Psychological Therapies and Interventions MSc / PGDip

Course content

What will you study on Psychological Therapies and Interventions MSc / PGDip?

During the course, you will focus on developing in-depth knowledge, understanding, skills and experience for progressing to, or within, therapy related careers, including clinical psychology, counselling psychology, psychotherapy, clinical research, and health management. You will also explore the key approaches to, and practice in, psychological therapy and interventions as well as understanding lifespan trauma experience and its impacts on psychological disorder; how it is assessed and identified, and experienced cross-culturally.

What will you gain?

You will gain a range of therapeutic communication, motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural intervention skills and a reflective approach to the development of these skills. You will also have developed the knowledge and skills required to critically assess research in therapeutic psychology and be able to undertake novel research in an area relating to psychological therapies or interventions.

This module will introduce the main schools of psychological therapy, their theoretical origins and demonstrate how the theory is applied in practice. You will also be introduced to the basic principles of communication skills that form the foundation of all counselling and therapy.

In this module, you will develop a critical understanding of current research evidence and perspectives on psychological trauma and its effects. You will review the impact of trauma on different groups and at different stages of the lifespan and critically examine the models of intervention for psychological trauma. You will also explore the current debates around ameliorating factors and developmental outcomes.

This module extends your undergraduate knowledge of research methods, design and statistics and prepares you for your dissertation and forthcoming supervised practice. It will enable you to choose appropriate methodologies and analyses for research.

This module will provide you with the professional practice knowledge and practical skills relevant to therapeutic applications of psychology and experience in an organisation that is concerned with mental health and/or well-being. You will spend a minimum of 140 hours in a placement of your choosing and will develop your ability to apply psychological knowledge and/or therapeutic communication skills in a workplace context.

This module is ideal for those who are currently employed in an organisation that is concerned with mental health and/or well-being. The module will provide you with the professional practice knowledge and practical skills relevant to professional development within your job role and the therapeutic applications of psychology. You will conduct a work-based project in order to develop your ability to apply psychological knowledge and/or therapeutic communication skills in a workplace context.

This module will give you the opportunity for an in-depth, advanced study in a specific area of applied psychology. You will apply appropriate principles of empirical research, and present your research study in the form of a written journal article, using appropriate styles and conventions.

The aim of this module is to provide postgraduate students with research skills and expertise from theory to implementation required by areas in Applied Psychology. The module is designed to fulfil training requirements identified in the National Occupational Standards for Applied Psychologists (Key roles 2 and 3) by offering a comprehensive in-depth and systematic account of a range of skills in quantitative and qualitative research strategies, and the use of SPSS software in statistical analysis as applicable to the course syllabus. A variety of teaching methods and assessment will be employed with the aim of inspiring and challenging each student, whilst promoting independent learning and a critical appreciation of the research process. Students will engage in laboratory classes, workshops, lectures/seminars, tutorials, group work and practical sessions on SPSS and qualitative data analysis. Ultimately the aim is to train students to develop, implement and maintain personal and professional standards and ethical research practice in Applied Psychology.

You can find more information about this course in the programme specification. Optional modules are usually available at levels 5 and 6, although optional modules are not offered on every course. Where optional modules are available, you will be asked to make your choice during the previous academic year. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you after the module selection period when numbers are confirmed, or at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.