Courses

Have you wondered why our early relationships shape our future connections? Are you curious about how to optimally use your emotions? Modeled on a popular class offered to Stanford undergraduates and led by a clinical instructor at the Stanford Medical School, this course aims to teach you to think like a psychotherapist and understand why we feel and behave the way we do. Students will gain insight into why psychotherapists focus on early life relationships and learning, why they privilege emotions, and why they see the seeming contradictions in our lives as places for deeper understanding.

This discussion-based course will consider foundational questions in several areas of study: How do our early experiences in relationships affect the ones we create later? What good might come from anger, sadness, or guilt? Why are we more likely to segregate and point fingers when we are afraid? Through engaging weekly projects, students will be invited to become detectives in their own lives to uncover layers of psychological phenomena in both personal and public spheres. By the end of this journey, students will emerge with a newfound appreciation for the complexity of their minds, a richer comprehension of the psychology behind everyday life, and a fresh perspective on personal relationships, group dynamics, and the tapestry of human experience.