Clinical Health Psychology and Wellbeing MSc

Overview

Supporting physical and mental health is central in all areas of life and employment. This master's degree integrates the promotion of health and wellness with a focus on mental and physical health. You'll gain the knowledge, clinical practitioner and professional skills you need for a career working with clients and patients in health-related settings. You'll also have the opportunity to undertake hands-on learning through a professional placement.

Why study MSc Clinicial Health Psychology and Wellbeing at Middlesex University?

This MSc has been developed for psychology graduates (or a related discipline, such as health studies, counselling, mental health, nursing, or public health) and current health and mental healthcare professionals wishing to further their studies, develop their knowledge and skills and enhance their career opportunities.

During the course, you'll be examining health, wellness and illness to understand the relationship between psychological variables and biomedical conditions as well as physical and mental health and wellbeing.

You'll focus on application and intervention and have the opportunity to apply your knowledge and practice professional and clinical skills. These can include communication with clients, ethical and reflective practice, judgment and decision-making, and skills related to formulation and assessment, cognitive-behavioural therapy, and health behaviour change.

We have strong partnerships with many health psychology organisations and trusts which means that you'll be able to undertake an eight-week work placement and gain valuable hands-on work experience. Previous placements have included working with addiction management, cancer screening, pain management, exercise promotion, stroke rehabilitation (the placement option is not available in the 2021/22 academic year due to COVID-19).

Course highlights

Focus your studies on both physical and mental health and wellbeing
Develop your skills in intervention, working with clients and developing professional and clinical skills
Undertake a work placement in a health psychology setting (the placement option is not available in the 2021/22 academic year due to COVID-19)
Consider and prepare for your future career

Please note that this programme does not lead to a therapy practitioner qualification.

Careers

How can the MSc Clinical Health Psychology and support your career?

Once you've completed this MSc course, you can choose to work in a variety of sectors such as the health service, public health, charities, organisations and academia.

Work may include helping people deal with diabetes, pain, or stroke; health promotion in communities, schools or the workplace; designing and delivering interventions for weight loss or smoking cessation; promoting well-being and mental health; and research and teaching.

Our graduates have found successful careers as:

• Child well-being practitioner in the NHS (Mary Oshinnaya)
• Senior triage and engagement coordinator in a Stop smoking Service (Marcos Castejon)
• Drug and alcohol recovery worker in the prison service (Dean Soobhen)
• Specialist support office with young people with complex needs (Hamse Hassan)

You could also choose to continue your studies and training by training as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner to work in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services, applying to study for a PhD (i.e. a research degree) or, if you have the Graduate Basis for Chartership with the British Psychological Society, you could apply for training to become, for example, a counselling or clinical psychologist.

Students usually require a 2:1 honours degree or above but applicants with lower or other qualifications may be considered upon interview. The undergraduate degree must be in an appropriate subject area such as psychology, health studies, counselling, mental health, nursing, public health and should have included a research methods component. Particular consideration will be given to performance in undergraduate research methods modules or the dissertation.