Near the end of 2016, UGM’s Faculty of Psychology received a visit from Prof. dr. Theo K. Bouman. Prof. Bouman is a professor in clinical psychology, now serving as head of the doctoral program for Health Care Psychologists at University of Groningen in the Netherlands. His research interests include CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), anxiety disorders, and somatoform disorders.
During his visit to the faculty, Prof. Bouman led a general lectures, workshop, and seminar. On Thursday (11/17/16) Prof. Bouman delivered a presentation with the title “Culturally adapted CBT for emotional disorders: Why and how” in a workshop attended by psychologists from puskesmas (community health centre). In his presentation, Prof. Bouman addressed the importance of adapting CBT to the culture in Indonesia. He also introduced 5 modules about the correct procedures in handling treatments for emotional disorders; one of them is “changing useless thoughts”.
Prof. Bouman covered CBT again on Tuesday (11/29/16) with students from the masters program in professional psychology, specifically about transdiagnostic perspective in CBT. Along with one of the lecturers from the faculty, Diana Setyawati, M.HSc. Psy., Ph.D, Prof. Bouman became one of the speakers in CBT training for emotional disorders on Monday (12/5/16). In the training, Prof. Bouman taught participants 9 steps in CBT intervention, from introduction, engagement, to behavioral activation. In the end of the training, participants were asked to practice and discuss (1) adjustment for CBT in relation to culture, local wisdom, or other specific attributes and (2) ways to increase CBT effectiveness in treating emotional disorders.
On Saturday (11/26/16) Prof. Bouman attended Seminar Nasional Pascasarjana: Riset-Riset Terkini di Bidang Ilmu Perilaku, which is a national seminar for graduate students about current researches in behavioral science. He delivered a presentation titled “Body Image and Its Disorders”. There are several things that he explained in his presentation, such as BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder) patients’ way of reasoning, negative effects of BDD, and CBT as a treatment for BDD. It is interesting to note that most of patients suffering from BDD are not satisfied with their bodies and appearances even after undergoing plastic surgeries.
Students from the faculty’s IUP (International Undergraduate Program) got the opportunity to attend a lecture from Prof. Bouman on Thursday (11/24/16). Prof. Bouman gave a lecture about the ethics in the field of psychology, both in research and the profession itself. Prof. Bouman also introduced University of Groningen’s ECP (Ethical Committee Psychology) to the students. He opened and concluded his session by quoting the saying “Do no harm (primum non nocere)”. [Marsa]