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!

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.

I previously took this class with Repetti and hated it, but Chavira brought new life to abnormal psychology for me. She is very thorough and really only wants you to focus on the topics covered in lecture. Normally, I would recommend reading before attending class, but this is one of those classes I would say reading after gives you a better grasp on what will be on the test. Flashcards won't help because you need to know how to apply the illnesses and differentiate between them.

Grading: This class is based on a point based system; 3 exams worth 50 points each and 20 points for attendance to the discussion section.

There are no extra credit opportunities, no reviews before the exam, and no study questions. However, the "final" is not cumulative. I probably would have done better, but I procrastinated a lot and did not always read the book. The final exam is rather hard because you need to remember probably 4 distinct sections, with several diseases each.

There are some things I dislike about the class, for instance the discussion section goes over articles that are slightly related to the class but not tested on. We review in the discussion before exams, but only for about 10 minutes. I think this is how all 127a classes are made, not just Chaviras. It would be nice to make the discussion more similar to 120a, where they go over the material again and possibly give some examples.

This class was informative, but definitely harder than people made it sound on the bruinwalk. Her class is graded on a points scale without a curve, so you have to do really well on the exams in order to succeed. She also talks super slow and I found it hard to stay awake during lecture.

If you want to succeed in this class you need to read the book, attend the lectures, and study diligently before exams. Do not take this class lightly.