COURSE GUIDE

MSc in Clinical & Health

Psychology
UNIVERSITY OF WEST LONDON

**National Student Survey 2017

AMERICAN NATIONAL COLLEGE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Course Overview
DURATION: 15 Months (Weekend and Weekday evening classes)

INTAKES: January/ May/ September

ENTRY CRITERIA
Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, Sociology, Science or MBBS.

COURSE OVERVIEW
- MSc in Clinical & Health Psychology from the UWL.
- The higher study will include learning experiences beyond exam work. You
will engage in group work, presentations, assignments, case studies and
interactive learning.
- Students will be taught by well experienced academics with Masters, Ph D and
Psy D. in Clinical Psychology, having many years of teaching experience and
experience as professionals in the Clinical and Health related field.

COURSE CONTENT
1. Practice and Professional Issues in Clinical & Health Psychology (20 credits)
2. Biopsycholsocial Issues in Health Psychology (20 credits)
3. Advanced Research Methods 1 (20 credits)
4. Advanced Psychopathology (20 credits)
5. Clinical Assessment and Treatment (20 credits)
6. Advanced Research methods 2 (20 credits)
7. Supervised Research Project (60 credits)

ASSESSMENTS
- Assignments, examinations, presentations, assessed individual and group work
and class discussions.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
- Internationally recognized Masters in Psychology, enabling further studies or
professional occupation internationally (subject to the specific regulations of
the country of interest)
- Graduates can further follow an academic career in teaching and conducting
research or pursuing higher studies in Ph D or a Doctorate in Clinical
Psychology.
- The qualification prepares students for a career in NGO’s, Governmental
Organizations or in psychological or mental health related institutions.
Course Outline
The MSc in Clinical & Health Psychology comprises seven modules that make
up 180 credits in total. The course has been designed as a full-time one year
course.

The MSc in Clinical & Health Psychology will be awarded to students who gain
180 module credits i.e. 120 module credits plus 60 module credits from the
Dissertation module. Therefore, all seven modules are core modules for the
MSc in Clinical & Health Psychology course.

The Diploma in Clinical & Health Psychology will be awarded to students who
wish to leave the course after gaining 120 credits (excluding the Dissertation
module but including Advanced Psychopathology and Clinical Assessment and
Treatment Approaches).

The Certificate in Clinical & Health Psychology will be awarded to students who
wish to leave the course after gaining 60 module credits (excluding the
Dissertation module and Advanced Research Methods 2 but including
Advanced Psychopathology and Clinical Assessment and Treatment
Approaches).

The following module diagrams show the order in which you are required to take
modules on both the full-time and part-time routes for the MSc in Health & Clinical
Psychology, Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical & Health Psychology, and
Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical & Health Psychology. Summaries of the
individual modules appear after the module diagrams.

MODULE DIAGRAM: MSc in Clinical & Health Psychology (Full-time)

Level 7 modules Core/Option

Term 1
1. Biopsychosocial Issues in Health Psychology Core
2. Advanced Psychopathology Core
3. Advanced Research Methods 1 Core

Term 2
4. Advanced Research Methods 2 Core
5. Practice and Professional Issues in Health Core
Psychology
6. Clinical Assessment and Treatment Approaches Core

Term 3
7. MSc in Clinical & Health Psychology Dissertation Core
Module Summary

Biopsychosocial Issues in Health Psychology (20 Credits)

The module seeks to develop a critical awareness of the discipline of health
psychology in both a current and historical context. The module aims to
examine explanations of health status from biological to epidemiological levels.
The inter-relationship of biological, psychological, behavioural, socio-economic
and cultural factors is considered. Through this module, students will develop
an in-depth understanding of the biopsychosocial model and be able to use the
framework to contextualise health and illness within their health psychology
training.

Advanced Psychopathology (20 credits)

The module introduce students to different perspectives on mental health and
to show how these approaches are applied in clinical practice. By the end of
the module students should have an understanding of the various approaches
to the aetiology and treatment of mental health problems, as well as a basic
knowledge of some main mental health disorders. Students will gain experience
in critical evaluation, independent study, group work and communication, both
written and verbal.

Advanced Research Methods 1 (20 Credits)

This module is designed to help establish your skills as a health psychology
researcher by providing you with a foundation in the process and practice of
health psychology research. The module will take students from understanding
the scientific process of enquiry to multivariate analysis of health-related
research. In addition, you will be introduced to a range of qualitative methods
used in health psychology. Through hands-on experience of research design,
methodology and data analysis, students will develop the ability to answer
research questions appropriately and confidently and be able to apply this
knowledge and experience within health psychology. The module includes
both qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Practice and Professional Issues in Health Psychology (20 Credits)

The module explores key issues and concepts that are central to the practice
of professional health psychology thus providing the opportunity for students to
critically engage with the complexities of practice rigours. Students are
introduced to ethical and legal issues and obligations of direct relevance to
health psychology and its practice, the importance of inter-professional
relations, and the changing nature of decision-making by healthcare
professionals and service users. These issues are highlighted throughout the
subsequent examination of examples of health psychology in practice e.g.
preparation for stressful medical procedures, screening and adherence,
communication and patient satisfaction, and health education and promotion.
In addition, key treatment approaches related to managing behaviour change
are introduced such as Cognitive Behaviour Approaches, Motivational
Interviewing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness.

