Course description
This course offers a flexible programme of study in health psychology, which forms stage one of a two stage process to gain Chartered Health Psychologist status with the British Psychological Society (BPS).
The course combines distance learning with some traditional on campus classroom teaching. This allows you to study on-line at times to suit you.
The course starts in January and runs for fourteen months until the following March for full-time students.
We designed the course to give you the knowledge, skills, values and academic approach to improve your work and study in health psychology.
You learn to
• critically evaluate and apply different approaches to psychological health-related issues
• develop advanced skills in research methods
• apply problem solving strategies to complex professional scenarios
• critically reflect on your practice, planning and personal development
You use your experiences of the workplace to aid your training, for example work-based reflection is part of your continuing personal development.
On campus study
Full-time students attend a block week of on campus study at the beginning and end of the course, plus one day a month on campus.
Part-time students attend both study weeks but only half of the monthly study days each year.
Associated careers
Health psychologists work in areas such as identifying psychological issues that can damage our wellbeing. This opens career opportunities inside and outside the tradition health services.
Examples are
• the health service, particularly in public health
• other areas such as education, industry, research and private consultancies
This course enables you to progress to stage two to become a chartered health psychologist (subject to accreditation by the BPS).
Course content
Modules
• applications and practice of health psychology
• healthcare contexts: work-based reflection
• health cognitions and behaviour
• individual differences in health and illness
• lifespan, gender and cross-cultural perspectives on health and illness
• perspectives, contexts and issues in health research and practice
• psychobiological determinants of health
• research methods and measurement issues in health psychology
• health psychology research project