What can you do with an MSC in Psychology?

What is an MSc in Psychology?

A Master’s degree in psychology is a post graduate qualification. The two most common types of psychology Master’s degrees are the MSc in Psychology and MSc in Applied Psychology. An MSc in Psychology may indicate a general thorough Psychological knowledge, while an MSc in Applied Psychology indicates a stronger concentration on in depth specialized areas in Psychology.

Who awards this qualification?

Awarding body of the MSc programs is Coventry University. Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology is the teaching institute. Students enrolled for the MSc program actually become internal students of Coventry University. For example they will be having a Coventry University Student ID and access to all online resources that Coventry students in UK get.

How about the quality of the programme since it is offered here?

Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology has maintained very high standards in teaching, student facilities and resources since it was established. Coventry University agreed to offer the “autonomous franchisee” status to CIRP, this after a thorough evaluations of the teaching staff, infrastructure, student facilities & resources, financial strength and other determining factors.

Staff of the two faculties has been working for almost a year to make sure that the students in Sri Lanka get exactly the same level of education and exposure as the students in Coventry.

CIRP follows the Curriculum, teaching guidelines, assessment criteria and all other academic procedures used by Coventry in delivering these programs.

Can you explain further about the MSc in Applied Psychology?

The MSc in Applied Psychology is a programme designed for individuals with a degree in psychology, and would like to become a practising psychologist. They can subspecialize the MSc by selecting their optional modules from sever- al applied fields in psychology. Popular specializations include clinical & counselling, Child& Educational, Organizational and Health Psychology.

Does the MSc in Applied Psychology qualify an individual to practice as a psychologist?

Yes, an MSc in applied psychology provides them an necessary knowledge and skills to practise as a clinical psychologist, child psychologist, health psychologist, organizational psychologist or a forensic psychologist based on the optional modules they select.

Qualifications an individual requires to become a, or called a psychologist, varies from one country to another. For example in the US, UK and Australia,you can only become a psychologist by obtaining a PhD. But in Sri Lanka and in other countries where psychology is still in the process of being established, with an MSc in Applied psychology they can practise as a psychologist.

Can they register as a Psychologist?

Yes, the Sri Lanka Medical Council re gisters Clinical Psychologists, and an individual with an MSc in Applied psychology ( along with a certain number hours of supervised clinical training) is eligible to apply for such registration.

Do you help students to obtain their essential clinical training?

Yes, we have a therapeutic centre in which about 10 psychologists practise. Each MSc Student will be allocated a psychologist as a supervisor and they are able to obtain the necessary skills, experience and confidence by working together with them.

Can you explain about the MSc Psychology program?

This is designed for individuals from a non- psychology background, who would like to obtain essential knowledge & skills in psychology to facilitate their roles and tasks in their respective fields of work. This is very much popular among individuals in HRM, Marketing, Training, Advertising, Consumer research, Management and defence services. Apart from obtaining a qualification that would make them stand out from the rest, psychological knowledge and skills gained from the MSc would definitely help them do their jobs better.

What are the entry qualifications for these programmes?

To enrol for the MSc in Psychology, an individual should have a bachelor’s degree in any discipline or an equivalent.

To enrol for the MSc in Applied Psychology, an individual requires either a bachelor in Psychology or a bachelor in any discipline with 120 credits in psychology from another program such as an HND or an Advanced Diploma in Psychology.

Do you have the staff strength to conduct these programs?

Well, we could say we have the biggest and the most qualified faculty in psychology among private institute in Sri Lanka.

The head of the faculty is Dr. Janet LeValley an American psychologist with decades of experience in academic administration in several countries. Full time faculty includes 11 psychologists with Masters and above qualifications in Psychology. Around 25 part time lecturers will also teach in the MSc programmes. And with the aim of providing more exposure, 6 senior academics from US and European universities will be visiting Sri Lanka from time to time during the MSc program to guide the students.