Key Ideas
Knowledge and understanding should be relevant to the following key ideas:
· There are effective ways of promoting healthy minds.
· Definitions of mental disorders are culturally constructed.
· Many different interventions for mental health problems are effective.
Areas of Learning
· Effective coping strategies; the factors that influence resilience; protective factors for mental health; symptoms of, and effective treatment for, anxiety disorders and depression; the relationships between biological, basic processes, person, and sociocultural level factors in the psychology of healthy minds and mental health issues.
· Psychological principles concerning healthy minds in everyday experiences and events (e.g. cultural and historical differences in concepts of mental health and mental illness) and in psychological interventions, including cognitive-behavioural therapy, behaviour modification, systematic desensitisation of phobias, assertiveness training, therapy for insomnia, and stress management therapy.
· Application of principles from the psychology of healthy minds to social issues (e.g. preventing the development of mental disorders, reducing prejudice against people with a mental illness) and personal growth, including advantages and disadvantages of different psychological interventions.
· Investigation designs and methods of assessing psychological responses used to study healthy minds and mental disorders; investigation designs and methods used to evaluate psychological interventions.
· Ethical issues associated with research and applications in the area of healthy minds and mental health issues.
Links to Pages
Follow the links to PowerPoint Presentations, Video Clips and Curriculum Summaries developed to support the teaching of each of these topics.
Resilience and Protective Factors
Anxiety - Symptoms & Treatments
Depression - Symptoms & Treatments