A distance learning course. Total period of study: approx. 6 to 9 months

Cost: £250.00  (250 Pounds Sterling - for currency conversion see www.xe.com )

Fees reduced for limited time to £175 for full payment at enrolment
(Textbooks extra - approx. cost of textbooks £60.00 or more depending on the extra topics selected)

Students outside the UK who cannot receive email and need our material and feedback by snail mail are charged an extra £50.00 to cover administration, postage, and handling. (Total £300.00).   Non-UK students will have to purchase books and allow for air mail postage.  We can recommend a UK book supplier who will ship to most countries of the world. 

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Course description

A general psychology diploma course covering material up to undergraduate standard with in-depth study of a choice of special topics. Ideal for general interest, counsellors, hypnotherapists, psychotherapists, life and personal coaches and complementary medicine practitioners, helping professionals and those considering entry to a psychology degree or therapy training. Open entry.

This course may be studied entirely by correspondence, but a large collection of relevant Internet material, specifically tailored to the course, is available for those with an Internet connection. Students will be given the appropriate website address. Students may also research topics of interest using the many psychology sites on the Internet.

This course is not related to HNC/HND or NVQ qualifications. It does not give you automatic entry to British universities and is not a path towards UK Chartered Psychologist status. It is a private qualification aimed at the helping professional in private practice, those who already have the core qualifications for their career, or those interested in the subject.  Many courses in therapy, complementary medicine or New Age arts do not include a systematic study of psychology, and this course will fill gaps in knowledge and make it easier to communicate with psychology-based professionals and to understand psychology books and papers. 

 Syllabus (this syllabus is subject to change):

·        History, Scope and Methods of Psychology;

·        Biological Psychology;

·        Developmental Psychology;

·        Perception and Consciousness;

·        Memory, Learning and Thinking;

·        Language; Motivation and Emotion;

·        Personality Theories and Individual Differences;

·        Stress;

·      Abnormal Psychology (covering anxiety disorders, mood disorders, dissociative identity disorder, schizophrenia, mind-body interactions and insanity in the courts);

·        Therapies (history, therapy techniques, effectiveness, social issues);

·        Social Behaviour, Influence, Conformity.

Introductory information about Statistics is given but that section is optional and not examined.

A university-level textbook is required as the main book for the course: details will be given on enrolment. Additional audiovisual materials on CD-ROM, linking to the main text, may be purchased if  desired.  These  cost about the same as music CDs.  Apart from the main text, at least 3 other books will be required for the special topics (see below).

Finally, the student takes 3 set taught units on special topics. These units will be selected by the course tutor, according to the student’s interests, from the psychology distance learning units available to us.  If you have taken one of our other psychology-related diplomas, you will be exempt from these 3 units and can gain a reduction in tuition fees if you ask us before you enrol.

Special Topics

Counselling Skills
Criminology
Understanding Psychiatric Drugs
Emotional Intelligence
Self-Hypnosis
Symptoms of Mental Illness
False Memory Syndrome
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Transpersonal Psychology
Life Coaching
Parapsychology
Bullying
Psychology in the Workplace
Stress Management
Introduction to Psychotherapy
Psychosynthesis

                                          (requests for other topics will be considered)

Method of assessment

Continuous assessment - there is no final exam.  Students will be asked to write brief essays after reading certain chapters.  The questions set on the main syllabus will be broadly-based, allowing the student to demonstrate general understanding of the issues covered in the textbook and to include any necessary facts that support the answer given.   Further questions will be issued on the supplementary reading required for the additional specialist topics.  All assessment work bay be done at home and e-mailed or posted to the college.

Web support

For those students with access to the Internet, there is a vast number of  authoritative websites with information on psychology, mental health and other relevant subjects.

Entry qualifications

No particular qualification is required for entry.  However the student should have a high standard of written English, the ability to cope with technical vocabulary, and should be able to cope with textbook material of Advanced Level, NVQ level 3 or first year university standard.

Certification and further study.

A certificate suitable for framing will be issued to successful graduates. 

Since this is not a practitioner diploma, it is not geared towards entry to a professional society.

This diploma carries credit towards a distance degree from Calamus International University in counselling psychology and related fields. (CIU is a non-UK, private, unaccredited university.)

Note: details of the course, fees, textbooks, syllabus and other information are subject to change at any time.

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