MSc Health Psychology

Course summary

• Meet the British Psychological Society's (BPS) Stage 1 requirements for progression to becoming a Health Psychologist.
• Gain knowledge, skills, values and academic approach to secure employment or career development within a variety of health-related settings.

Successfully completing the course provides you with the skills to progress onto Stage 2 Health Psychology training including the BPS accredited Doctoral Programme in Health Psychology, which confers eligibility for registration as a Practitioner Health Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council.

How you learn

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

The course content includes perspectives and contexts in health research and practice, introduction to research methods, health cognitions and behaviour, psychobiological determinants of health, applications and practice of health psychology, client groups and stakeholders, advanced research methods and a research project.

You learn through

• online study
• group work
• problem solving
• practitioner skills workshops
• research conferences

Modules combine online learning with monthly on-campus study days. This provides flexible learning opportunities to enable a diverse range of students to study alongside employment and/or family commitments. Students attend a block week on campus in September, before typically attending one day per month thereafter.

Our course leaders are experts in clinical health practitioner work in private practice and in the NHS. The course includes an introduction to a range of applied skills that you will practice during on-campus study days.

Applied practitioner skills include

• motivational interviewing techniques
• conflict resolution skills relevant to working in multidisciplinary healthcare teams
• consultation and collaborative treatment planning
• solution-focused counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• the communication of bad news
• critical self-reflection and ethical reasoning

Future careers

This course prepares you for a career in

• psychology practitioner
• psychology academic
• public health
• research
• education
• industry
• health promotion.

Applicants need one of the following: BSc or BA Psychology with a 2.1 or above. BSc or BA in a closely related discipline (e.g., health, social, community care) with a 2.1 or above. Applications from students who have achieved a 2.2 degree will be considered by the course leadership team. Where there is evidence that at least two of the following criteria have been met the applicant may be offered a place on the course. Applicants have work experience in a health-related setting; applicants have an enthusiasm for health psychology; applicants have demonstrated their ability to achieve a 2.1 within their undergraduate degree (for example, transcripts reveal a 2.1 in key undergraduate curriculum areas such as research methods). All applicants are required to provide two satisfactory references (normally one of these will be an academic reference) and a personal statement.