MSc in Clinical Applications of Psychology
Kingston University
Key Information
Campus location
Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
1 - 2 year
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
GBP 9,860 / per year *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
Request info
* home full-time: £9,860 | international full-time: £16,200
Introduction
Why choose this course?
This course will deepen your knowledge and you will gain skills relevant to clinical and counselling psychology and psychotherapy.
The course covers professional issues relevant to clinical practitioners, such as risk assessment, ethical dilemmas and diversity in clinical practice, as well as basic counselling and cognitive behaviour therapy skills.
Through a dissertation, you will research a chosen area in depth. Previous placement organisations include Kingston Hospital, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), adult mental health service, Place2Be, Paiwand, Pyramid and Rise. If you have already secured a placement before starting the course, we can offer research placements in our Psychology Department.
Please note the course does not lead to a direct professional qualification as a clinical psychologist, or guarantee entry to doctoral-level training in clinical or counselling psychology.
Reasons to choose Kingston University
- You may gain practical experience through a work placement. The University has links with charities, community groups and hospitals.
- You will be taught by academics who are researchers and/or practitioners in clinical and health psychology.
- Visiting clinical and counselling psychologists will give lectures about their work in specialist clinical settings and populations.
Admissions
Curriculum
What you will study
You will gain in-depth knowledge of theories of psychopathology across the lifespan and will study the biopsychosocial aspects of health and illness. You will explore the evidence base for psychological and behavioural change interventions in mental and physical health, and will cover advanced research methodology and statistics.
You will acquire basic counselling skills and knowledge of various therapeutic approaches, in particular cognitive behaviour therapy.
You will also consider professional issues and current debates in ethics and diversity relevant to practitioners and researchers in mental health, and will learn how to apply ethical principles in both your research and via real or hypothetical clinical case studies.
The dissertation will provide you with the opportunity for detailed and advanced study of a chosen area in clinical applications of psychology, which will enable further development of your practical research skills.
Full-time - 1 year
You will study four core, 30-credit, modules plus a Psychology Dissertation, worth 60 credits.
Core modules
- Psychology Dissertation
- Research Design and Analysis
- Psychopathology Across the Life Span
- Clinical Applications of Psychology
- Professional Practice
Part-time - 2 years
Part-time students will take three core, 30-credit, modules in the first year. In the second year, you will take one 30-credit module plus a Psychology Dissertation, worth 60 credits.
Year 1
- Professional Practice
- Research Design and Analysis
- Psychopathology Across the Life Span
Year 2
- Psychology Dissertation
- Clinical Applications of Psychology
Please note
Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Placements
We will support you to find a placement through our links with charity organisations, local community groups or hospitals, all of which aim to promote positive mental health well-being. Recently our students have undertaken placements at:
- Place2Be, a charity working with school children to improve their psychological well-being
- Paiwand, a charity supporting refugee children
- Rise, a social enterprise supporting people with mental health problems
- Kingston Hospital, on an initiative enhancing psychological care for patients with dementia
Our students have also gained placements working with clinical psychologists as assistant clinical psychologists in organisations such as Central & North West London (CNWL) NHS Foundation Trust and the Kingston Early Intervention Service at Tolworth Hospital.
If you have already secured a clinical placement prior to the start of the course, we can offer research placements within Kingston University's Psychology Department.
After you graduate
The Clinical Applications of Psychology MSc helps to prepare you for further training and roles such as:
- Assistant psychologist
- IAPT training as a psychological well-being practitioner
- Doctoral-level training in clinical or counselling psychology
- Research Assistant in Psychology
- Doctoral (PhD level) research training in psychology