Pseudoscience and Mental Health | Harvard University

In clinical psychology, it is essential to distinguish valid scientific claims from pseudoscientific ones so that we conduct research that is elucidating and provide treatments that work. This course teaches students the critical thinking skills necessary to identify the characteristics of pseudoscience, applying what they learn to evaluate popular, and often controversial, methods, assessments, and treatments within the field of clinical science. Controversies to be examined include the following: is the Rorschach inkblot test a valid measure of psychopathology? Is there such a thing as multiple personality disorder? Is it possible to remember events that did not actually occur? The critical thinking skills learned in this course can help students recognize bias and errors in their own research and that of others.