Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

Therapeutic Skills for the General Health Psychologist

Therapeutic Skills for the General Health Psychologist
6
14680
1
First semester
OB
Main language of instruction: Spanish

Other languages of instruction: Catalan, English

Teaching staff


Mrs. SANTAMARÍA GARCÍA, Marina - msantamaria@uic.es

Please send an e-mail to each teacher if an individual tutorial is required.

Introduction

General health psychologists must have different skills and competences to be able to carry out their work in the different situations that they are going to encounter. For this reason, this course aims to offer lectures with tools and applicability, as well as smaller group sessions to put everything learned into practice in situ.

Pre-course requirements

No specific prerequisites are required beyond the admission requirements for the University Master’s Degree in General Health Psychology.

Objectives

The course aims to:

  • Develop the core therapeutic skills required for the professional practice of General Health Psychology, promoting competent, ethical clinical practice tailored to each patient’s needs.
  • Foster the development of relational and communication skills that enable students to establish, maintain and repair a strong therapeutic alliance based on empathy, emotional attunement, active listening and the creation of a safe therapeutic environment.
  • Develop the ability to conduct the therapeutic process and individual therapy sessions, adapting interventions, pacing and communication to the patient’s characteristics, the stage of the therapeutic process and the intervention context.
  • Promote therapists’ self-awareness and understanding of their own emotional, bodily and relational experiences, recognising how their personal history, relational patterns and emotional responses may influence the therapeutic process.
  • Broaden students’ clinical understanding and intervention resources from an integrative perspective, incorporating relational, experiential, somatic and existential approaches, as well as different models for understanding personality and psychological functioning.
  • Develop resources for intervention in particularly complex clinical situations, including traumatic and emergency situations, promoting emotional regulation and safe, responsible professional practice.

Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme

  • CN02 - Identify the obligations and responsibilities of healthcare personnel regarding information confidentiality and patients' personal data protection.
  • CP02 - Work from the perspective of quality and continuous improvement, demonstrating autonomous and self-critical learning skills for responsible and effective professional performance in the clinical and healthcare field.
  • CP03 - Work in multidisciplinary groups in the clinical and healthcare field, critically and constructively evaluating one's own work and that of other professionals, and identifying both personal and professional strengths and limitations in professional practice.
  • CP04 - Implement strategies and mechanisms in the clinical and healthcare field to promote gender equality, equity, and respect for diversity, using inclusive and non-discriminatory language in professional practice.
  • CP10 - Communicate effectively with other professionals, demonstrating skills necessary for teamwork and multidisciplinary groups.
  • CP14 - Apply the principles of human rights, democratic values, and sustainable development in professional practice, promoting a culture of peace and ensuring inclusive and sustainable environments that respect the dignity of all people in the healthcare field.
  • HB01 - Apply acquired knowledge to address problems in multidisciplinary contexts, interpreting information that is often incomplete or limited, and identifying ethical aspects and social responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments.
  • HB04 - Demonstrate advanced interpersonal communication and emotion management skills with patients, relatives, and caregivers, ensuring person-centered care throughout the entire process of psychological evaluation, diagnosis, intervention, and follow-up.
  • HB07 - Demonstrate a solid ethical and professional commitment by assuming civic and social responsibilities, contributing to the construction of a more just and equal society from the field of health psychology.

Learning outcomes of the subject

Students will be able to:

  • Master interview techniques and the establishment of the therapeutic relationship from different therapeutic models in professional practice.
  • Demonstrate skills in emotional management and empathetic, effective and responsible interpersonal communication with professionals, patients and caregivers throughout all stages of the therapeutic process, fostering a high-quality therapeutic relationship and an intervention tailored to the patient’s needs.
  • Apply appropriate coping strategies to different problems arising in the various contexts of Health Psychology intervention, ensuring an appropriate response to the needs of each situation.
  • Use teamwork and collaboration skills in multidisciplinary teams, ensuring coordinated and effective professional practice.
  • Identify problems arising from professional practice that may affect the therapist’s well-being, proposing self-care strategies and measures to prevent professional burnout.
  • Determine strategies to promote gender equality, equity and respect for human rights in professional practice.
  • Design inclusive environments and situations for sustainable development, ensuring effective, responsible and inclusive intervention contexts.

