due 11/24

PAPER INFORMATION:

Plagiarism handout

How do I write a college paper? Tips...

How college papers are graded

Tips for researching your paper

COURSE HANDOUTS (more may be added; please check back frequently):

For 10/8 and 10/13: Lazarus' Ways of Coping; Stress

For 10/15: Diversity: White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

For 10/28: Psychoanalytic model: main concepts for CP

For 10/28: Freud Evaluation (APA)

For 10/28: Another Freud Evaluation (Masling)

(If you want something more to read to clarify the psychoanalytic model)

For 11/12: Fascinating Jungian Site including resources and Jung's impact on society: literature, art, songs, etc.

For 11/19: Ethical and Legal Mandates, CA

For 11/19: Resources for Survivors of Child Abuse

For 11/19: Article, L.A. Times, on abuse (warning: not easy to read)

For 11/19: "The History of Child Abuse," from the Journal of Psychohistory

For 11/24: U.N. report on mental illness

For 11/24: Treatment Advocacy Center: interesting site to browse

"Can't Get No Satisfaction" (New Yorker) not assigned--just an interesting take on burnout which may remind you of Jungian ideas about culture and organizations

LINKS TO OTHER PLACES:

The Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center has loads of information and links about homelessness locally and nationally.

CAP REPORT: The United Way agency's latest report on the state of the Santa Cruz community (the Community Assessment Project) is available online! It gives statistics for various problems in the community. Their homeless census and methamphetamine report for Santa Cruz County are here, as well: www.appliedsurveyresearch.org

List of large agencies helping various populations, both nationally and abroad (CNN, 2007).

Check out this video update about Nathaniel Ayers and information about the Nathaniel Ayers Foundation, as well as Steve Lopez's original LA Times articles about him. The Soloist is a film is full of material we will discuss in Community Mental Health.

Salary search for any government job in California (you can leave many of the search fields blank, including the job title field, and get a complete list for a given location--useful for TPE #2)

www.drtonay.com: many mental health handouts can be found by clicking on 'psychotherapy' (FYI: I never take on current students as psychotherapy clients, and former students only in very rare circumstances)

Internet resources for social workers

Santa Cruz Sentinel (search the archives for information about any local issue)

Community Psychology Net's Reading List (good resources for projects)

Mental Health Net: Info. regarding all kinds of community problems (including those you're doing your projects on!)

American Psychological Association Home Page

We have a brick at the homeless Family Shelter on River Street! :) The shelter was completed in February, 2005!

Stop by and check it out. Our brick says:

Home and community--The world overflows! Psych. 169 UCSC 2004

CLICK HERE TO GO TO UCSC HOME PAGE!