100% Online MSc Psychology of Mental Health and Wellbeing

What happens in your mind when you remember, decide, perceive or speak? Cognitive psychology offers some of psychology’s most compelling answers, and this module brings you to the frontier of the field. You will engage with current research on perception, memory, attention and language, take part in practical cognitive experiments, and critically evaluate how innovations, including artificial intelligence, are reshaping our understanding of the human mind. The module develops both your theoretical understanding and your ability to read, interpret and communicate cognitive research with confidence.

How do billions of neurons give rise to thought, feeling and action? This module takes you inside the brain’s architecture to explore how neural systems shape cognition, emotion, motivation and social behaviour. You will engage with cutting-edge neuroscience research, learn to interpret neuroimaging and psychophysiological evidence, and critically evaluate what biological models can and cannot tell us about human psychology. It is rigorous, thought-provoking, and immediately relevant to understanding why people behave the way they do.

Where did psychology come from, and how did it become the discipline it is today? This module traces the intellectual journey from philosophy and early science through behaviourism, cognitive science, humanism and beyond, exploring the major paradigm shifts that have defined and sometimes divided the field. You will interrogate how psychological knowledge is constructed, whose voices have shaped it, and what it means for a discipline to claim scientific credibility, engaging with debates around replication, WEIRD sampling and the nature of psychological explanation that continue to shape psychology today.

People differ from one another in profound and fascinating ways, including personality, intelligence, creativity, emotional style and wellbeing. But how do we measure those differences, and what are the limits of what measurement can tell us? This module gives you both the theoretical grounding and practical experience to engage critically with psychometric tools and assessment approaches. You will evaluate the reliability, validity and ethical implications of how psychological differences are measured and applied, developing the awareness to use these tools responsibly in academic and professional contexts.

We are profoundly shaped by the people around us, and this module explores exactly how. From identity and group dynamics to prejudice, conformity and social influence, you will engage with both classic studies and contemporary research to understand the social forces that drive human behaviour. You will examine how social psychology is used to address real-world problems in healthcare, education and organisations, while developing a critical eye for issues of bias, replication and research ethics at the heart of modern psychological science.

Human development is not a simple unfolding, but a dynamic, lifelong process shaped by biology, relationships, culture and context. This module takes you from infancy through to older age, examining how we develop cognitively, emotionally and socially across the lifespan. You will engage with foundational theories alongside contemporary perspectives on neurodiversity, resilience and cultural variation, exploring topics including attachment, identity, language acquisition and developmental transitions. Throughout, you will develop the skills to critically evaluate developmental research and consider the ethical challenges of studying human lives as they unfold.

What we call “mental illness” has meant very different things across time and culture, and this module asks you to question the frameworks we use today with the same rigour. You will trace the emergence of psychiatry as a discipline and a social institution, from early asylums through the rise of diagnosis, psychoanalysis, anti-psychiatry and survivor movements, examining how each tradition shaped who gets labelled, treated or marginalised. Drawing on biological, cognitive and social perspectives, you will interrogate contemporary Western and neoliberal framings of mental health, evaluate competing models of psychopathology across different cultural settings, and grapple with the ethical challenges that confront any professional working in this space. You will leave with a more sophisticated, more critical, and ultimately more useful understanding of mental health than the one you arrived with.

What does it mean to flourish, and why do some people manage it in the face of extraordinary adversity while others struggle in seemingly favourable circumstances? This module takes those questions seriously, refusing easy answers. You will critically evaluate dominant psychological models of wellbeing and resilience alongside intersectional, decolonial and feminist critiques that challenge their assumptions, and explore alternative frameworks from beyond the Western tradition, including Ubuntu, Buen Vivir and Maori Hauora. You will examine how structural inequities, cultural knowledge systems and neoliberal policy frameworks shape who gets to flourish and who does not, and assess real-world interventions in schools, workplaces and healthcare settings with a critical eye. The module also asks you to reflect on your own role as a practitioner: what ethical responsibilities come with supporting resilience in others, and how do you sustain yourself in that work?

We know that exercise, sleep, diet and early help-seeking all matter for health. So why is it so difficult to change what people do, and what does psychology offer practitioners who are trying to help? This module gives you the theoretical grounding and the critical tools to engage seriously with those questions. You will evaluate the major models of health behaviour and behaviour change, from the Health Belief Model and Theory of Planned Behaviour to the Behaviour Change Wheel, examining the evidence behind each and the social and environmental factors that shape what any individual can realistically do. You will then apply that knowledge by designing your own theory-driven behaviour change intervention for a specific population or setting, developing the skills to think rigorously about what works, for whom, and why.

Great psychological science depends on rigorous method, and this module gives you the skills to conduct and critically evaluate it. You will learn how to design studies, choose appropriate statistical techniques, analyse data and interpret findings in response to real psychological questions. This is not just technical training; you will also develop a clear understanding of when quantitative approaches are effective, when they are not, and what their limitations mean for how we interpret psychological evidence. By the end, you will be able to engage with quantitative research as both a practitioner and a critical reader.

Great psychological science depends on rigorous method, and this module gives you the skills to conduct and critically evaluate it. You will learn how to design studies, choose appropriate statistical techniques, analyse data and interpret findings in response to real psychological questions. This is not just technical training; you will also develop a clear understanding of when quantitative approaches are effective, when they are not, and what their limitations mean for how we interpret psychological evidence. By the end, you will be able to engage with quantitative research as both a practitioner and a critical reader.