MSc Psychology of Mental Health
Advance your knowledge of mental health and study the value and limitations of current treatments.
Year of entry: 2027 (September)
This course combines theoretical grounding in the psychological understanding and management of mental health issues with practical training in clinical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.
Develop an advanced understanding of mental health and its treatment:
Explore common mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety, alongside more complex presentations such as eating disorders and psychosis. Examine mental health from cognitive, biopsychosocial and phenomenological perspectives, critically evaluating the benefits and limitations of current treatments and approaches to care.
Build the foundations for a career in clinical psychology or mental health research:
Combine theoretical knowledge with practical training in clinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment, informed by the experiences of people with lived experience of mental ill-health. Grounded in the scientist-practitioner model, the course develops your understanding of both clinical practice and research, providing a foundation for further professional training, including a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, or a career in mental health research.
Study in specialist facilities at the heart of psychological research: With facilities shared by students, staff and researchers, you'll study in an integrated environment where teaching is closely connected to world-leading psychological research.
Learn from researchers shaping the future of psychology: Be taught by internationally renowned academics whose world-leading research informs their lectures and project supervision, giving you direct insight into the latest developments in psychological science.
Course content
This course is made up of 180 credits, consisting of modules split over two semesters and a substantial empirical research project.
You will be taught by academic experts within the Department of Psychology as well as professional clinical psychologists.
Your empirical research project is a chance to work on designing and implementing a theoretically-motivated piece of pure or applied research.
Modules
Core modules
- An Introduction to Mental Health
- Clinical Practice and Professional Issues
- Research Design and Statistics
- Serious Mental Illness
- Clinical Research Methods
You will study one option module. Examples can be found below. Some option module combinations may not be possible. The options available to you will be confirmed after you begin your course.
- The Cognitive Neuroscience of Anxiety and Trauma
- Understanding Stress
- The Neurobiology of Depression
- Advanced Work-Based Learning
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.
Dissertation
As part of this MSc you will be given the opportunity to undertake a novel piece of empirical work on a topic at the cutting-edge of research into mental health. You will be supervised by faculty members who have relevant expertise in the field.
Learning outcomes
Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.
Learning outcomes for this course
- Have a deep appreciation of the key features, characteristics, and differences between mental health diagnoses, and understand the key treatment approaches for each disorder; while showing critical awareness of the limitations of conventional diagnostic categories and related inequalities.
- Assess and critically evaluate mental health research evidence and outputs across a range of different methods, disorders, and fields, including how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret this knowledge.
- Demonstrate an understanding of and ability to critically evaluate what comprises good clinical practice and demonstrate the key values needed for interacting with people with mental health issues.
- Design and execute high quality mental health research, including the appropriate use of statistics and other quantitative methods; develop an ability to evaluate methodologies from a range of sub-disciplines and construct critiques of them.
- Demonstrate an ability to critically engage with the literature on treatment and clinical practice, and an ability to communicate complex analysis, findings and conclusions to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
- Demonstrate an understanding of, and an ability to reflect upon the suitability of the range of career options that are available to them in both clinical mental health practice and research.
- Demonstrate an understanding of, and an ability to critically evaluate, the role of Public and Patient Involvement in Research activities.
Fees and funding
Annual tuition fees
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time (1 year) | £14,390 | £33,900 |
Fees information
UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.
Funding information
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2027/28 throughout the year.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.
Funding opportunities
Chevening Scholarships
We are pleased to work with Chevening Scholars to offer funding for our Masters programmes. Chevening Scholarships provide one year of fully-funded postgraduate study in the UK for international (including EU) students. The scholarships are open to early and mid-career professionals who have the potential to become future leaders.
Careers and skills
The course will be a valuable way to increase the chances of employment in NHS based or linked roles associated with understanding and treating mental health issues. It is likely that some graduates will go on to roles as research assistants linked to trials of psychological therapies or NHS based research, or may consider applying for mental health related PhD routes or clinical psychology training.
NHS-funded clinical psychology courses are highly competitive with many applicants for each three-year, salaried post. Given this competition, evidence of having completed postgraduate education and increased knowledge of mental health and research will support people interested in pursuing these careers. We would also expect Masters students to consider roles with third sector providers or funding bodies supporting mental health research.
Career opportunities
- Assistant Psychologist
- Clinical Associate Psychologist
- Mental Health Wellbeing Pracitioner
- Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners.
Accelerate your professional network. We'll connect you with the guidance, industry links and experiences to help you stand out and find your career advantage.
Entry requirements
| Qualification | Typical offer |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | 2:2 or equivalent in an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in Psychology, or a related subject with relevant experience in the mental health field. We will be looking for evidence of strong marks in relevant modules including: modules relating to mental health, biological psychology, neuroscience related modules, and research methods and statistics. This course has a strong emphasis on the biological bases of mental ill health |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
English language
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Qualification | Minimum requirement |
|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component |
| Cambridge CEFR | B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component |
| Oxford ELLT | 7, minimum of 6 in each component |
| Oxford Test of English Advanced | 136, minimum 126 in each component |
| Duolingo | 120, minimum 105 in all other components |
| LanguageCert SELT | B2 with 33/50 in each component |
| LanguageCert Academic | 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component |
| Kaplan Test of English Language | 478-509, with 444-477 in all other components |
| Skills for English | B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component |
| PTE Academic | 60 with 52 in Listening, 53 in Reading, 65 in Speaking, and 59 in Writing |
| TOEFL | 4.5, with 5 in Listening and 4.5 in each other component |
| Trinity ISE III | Merit in all requirements |
For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.
If you haven't met our English language requirements
You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.
Next steps
Department
Related courses
- Neuroscience of Mental Health (MSc)
- Mental Health Research (MSc) (Department of Health Sciences)
- Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education (MSc) (Department of Education)
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