Psychological Disorders: A Practical Introduction to Diagnosis, Causes, and Care

This course offers a clear and practical introduction to Psychology as it applies to Psychological Disorders, helping you understand how mental health conditions are identified, explained, and managed in real clinical settings. With a focus on diagnosis, causes, and care, you will build confidence in discussing common disorders and the approaches used to support recovery.

Explore Psychological Disorders Through Clinical Psychology

• Professor Peter Lambert guides you through the major categories of psychological disorders with clarity, clinical context, and a British academic perspective.
• Learn how mental disorders are classified, assessed, and differentiated using real-world diagnostic thinking.
• Develop a stronger understanding of anxiety, mood, psychotic, personality, eating, trauma-related, and neurodevelopmental disorders.
• Gain insight into evidence-based treatment, stigma, culture, ethics, and the human side of mental health care.

An accessible course on the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of Psychological Disorders.

Across sixteen focused lessons, this course introduces the foundations of abnormal Psychology and shows what counts as a psychological disorder, how clinicians approach assessment, and how symptoms are organised into diagnostic categories. You will examine the major Psychological Disorders encountered in practice, including anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, trauma- and stressor-related disorders, depressive disorders, bipolar and related disorders, schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, and substance-related and addictive disorders.

The course also explains the biological, cognitive, and social models used to understand causes, along with the role of clinical formulation, risk, and differential diagnosis. You will explore how evidence-based psychological treatments and medication fit into care, while also considering stigma, culture, ethics, and recovery. Professor Peter Lambert guides you through the major categories of psychological disorders with clarity, clinical context, and a British academic perspective, making complex material more approachable and relevant.

By the end of the course, you will be able to talk about Psychology and Psychological Disorders with greater accuracy, recognise key diagnostic patterns, and appreciate how assessment and treatment decisions are made in practice. You will finish with a stronger understanding of mental health care and a more informed, compassionate perspective on people experiencing psychological difficulties.