Clinical Assessment and Treatment Approaches (20 credits)

The module enables students to contextualize assessment and treatment
approaches that are employed by health care professionals who work with
persons with acute and chronic mental illnesses. Students will be aware of
treatments that have been demonstrated to be effective such as cognitive
behavioural therapy, systemic approaches, psychoanalysis, case
management, and group therapy. The innovative assessment and treatment
techniques that are described along with some experimental treatments of
cognitive dysfunction can be seen as complementing some aspects covered in
the module Advanced Psychopathology.

Advanced Research Methods 2 (20 credits)

This module is designed to help develop students’ skills as a health psychology
researcher. Through lectures and a range of practical workshops, students will
enhance their statistical analytic skills and develop an understanding of the
growing importance of qualitative research methodologies within health
psychology. In addition, the module provides a forum in which students can
learn how to disseminate research to a wider academic community. Thus, the
module provides students with an opportunity to critically engage with both the
qualitative and quantitative methodologies that underpin the development of
health psychology theory, research and professional practice.

MSc in Clinical & Health Psychology Dissertation (60 credits)

This module aims to enable students to conceptualise and carry out a piece of
empirical clinical and health psychology research to a standard suitable for
submission for publication. As part of this process, students will learn how to
present their research ideas to peers and the wider academic community in
both verbal and poster presentations. This module can also be seen as the
practical and theoretical realisation of aspects covered in Advanced Research
Methods and theory-driven modules.
 Learning, Teaching and Assessment
Learning and Teaching Approaches

The teaching and learning strategy has been designed to build an evidence-
driven and scholarly approach that facilitates the learner to achieve the course
learning outcomes. Specifically, the course employs a range of teaching and
learning methods including interactive lectures, seminars, workshops, practicals,
tutorials, presentations, and e-learning.

Interactive lectures provide an important foundation for disseminating key

information and providing a catalyst for further independent study. In addition,
seminars, tutorials, workshops and practical sessions are an integrative
component enabling students to consolidate their knowledge and skills. This
diversity of teaching delivery methods ensures support for students with diverse
learning styles.

The course has adopted a learner-centred strategy (Rogers & Freiberg, 1994)
which posits that students learn best when they:

 Are engaged in individual and team based critical thinking, analysis,

evaluation, synthesis and problem solving
 Are learning things which they can see have a clear application
 Have the opportunities to reflect upon, monitor and discuss their learning
and experiences with peers and tutors on an on-going basis.

The coursework and assessments are designed to encourage a deep learning

approach (Brookfield, 1998) thus transforming students from passive to active
learners. Teaching, learning and assessment approaches have been adopted
to enable students to:
 Undertake assignments that will give them practice in the types of
activities that would be expected of a professional psychologist
 Understand rather than to merely learn material at a surface level
 Engage critically with the content
 Integrate ideas with previous knowledge and experience
 Examine evidence in relation to arguments

Actual assignments include essays, research reports, in-class test, critical

review, case studies, literature review, poster, dissertation proposal and
dissertation.

Specifically, the course uses a range of teaching and learning activities including
interactive lectures, seminars, workshops, practical’s, tutorials and e-learning.
Interactive lectures provide an important foundation for disseminating key
information and providing a catalyst for further independent study. In addition,
seminars, tutorials, workshops and practical sessions are an integrative
component enabling you to consolidate your knowledge and skills.

Assessment

You will be required to submit all of your text-based assignment work – e.g. essays,
case studies and reports – electronically. Such work will also be marked online, and
feedback made available to you electronically. Details of the submission
mechanism and assessment dates will be provided via Module Study Guides.

Assessment across the Course

The University is committed to learning through assessment. Therefore, the
process of assessment is intended to be a focus for your learning and
achievement. The assessments are designed to enable you to learn whilst
carrying them out; as such they are integral to the whole learning experience.

You will take part in a variety of assessments which are designed to equip you
with a diversity of skills, experiences and knowledge. Assessment is based on
a broad variety of coursework and examination tasks e.g. verbal presentation,
essay, multiple choice test, case study report, critical review, research report,
research proposal, poster presentation, dissertation. The assessments are
designed to be similar to the range and complexity of tasks and projects which
you would be expected to undertake and manage by employers and further
training providers. The range of assessments also takes into account the range
of students’ different learning styles.

Specific details of assessments are provided in your module guides. However, an

overview of the types of assessment you will meet across the course and their
weightings are shown in the following table.

Specific details of assessments are provided in your module guides.