This module provides an evidence-based approach to psychology and psychiatry through an evolutionary and neurobiological framework to explain why individuals think, feel, and behave the way they do.
The module explores the neuroimmunological foundations of motivation and behavior, emphasizing how evolutionary pressures have shaped neural, emotional, and behavioral responses. These mechanisms continue to exert a profound influence on decision-making, emotional patterns, and health-related behaviors.
Students will be trained to apply clinically validated techniques from several psychological schools, integrating them with their own. Particular emphasis is placed on the use of metamodels as clinical techniques to identify and resolve psychological stagnation that prevents meaningful change.
A core focus of the module is the identification and modulation of meta-emotions (such as guilt and shame) and meta-cognitions that maintain maladaptive behavioral patterns. Psychological states such as helplessness and hopelessness are recognized as major inhibitors of health-related change; understanding and intervening at this level is essential for restoring agency and motivation.
Participants will learn to facilitate cognitive and emotional restructuring through neuropsychological reframing techniques and principles drawn from Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). By systematically challenging the underlying hypotheses that sustain psychological rigidity, clinicians can introduce adaptive uncertainty, often a critical catalyst for renewed engagement and behavioral change.
Learning objectives
Upon completion of this module, students will be able to:
- Apply appropriate psychotechnical interventions based on the five-plus-two component model and the contextual meaning.
- Identify and effectively modify meta-emotions and meta-cognitive processes, equipping patients with new psychological resources.
- Establish and maintain therapeutic boundaries at the P-level within the PNIc framework.
- Recognize clinical limits of intervention and appropriately determine when multidisciplinary collaboration or referral is required.