Mental health is everywhere: widely discussed on college campuses, in the news, on social media, and more. These are increasingly important topics in today's world, in which over 50% of people will meet criteria for a mental health disorder at some point in their lives. The toll of mental health – both in terms of human suffering and socioeconomic costs – is enormous.

This program will introduce you to Clinical Psychology, a field focused on understanding, identifying, and treating psychological disorders. What exactly is mental illness? How do psychologists decide when someone's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors constitute a disorder? What are the causes of psychological disorders? Is the problem with our genetics, our brains, our families, or the society and culture in which we live? What are the scientific methods we use to study mental health and illness? What forms of treatment are available to help people who are suffering? These topics and questions surround our everyday lives.

Over this week, we will try to answer some of these questions. We will explore psychological disorders from a variety of theoretical frameworks including psychological, biological, and sociocultural perspectives. The program will focus on current empirical studies that examine underlying factors as well as on empirically based treatments.