Honors Collegium 86: The Psychology of Fear: Phobias and the Experience of Anxiety

Honors Collegium 86

The Psychology of Fear: Phobias and the Experience of Anxiety

Enrollment: Open to College Honors/College Scholars students

Course Description: Seminar, three hours; fieldwork, one hour. Examination of phobias, including inquiry into how people are distressed by intense fear, examination of structures and processes of irrational fears, and discussion of courage and fear reduction strategies.

Professor Ken Mazey

I studied intellectual history and psychology at Rutgers University, followed by graduate study in philosophy at UCSD, and later completing a Ph.D. in Social-Clinical Psychology at the Wright Institute in Berkeley. My dissertation was titled The Paradigm Crisis in Psychoanalysis. My main focus was on community mental health concerns. As a licensed clinical psychologist, I had a private practice in Los Angeles, specializing in the treatment of anxiety disorders and phobias. As a consultant to law enforcement, I designed and implemented training for deputies called Decision Making Under Duress: Performance Enhancement Strategies. My first involvement with UCLA was as a consultant to the School of Dentistry working with dental phobias, and implementing curriculum reform for health-care practitioners to improve their coping skills with fearful patients and to practice better stress management habits.

Q & A

How long have you been teaching your HC seminar? Teaching for almost two decades, I have witnessed changing trends in research, with the pendulum swinging back and forth between different theoretical controversies. These debates have refocused the priorities of psychology. My teaching objectives have changed as well. I find myself going back to my intellectual roots. In recent years, I’ve shifted focus beyond anxiety disorders toward more of the existential dilemmas that trigger worry and dread in everyday life.

What is your favorite part about teaching this HC seminar? A favorite feature of teaching this seminar is incorporating components of a workshop, encouraging experiential learning and self-reflection, while simultaneously maintaining academic excellence through the practice of critical thinking skills. These analytical tools are then applied to a field interview and final research paper. Although the seminar is designed as an entry-level course, without pre-requisites or exams, the readings in the scientific literature are engaging and provocative. It is rewarding to challenge students to excel and to offer them the tools they need to achieve their objectives.

What do you find to be the most compelling about the subject matter of this seminar? Given the ubiquity of anxiety in our daily lives, students can utilize their own lived experience as a data reference point to study fear and anxiety. The 20th century has been dubbed the Age of Anxiety. Yet anxiety is a normal emotion that signals danger until we become preoccupied and consumed by it. Is there a way out of this dilemma? As we accelerate into the 21st century, we witness more inclusiveness, and more dialogue between different schools of thought. In this seminar, we embrace an

interdisciplinary mindset. What is exciting is the opportunity to study fear within the context of an emerging convergence of psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience. To explore a paradigm shift in the psychology of fear, and observe the pendulum swing back and forth from emotion to cognition, and then back again, makes for an intellectual adventure.

What are the learning objectives for this course?

Promote the acquisition of critical thinking skills via structured written and oral reports on the scientific literature.
Explore the theme of subjectivity and science via tools of self-reflection and methods of collecting first person data.
Describe the lived experience of fear/anxiety/panic via the interaction of physiology, cognitions, emotions, and behaviors.
Describe fear and differentiate anxiety from the perspectives of psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioral therapy, philosophy, and neuroscience.
Write coping strategies for body, mind, emotion, and spirit. Practice mindful awareness techniques to face fears, calm anxieties, and induce well-being.
Expand the scope of discussion via guest lectures by exploring emotions like hope, courage, and awe that counterbalance fear.
Promote open and free dialogue to encourage students to cultivate their own intellectual voice and sense of self-efficacy.

Student Feedback

Honors Collegium 86: The Psychology of Fear: Phobias and the Experience of Anxiety

“Dr. Mazey gives an excellent and thought-provoking class. I deeply appreciated that it focuses not only on phobias and the fear response, but also largely on anxiety, thought patterns, and the framework of the self. The class was greatly meaningful, and I always looked forward to our meetings and material, because Dr. Mazey used it to help us students connect with ourselves, our own anxieties and struggles, and view our own souls through the lens of the class material.”

“Dr. Mazey was a responsive and detailed grader, which I feel improved my analytic writing rapidly. I feel better prepared for graduate-level work.”

“This course is personally relevant and touching for everyone who takes it, and I feel changed for the better for having experienced it. Dr. Mazey is a great professor.”

“Dr. Mazey has put years of hard work and love into this course, and I would recommend it to anyone- not only Psych majors or Honors students, but ANY student who has struggled with anxiety, fear, or self-doubt. I am beyond grateful for this genuinely life-changing and educational opportunity!”