Syllabus

  • Foundations of the therapeutic relationship: therapeutic presence, use of the therapist’s self, development of the therapeutic alliance, emotional attunement, empathy, validation and creation of a safe therapeutic environment. Ruptures and repair of the therapeutic alliance.
  • Clinical and communication skills: active and empathic listening, emotional reflection, reformulation, clarification, summarising, therapeutic use of silence and formulation of therapeutic questions.
  • Conducting therapy sessions and the therapeutic process: establishing the therapeutic framework, exploring and focusing on the presenting problem, emotional deepening, therapeutic pacing, timing of interventions and session closure.
  • Therapist self-awareness and the person of the therapist: influence of the therapist’s personal history, emotional wounds and relational patterns on clinical practice. Identification of emotional activation, emotional resonance and countertransference. Self-regulation, self-care and development of a conscious therapeutic identity.
  • Body-oriented and somatic work in psychotherapy: the body and emotional experience, interoceptive awareness, foundations of nervous system regulation, identification of bodily signals, the therapist’s embodied presence and basic somatic interventions.
  • Existential and spiritual dimensions in psychotherapy: spirituality and mental health, meaning and purpose, the existential dimension of human suffering, and the ethical and respectful integration of spirituality and personal beliefs into the therapeutic process.
  • Psychological intervention in emergency and trauma situations: understanding psychological responses to critical situations and developing basic resources for psychological intervention and support in emergencies and potentially traumatic experiences.
  • Models and resources for understanding psychological and relational functioning: introduction to internal parts work and different models for understanding personality, relational patterns and communication styles, with the aim of adapting therapeutic interventions to the characteristics of each patient.

Teaching and learning activities

In person



Teaching methodologies

Training activities

Lectures (CM)

(AD)

Collaborative Learning (CA)

(ACE)

Case Method (MC)

Autonomous Learning (AA)

Autonomous Learning (AA)

(AE)

Evaluation systems and criteria

In person



Assessment for the course will consist of:

  • Final theoretical and competency-based examination (70%): a written examination aimed at assessing the acquisition and integration of the knowledge and competencies developed throughout the course. It may include theoretical questions, analysis of clinical cases and situations, and/or applied questions.
  • Continuous assessment (30%): assessment activities related to the course content and competencies. These may include practical exercises, case analyses, reflection and integration activities, simulations, or other competency-based activities, preferably carried out during face-to-face sessions.
To pass the course, students must obtain a minimum grade of 5 out of 10 in the final examination. Only when this requirement has been met will the final examination grade be weighted together with the continuous assessment grade.

Bibliography and resources

  • Dana, D. (2019). La teoría polivagal en terapia: Cómo unirse al ritmo de la regulación. Editorial Eleftheria.
  • Dana, D., & Porges, S. W. (Eds.). (2019). Aplicaciones clínicas de la teoría polivagal. Editorial Eleftheria.
  • Fisher, J. (2019). Sanar el yo fragmentado de los supervivientes del trauma: Superar la fragmentación interna y la alienación personal. Editorial Eleftheria.
  • Geller, S. M., & Greenberg, L. S. (2022). Therapeutic presence: A mindful approach to effective therapeutic relationships (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association.
  • Levine, P. A. (2021). En una voz no hablada: Cómo el cuerpo se libera del trauma y restaura su bienestar. Gaia Ediciones.
  • Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2009). El trauma y el cuerpo: Un modelo sensoriomotriz de psicoterapia. Desclée De Brouwer.
  • Porges, S. W. (2018). Guía de bolsillo de la teoría polivagal: El poder transformador de sentirse seguro. Editorial Eleftheria.
  • Salvador, M. C. (2022). Más allá del yo: Encontrar nuestra esencia en la curación del trauma (2.ª ed.). Editorial Eleftheria.
  • Salvador, M. C., & Prieto Blanco, O. (2026). Reflexiones para una psicoterapia esencial. Chinmayam Ediciones. 
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