Advanced Diploma
in Parapsychology
A distance learning course

(Page amended September 2011)

   College accreditation: International Association for Distance Learning.
   Course accredited by Institute for Meridian Psychotherapy
    for professional development purposes  

For the serious student, this is probably the most comprehensive home study course in parapsychology you can find. (We also have a shorter Diploma course - see it here).  This course can be taken on its own without taking our Diploma first.

ADVANCED DIPLOMA IN PARAPSYCHOLOGY

Total recommended period of study: approx. 9 months or less. Continuous enrolment. No time limit.

Tuition fee: £360.00  (360 Pounds Sterling - for currency conversion see www.xe.com )

(Textbooks extra - approx. cost of textbooks £150.00 new, or less used)

See textbook links on the left-hand side of this page.

Students outside the UK who cannot receive email and need our material by snail mail are charged an extra £50.00  (Total £410.00).

Method of study 

Textbook study. Lesson plans are issued for each textbook. Written assignments based on textbooks and exercises. Assignment questions are issued by email and students return their written work by email. Grades and feedback are issued by email.

Course overview and syllabus  (Revised syllabus June 2011)

This comprehensive distance learning course is a professional-level programme of study at further education level, designed to give the student a broad knowledge of paranormal phenomena, an appreciation of the history of paranormal and psychical research using experimental designs and studying spontaneous phenomena, to develop an open-minded attitude towards the causes of parapsychological events, as well as to educate the student in ways of approaching and investigating alleged paranormal occurrences.

We will also introduce students who have Internet access to the vast resources on parapsychology, paranormal and spiritual topics available on the World Wide Web, for additional research, study and support.

This course will be of great benefit to anyone who has a deep personal interest in psychic or paranormal phenomena, to those who would like to study the subject systematically, and to all those who might become involved with such phenomena either directly or indirectly, including: counsellors, hypnotherapists, psychotherapists, ministers, mental health workers, law enforcement agents, psychic investigators, cult investigators, researchers, journalists, mediums, psychics, healers, dowsers, workers in the tourism industry, and persons working or living in or near reputedly haunted sites.

Textbooks extra (approx. cost of textbooks GBP 150 – book purchases may be spread out throughout the course and students may save money by looking for used books online.)

FORMAT

For each textbook, we supply a study plan which shows how to structure your learning and provides the assignments. Assessment is by written answers to set questions. The use of well-regarded textbooks throughout the course means that you will build up a comprehensive professional library and you will have direct access to material written by some of the foremost experts in the field. In addition, you will be encouraged to broaden your knowledge using suggested additional reading and Internet resources.

Tutor support will be given in the form of feedback on your assignments and you may also communicate with your tutor by email if you have questions or need advice.

(We reserve the right to alter the syllabus and/or set books at any time. If any book proves difficult to obtain, we may substitute another unit. A copy of the reading list will be supplied on request. Unfortunately, some of the best books on parapsychology can go out of print as sales of serious parapsychology books are not wonderful. We therefore will have to change the syllabus from time to time.)

1.   Parapsychology - Revolutionary Research

This unit is a primer on how parapsychological research (formerly called psychical research) was carried out from its beginnings in the nineteenth century, through the twentieth century and concluding with reflections on the state of parapsychology today and its implications for science, society and spirituality.  Original scholarly articles, dating from 1886  to 2007, are reproduced in the text, interwoven with extensive introductions and commentary by the editors, who conclude that evidence for at least some aspects of the paranormal is solid. (At present the textbook required is out of print but available used from Amazon.)

2.   Developing Your Psychic Senses

This unit takes us on remarkable intellectual and intuitive journey by a psychotherapist into how to access and develop the sixth sense or "psi". We learn about multiple routes to psychic opening, what unfolding psychic awareness can feel like, the role of the implicate order, the use of imagery to access psi, and 23 tips for developing and maintaining psychic awareness. There is also a section on ethical issues of psychic work.

3.   Testing Psychic Claimants

This unit gives careful, practical yet flexible guidelines to help researchers and investigators assess the purported abilities of those who claim to be psychic. The aim is to be fair to the person being researched or investigated, avoiding both false positive and false negative results.

4.   Paranormal Investigation

An introduction to paranormal investigation. This unit explains how to do a successful investigation including historical information on each phenomenon and various possible explanations; what equipment to use and how to use it; and how to think clearly about an investigation and use that essential ingredient, common sense. 

5.   The Channelling Experience

A step-by-step guide to channelling for creative purposes or to receive spiritual wisdom, using a text by a leading psychic channel.

 6.   Conducting Extrasensory Perception Research

The student will learn how laboratory tests of ESP have been conducted over 50 years and how many of these experiments have had methodological problems. This study assembles a range of relevant material in one handy volume and gives checklists and guidelines for researchers. Students of this course will not have to conduct any laboratory experiments but will learn the principles and practicalities of sound research.

7.   Psychic Warfare, Historical and Modern

A study of the practice of psychic spying over the past 5,000 years, from its origins in ancient Egypt, through the story of Queen Elizabeth I's spy John Dee, to Nazis and the occult, the CIA and the Cold War, the clandestine roles of Aleister Crowley and Ian Fleming, and the remote viewing activities of Joseph McMoneagle. (Now updated with extra pages).

8.   Authenticated Cases of the Paranormal I

In this unit you will study a superb collection of papers by world-famous experts: Guy Lyon Playfair on Mirabelli; Paola Giovetti on mediumship in Italy including the famed Eusapia Palladino; Gissurarson and Haraldsson's investigation of the mediumship of Indrida Indridason; Imich's study of the seances of Matylda; the physical mediumship of Teofil Modrzejewski; physical mediumship in pre-revolutionary and contemporary Russia; and a collection of spectacular cases of psychic phenomena in China. The text has a collection of rare illustrations.

9.   Consciousness Beyond the Brain

This unit presents a collection of papers by leading psychologists, scientists and thinkers on the theme of consciousness beyond the brain.  Examples include: Peter Fenwick on beyond the brain; Kenneth Ring on eyeless vision; David Fontana on meditation and dreams; Erlendur Haraldsson on children’s past lives; John Beloff on parapsychology; Charles Tart on enlightenment; Stanislav Grof on non-ordinary reality; Andrew Powell on the psyche beyond space-time; Roger Woolger on other realities in psychotherapy; Ravi Ravindra on beyond identification with the body. 

10. Evidence for the Afterlife

Evidence pointing to the existence of an afterlife comes from many sources, and this unit provides an overview and discussion of most of these angles of exploration including:  modern parapsychology, apparitions, hauntings, mental mediumship, drop-in and cross-correspondence communication, physical mediumship, communication using instruments, near-death and out-of-body experiences, and reincarnation. Finally, the study focuses on what the nature of the afterlife – and our role as individuals in it - might be like.

Entry criteria and suitability 

No particular qualifications are required for entry. 

Qualification

Successful graduates will receive the Advanced Diploma in Parapsychology awarded by UK College of Holistic Training which is a private UK qualification. The college is accredited by the International Association for Distance Learning.

The course is accredited by The Institute for Meridian Psychotherapy (which is linked to UKCHT) for professional development purposes (see societies page for explanation).

This diploma is accepted by Calamus International University (a non-UK, private distance university with private accreditation) for credit towards a degree.

Further information

Please see our FAQs page for general information.

We reserve the right to change the syllabus and other details of any course at any time.

To apply for this course now, go to our Application page