Health Psychologist online course

SamanthaLee74

5

Which is the best company to go with to get a degree BPS online?

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 1

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post

by SamanthaLee74

Which is the best company to go with to get a degree BPS online?

To become a Health Psychologist (in the UK) you need both an undergraduate degree which is accredited by the BPS, and a postgraduate degree (specifically a doctorate) which is approved by the HCPC.

Is your question about an undergraduate degree (which will cover Psychology generally, rather then being specifically about Health Psychology) or a Doctorate in Health Psychology?

Reply 2

Arden University

Official Rep

19

Original post

by SamanthaLee74

Which is the best company to go with to get a degree BPS online?

@SamanthaLee74

Some great advice on this post already. The key thing is the BPS accreditation for the degree onwards. A lot of Universities do Psychology BSc programs, some accredited and some not. Have you considered Arden University? I did my MSc there and had a great time, I've worked in F.E/H.E for over 10 years and they have the best virtual learning environment I have come across. They have a mix of blended learning at centres in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and London, or 100% online (the latter is what I did) and the course is eligible for funding through Student Finance England

Marc
Arden University Student Ambassador

Reply 3

SamanthaLee74

OP

5

Original post

by Arden University

@SamanthaLee74
Some great advice on this post already. The key thing is the BPS accreditation for the degree onwards. A lot of Universities do Psychology BSc programs, some accredited and some not. Have you considered Arden University? I did my MSc there and had a great time, I've worked in F.E/H.E for over 10 years and they have the best virtual learning environment I have come across. They have a mix of blended learning at centres in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and London, or 100% online (the latter is what I did) and the course is eligible for funding through Student Finance England
Marc
Arden University Student Ambassador

Hi mark thanks for that…. I can only do online, as I have autistic children. I’m just worried that I won’t get the help online as I’ve done online courses before and it wasn’t great. I have asked Arden to call me 😁

Reply 4

SamanthaLee74

OP

5

Original post

by DataVenia

To become a Health Psychologist (in the UK) you need both an undergraduate degree which is accredited by the BPS, and a postgraduate degree (specifically a doctorate) which is approved by the HCPC.
Is your question about an undergraduate degree (which will cover Psychology generally, rather then being specifically about Health Psychology) or a Doctorate in Health Psychology?

Hi ya, it’s both really. I’m really wanting to be a health psychologist. I’ve children with autism and adhd, been through the nhs route, been through the private route, paid a fortune and really wanting to be able to give this service to others. I can only do this online as my children are young and it’s just won’t work me at uni every day. I’m also a dubious doing online courses as I’ve done this before and I’m very much a face to face person and need to be able to contact the teachers. I’m also a bit apprehensive as I’m 50 and I’ve read up it’s 2 years for BPS and then another 3 years for PHd - is that correct? I’m not the cleverest person academically, but I have an awful lot of experience within mental health and I’m extremely motivated on that subject..

Reply 5

Interrobang

20

Original post

by SamanthaLee74

Hi ya, it’s both really. I’m really wanting to be a health psychologist. I’ve children with autism and adhd, been through the nhs route, been through the private route, paid a fortune and really wanting to be able to give this service to others. I can only do this online as my children are young and it’s just won’t work me at uni every day. I’m also a dubious doing online courses as I’ve done this before and I’m very much a face to face person and need to be able to contact the teachers. I’m also a bit apprehensive as I’m 50 and I’ve read up it’s 2 years for BPS and then another 3 years for PHd - is that correct? I’m not the cleverest person academically, but I have an awful lot of experience within mental health and I’m extremely motivated on that subject..

If you don't have a psychology degree then you'll either need to do that (3 years) or a conversion course if you have a degree already. The health psychology courses after that are mostly masters and there are some online ones (check the BPS website), but then you'll need to find trainee posts to qualify

Reply 6

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post

by SamanthaLee74

Hi ya, it’s both really. I’m really wanting to be a health psychologist. I’ve children with autism and adhd, been through the nhs route, been through the private route, paid a fortune and really wanting to be able to give this service to others. I can only do this online as my children are young and it’s just won’t work me at uni every day. I’m also a dubious doing online courses as I’ve done this before and I’m very much a face to face person and need to be able to contact the teachers. I’m also a bit apprehensive as I’m 50 and I’ve read up it’s 2 years for BPS and then another 3 years for PHd - is that correct? I’m not the cleverest person academically, but I have an awful lot of experience within mental health and I’m extremely motivated on that subject..

I thought I'd posted the below this afternoon, but it got lost somehow so I'll try again...

To practice as a Health Psychologist you need to hold a Health Psychologist qualification approved by the HCPC. You can search those qualifications at https://www.hcpc-uk.org/education/approved-programmes/. You'll need to select the "Practitioner Psychologist" profession, and then - once you've searched - apply a filter on Modality being Health Psychologist. You will find that their are just 7 providers of such a qualification, with none providing distance learning. :frown:

This is a natural consequence of the nature of the qualification being very hands-on. One option which might suit you best is that offered by BPS themselves. It's a "Qualification in Health Psychology (Stage 2)" and although it's not a doctorate, is is doctoral level and will allow you to register with the HCPC. I know very little about this qualification, but you can find more on the BPS web site at https://www.bps.org.uk/qualification-health-psychology-stage-2.

Prior to obtaining one of the above qualifications you need to have completed a BPS-accredited undergraduate degree. You can search for those courses at https://portal.bps.org.uk/Accredited-Courses. You need to filter as follows:
• Programmes = Undergraduate Programmes
• Accredited Status = Currently Accredited Programmes
• Mode of Study = Online

That should show you about 10 providers of such courses (some of whom provide multiple courses). If you already have a degree then you can instead take a conversion course (filter on Programmes = Conversion Programmes). You will note that these are (almost) all Master's degrees.

Reply 7

Arden University

Official Rep

19

Original post

by SamanthaLee74

Hi mark thanks for that…. I can only do online, as I have autistic children. I’m just worried that I won’t get the help online as I’ve done online courses before and it wasn’t great. I have asked Arden to call me 😁

@SamanthaLee74
I'm sure you are doing a great job raising them 🙂

There is a free course in understanding autism from the Open University which might interest you https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/understanding-autism/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab

I've recommended it to other tutors who have autistic learners and or children before (I'm also a qualified SENDco)

Marc
Arden University Student Ambassador

Health Psychologist online course

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