Program Overview

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Overview

The Clinical Psychology program explores the relationship between food, body, and psyche.

Aims and Content

Aims and Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

1. Define clinical psychology, its main theoretical models, and types of intervention.
2. Understand eating disorders in children, adolescents, and adults through a psychodynamic perspective.
3. Analyze and understand recent scientific literature on dietary and psychological functioning.
4. Know the main methods and tools for screening and assessment of problematic eating behaviors and apply them for appropriate goals in appropriate contexts.

Teaching Methods

• Frontal theoretical lessons (8 hours)
• Practice (1 hour)
• Case analysis (1 hour)

Lessons will take place in the DISFOR classroom, unless otherwise indicated by the University.

Syllabus/Content

• Definition of clinical psychology
• Main professional skills of clinical psychologists
• Main psychogenetic models and psychotherapeutic approaches
• Eating disorders during childhood: diagnostic classifications and psychodynamic perspective
• DSM-5 feeding and nutrition disorders: adolescence and adulthood
• Anorexia nervosa: diagnostic classification and psychodynamic perspective
• Bulimia nervosa: diagnostic classification and psychodynamic perspective
• Binge-eating disorder (BED): diagnostic classification and psychodynamic perspective
• Relationships between eating disorders and psychological functioning (emotions, thoughts, behaviors)
• Eating disorders and attachment
• Eating disorders and alexithymia
• Eating disorders and emotional regulation strategies
• Relationships between dieting and psychopathological symptoms (or psychological well-being)
• Impact of nutrition on depression and anxiety symptoms, aggressive behaviors, and cognitive impairment in healthy people
• Impact of maternal nutrition on children's symptoms
• Relations between vegetarianism or veganism and psychopathological symptoms
• Assessment methods of eating disorders
• Tools for the screening: self-report questionnaires

Recommended Reading/Bibliography

• Notes from the lessons
• Rossi, N. (2004). Psicologia clinica per le professioni sanitarie. Il Mulino, Bologna, chap. 8, p. 243-270.
• Tambelli R. (2017). Manuale di psicopatologia dell'infanzia, Il Mulino, Bologna, chap. 3. «I Disturbi alimentari Infantili», p. 123-140.
• Blaine, Bruce E. and Rodman, J. (2007). Responses to Weight Loss Treatment Among Obese Individuals with and without BED: A Matched-study Meta-analysis. Eating and Weight Disorders 12, 54-60.
• Opie et al. (2016). Dietary recommendations or the prevention of depression. Nutritional Neuroscience
• Iguacel, I., Huybrechts, I., Moreno, L. A., & Michels, N. (2021). Vegetarianism and veganism compared with mental health and cognitive outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition reviews, (4), 361-381

Teachers and Exam Board

• Cecilia Serena Pace
• Exam Board:
  • Laura Traverso (President)
  • Maria Carmen Usai (President)
  • Cecilia Serena Pace
  • Francesca Tagliotti
  • Lucia Valentini

Lessons

Lessons Start

Classes will be held in the 1st semester in presence at the DISFOR.

Class Schedule

The timetable for this course is available on the Portale EasyAcademy.

Exams

Exam Description

• Written pre-exam at the end of the course (8 multiple choice questions, 2 open-ended questions to be solved in 30/45 minutes)
• Oral exam, if the pre-exam is not taken, or if the course has to move remotely according to the indications of the University

Assessment Methods

The written exam will include multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions regarding textbooks and topics covered in class. The evaluation will be expressed out of thirty. For passing the exam, the lowest grade will be 18/30 and the highest will be 30/30 cum laude, when a student shows an excellent knowledge of the subject.

Exam Schedule

• 21/01/2026, 13:00, GENOVA, Orale
• 11/02/2026, 13:00, GENOVA, Orale

Further Information

Stefania Muzi, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology, collaborates in the teaching. Students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), disability, or other Special Educational Needs (SEN) are recommended to contact the professor or teaching assistant at the beginning of the course to agree on teaching and exam methods which, according to the course's objectives, take into account the modalities individual learning and provide suitable compensatory tools.