Psychology and Counselling

Overview

This exciting course combines core psychology with counselling skills and practice to give you a huge range of career options, from clinical psychology to counselling and psychotherapy.

You will discover how the mind works and its impact on behaviour, while developing practical counselling skills and an understanding of how different therapeutic approaches can have a positive impact on people’s lives.

This integration of the scientific understanding of the mind combined with an in-depth knowledge of counselling and psychotherapy will give you a unique, expert ability to apply psychology to the real world.

When you graduate, you’ll be in an excellent position to pursue postgraduate training that leads to careers in Clinical Psychology or counselling and psychotherapy, or you can use the skills and expertise you’ve gained to succeed in a wide range of professions.

In joining Psychology at Roehampton, you will also have the opportunity to become a Mental Health England First-Aider, or train and develop skills in mental health first aid, further expanding your professional development.

This course has the option of a one-year paid work placement to boost your employability even further.

Our modules will teach you how the human brain functions, how we process information, communicate, learn, and remember. You’ll discover how our biology and the society we live in influences us across our lifetimes. You’ll understand different models of therapy, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and humanistic approaches, and learn how they are used in different settings, such as the NHS, and with different types of people. You’ll also learn about our mental health, and the impact of factors such as anxiety, stress, depression, and trauma.

You’ll be taught by leading psychologists and counselling experts and practitioners, who enthusiastically bring their real-life experience into the classroom. Through their teaching, you’ll study the complexity and variety of different factors involved in counselling and therapy, and the reflective skills used in professional practice.

Roehampton’s BSc Psychology has been accredited and commended by the British Psychological Society (BPS) for many years. Our recently reviewed and enhanced programme is pending BPS re-accreditation, following our 5 year curriculum review due for early spring. The programme that you will study has been designed to meet the BPS criteria.

Foundation or GCE Advanced Level

Career Options

As this programme combines core psychology with counselling, it is unique in giving you the opportunity to pursue multiple career paths depending on your ambitions after graduation.

Becoming a psychologist or psychotherapist

Many of our graduates want to continue on to become practicing psychologists, counsellors and psychotherapists.

To become a Chartered Psychologist, you need to gain Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) by completing a BPS accredited degree. You then go onto further training in the area of psychology that you want to work in, such as Counselling Psychology, Clinical Psychology or Educational Psychology. This programme will provide you with all the necessary skills and knowledge to apply for jobs, such as working as an Assistant Psychologist in the NHS, that give you the necessary experience to further your career, and take the next step towards becoming a Chartered Clinical/Counselling Psychologist.

You can find out more about specific career paths, and what training and qualifications you’ll need, on the BPS’ Career Flowchart.

While the core psychology curriculum will give you the opportunity to gain Graduate Basis for Chartership with the BPS, it will also provide with knowledge relevant to train further as a Counsellor or Psychotherapist. You can then pursue further training and take an accredited postgraduate degree, such as our MA Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy, which will allow you to become eligible for individual practitioner registration with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

You can find out more on the BACP website.

Careers outside of psychology

Many of our students choose to study Psychology and Counselling because the skills you develop are valued by a huge range of employers. As well as gaining an understanding of the human mind, you’ll become adept at active listening and questioning. You could work in:

• Social work
• Mental health services
• Human resources
• The police force
• Probation services
• Working for charitable organisations
• A range of business roles, including careers in research, media and marketing.

Careers support

Whether you want to gain work experience in the field of psychology, or look for placements in other industries, our careers team will make sure that you will have the opportunity to build the career skills to help you succeed in whatever you go onto after you graduate.