i really enjoyed dr chavira's class. some of the questions on her exams were a bit tricky but she also offered extra credit which made up for it. i highly recommend getting the textbook and reading the sections that she touches upon in lecture, also make sure to go to discussion and participate for easy points.

I absolutely loved this class with Dr. Chavira. Her lectures were straightforward and really informational. It was too bad we had the online platform, but she was a great professor nonetheless! I definitely recommend this class if you're interested in the disparities in cultures. You learn a lot of valuable information that opens your eyes to the differences among cultures. Our class consisted of 5 quizzes, 5 journal reflections in which you reflect on one of the assigned readings, 1 weekly discussion post, and 2 papers. One paper was about identity and the other was a research paper. Overall, Dr. Chavira presents her lectures clearly and communicates effectively with students. I definitely recommend taking her!

The material was very interesting, I just didn't like how heavy the readings were. And the discussion section didn't do too good of a job tying together what we learned in class. If you're a good/fast reader, I recommend taking this course, but if not (like me) I would proceed with caution. Overall, Chavira is a very good professor, her voice is very soothing. I also had the sweetest TA for this class, so she has good taste in people too lol. SELLING THE TEXTBOOK (abnormal psych Pearson, 17th edition) FOR 55$! email: ************* for more info

Chavira is a very knowledgeable professor who clearly loves this topic. However, her lectures are a bit slow and can be challenging to follow at times. Make sure to listen and take notes on everything she's saying -- don't just read the information on the slides because her exams contain more info than what is on the slides. In general, her exams are very very specific, as they test you on all parts of the class. This was a big challenge for me especially because the class grade is based on solely the 3 exams (treated as a total of 3 midterms). However, if you put in the work and study well in advance you should be able to succeed.

I absolutely loved this class!!! Professor Chavira is very knowledgable about the topics and I thought that the course gave a great overview yet still a lot of details on a wide range of psychological disorders. One of my favorite things about this course is that I could tell that everyone who came to lecture was very enthusiastic to learn. People would ask lots of questions during lecture which I always found these questions super interesting, and if for some reason professor didn't know the answer she would research it after class and send an announcement with her response and the sources she used to research the answer. She really cares about her students!

Tests were pretty straightforward and all multiple choice, but you do need to study. I would recommend using the slides to study and pretend like you are giving the lecture (this ensures you really understand the concept and are not just memorizing facts). If topics from lecture are unclear, I found that reading the textbook was very helpful. I think I got like 42/45 on my first midterm and then a 44/45. They definitely were not easy, but they are doable if you put the work into it!

discussion section was actually really interesting. We would read case studies of treating people for depression considering their cultural backgrounds, debates on if forced treatment is ethical for the seriously mentally ill, and learned about the different levels of stigma. Attendance is also is worth part of your overall grade so def go!

overall, would def recommend this class and take from Professor Chavira in the future!

and also

This class was pretty interesting! Exams were fair. Make sure to read the textbook! Information from the textbook is included on exams. Also, discussion sections are mandatory (even in Week 1). She provides EC opportunities through SONA.

This seminar is pretty reading intensive and active participation is encouraged. It covers a lot of material about culture's impact on mental health, including the diagnosis, symptoms, and treatments of mental illness. It is really informative, especially if you are interested in mental health care!
However, this class is really intensive on reading and writing, a one-page reflection on readings or one-page discussion post is required every week (25% of total grade). A 5-page self-awareness paper (reflecting on your cultural background) is due in the middle of the quarter (30% of total grade). At the end of the quarter, another 8-10 page literature review on culture and mental health is due (45% of total grade). In general, it is worth it because of the materials and discussions we had in class, but this class is definitely not easy.

This class was an okay class with Professor Chavira. She's very friendly.

She mostly just recites what her slides say. I didn't feel really engaged during class. I just went to say I did. Lectures were audiopodcated.

The class was a bit tough just because there was so much reading and so much material from the books were on the tests. Lots of treatment names, causal factors, and many other things to memorize. I took this class with another heavy-based reading class and I almost passed out with all the 100s of pages of reading I had to finish in a week to keep up.

However, her tests are not cumulative, so that definitely helped.

Overall, she's an okay professor. I ended up with a B+ with all the 100s of notecards I used. There's just a lot of reading and lots of terms to remember and associate with certain illnesses. Lots of work. But not work that hurts your brain because it's hard to understand. Work that hurts your brain because it's lots of information (but also very interesting).

Professor Chavira is very kind and understanding. I was about to drop this class because of personal problems, but I talked to her and she kindly let me continue. The workload was light (no participation grade and assignments at all, just 2 midterms and a final) and there was no discussion for this class. However, I would recommending going to her lectures, which I found very helpful for the exams. I'd also suggest reading the textbook. (You don't have to read every single page. Just read the sections she covered in the lectures.) The exams were not that hard, but only if you do some study. Make sure to know stuff she mentioned in the lectures because she usually added a couple of questions about what she discussed in the lectures that were not in the textbook (such as videos and some studies on the slides). Personally I think this class is very interesting and I really like Professor Chavira, but it's definitely a class for someone who's good at taking tests because it's all you're graded on.

HONEST REVIEW. This is my last quarter at UCLA so I have a lot of experience with professors. Denise Chavira is really amazing professor, she genuinely cares for her students and wants everyone to succeed in this course. Lectures are very engaging, attendance is not mandatory since lectures are being podcasted. Honestly reading textbook is not even necessary if you really engage during lecture and take very good notes. Exams are amazingly fair, there were absolutely no tricky questions, the questions and answers are straight forward. There were no "all of the above or none of the above" type of answers which get really annoying and tricky. There are 3 exams and discussion attendance. Overall an amazing class, not hard at all if you pay attention during lecture and read sections in the book that are associated with lecture material.