MSc Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health
Course Overview
The University of Bolton's MSc in Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health is designed to equip you with an advanced understanding of psychological theories and models relevant to improving and maintaining psychological wellbeing and mental health. You'll develop a critical understanding of the manifestations of mental health difficulties, psychological therapies, and interventions applied in mental health contexts and gain core counselling skills through simulation-assisted practice.Our enthusiastic team of experienced lecturers will deliver traditional lectures, interactive workshops, seminars, and skill-building sessions in a friendly and supportive environment. We'll guide you in building knowledge of theoretical models, practice frameworks, psychotherapeutic interventions in mental health settings, reflective practice, and psychological wellbeing. The course will approach topics in mental health, counselling and psychological interventions from various perspectives, highlighting psychological, sociological, and biological dimensions. We'll also help you develop valuable transferable skills and a critical approach to mental health that will benefit your continued professional development.
Successfully completing the University of Bolton's MSc Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health degree is the ideal launchpad for counselling psychology, specialist mental health nursing, specialist social work, clinical psychology, psychological research, clinical leads in mental health teams, psychological wellbeing practitioners and other allied health care careers.
Highlights
- When you successfully complete this course, the University of Bolton will award you an MSc in Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health.
- State-of-the-art simulation lab and counselling rooms equipped for practical learning and feedback on core skills.
- You'll explore psychological theories and principles related to psychological wellbeing and mental health, including manifestations of mental health and discussions on labelling theory within social and psychological contexts.
- We offer hands-on work-related experience in applying psychological theories to real-world scenarios, facilitated through simulations to enhance your skills in working with individuals with mental health conditions.
- Our team of highly qualified and experienced psychology staff have diverse research interests and professional backgrounds. We offer dedicated personal tutor support, ensuring you benefit from comprehensive guidance throughout your degree.
Key Features
- An enthusiastic, dedicated, and supportive teaching team delivers this pioneering programme in our MSc Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health.
- The course curriculum gives you the opportunity to observe peers carrying out psychological wellbeing and mental health interventions in a simulated environment.
- Learning and teaching are student-centred, with small group sessions and one-to-one tutorials supported by the University’s virtual learning environment.
- You can enjoy contributions from expert guest speakers on a range of subjects covered in this exciting postgraduate programme.
- The programme is designed to enhance your employability, particularly in the psychological well-being and mental health fields, or to help you progress to further studies in psychology or counselling.
- By choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants, and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline, and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.
Entry Requirements
- You should have an upper second class (2.1) honours degree (or above) in a British Psychological Society (BPS)-accredited psychology undergraduate degree (or equivalent through a psychology conversion course) conferring Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC).
- If you have a lower second class (2:2) honours degree in psychology (with accreditation as above), you may be accepted to the programme following a successful interview.
- We may ask you to provide a portfolio of your work as part of the application process.
- This course does not confer Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society (BPS). If you're seeking to achieve GBC, please consider applying for our MSc Psychology (Conversion) programme.
- We'll also consider applications where appropriate work experience can be demonstrated in lieu of, or in addition to, the published academic qualifications in line with the University’s Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) procedures.
- If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
Career Opportunities
Our MSc Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health offers an ideal combination of subjects if you are looking for a career focused on mental health and psychological wellbeing in individuals, families, or communities. On graduation, you'll be well-prepared to enter a variety of roles working directly or indirectly to improve mental health and wellbeing.
As a postgraduate, you'll be able to demonstrate employability skills, including intellectual and thinking skills, problem-solving, interpersonal awareness, communication skills, the ability to develop arguments supported by relevant evidence, and teamwork, IT and data handling skills.
What can I do with this qualification?
If your goal is to become a future practitioner in a field such as counselling psychology, specialist mental health nursing, specialist social work, clinical psychology and psychological research, this postgraduate degree is likely to be of particular interest. The course will also be beneficial to your continued professional development if you're a clinical lead in a mental health team, a psychological wellbeing practitioner or another allied health care professional.
Alternative career options
Graduates can also use this qualification as a stepping-stone into various other careers. Some of these roles may require relevant experience and/or postgraduate study. The knowledge and skills you'll develop on this programme will underpin a number of alternative career opportunities, including:
- Teaching and education
- Probation services
- Social work
- Police
- Youth work
- Communications
- Sport and recreation
- Careers guidance
- Human resources
- Mentoring
- Teaching and education
- Nursing
- Retail management
- Human resources
- Market research
- Social work
Fees & Funding
Home/EU Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
International Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
Bursaries
Click here for more information on our Master's Bursaries.
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2025-26 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
How to apply
Home Applicants
Course application details are unavailable at present
International Applicants
Course application details are unavailable at present
Partner Organisation Applicants
Course application details are unavailable at present
Teaching & Assessment
We use a diverse range of teaching methods, designed to complement each other and help you achieve the course’s intended learning outcomes. We offer lectures, seminars, workshops, group supervision, simulation and one-to-one sessions. We'll also expect you to undertake significant independent reading and investigation, as well as complete seminar-related work and prepare for workshops, presentations and group discussions. Some modules will require you to follow up taught sessions by using online resources and completing complementary tasks.
Assessment methods are also varied, allowing you to demonstrate your learning in a range of ways. For example, module assessments may require you to complete reports, essays, presentations, deliver interventions, simulation activities, critical commentary, videos, portfolios, literature reviews, or review journal articles.
We use a blended learning and teaching style, including online delivery and engagement where appropriate.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
- Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health: Context and Professional Skills
- Psychological Wellbeing in Practice and Positive Psychology
- Contemporary Psychological Interventions in Mental Health
- Manifestations of Mental Health Challenges and Systems of Classification
- Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health Research Methods
- Core Counselling Principles
- Applied Practitioner Skills and Processes (Simulation assessment)
- Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health Research Project
Assessment methods
| Level | Assessment method |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Coursework 100% |
Learning Activities
| Level | Activity |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Guided independent study 82% Scheduled learning and teaching activities 18% |
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
