Psychotherapy Studies

This module aims to develop your understanding of research within health and social care. You will be presented with a broad overview of the principles of research beginning with ethical, epistemological and theoretical perspectives, and moving through qualitative and quantitative research designs, and synthesis.

The module enables you to focus on methods used in health and health service research. The module examines the practical application of research methods. You will also develop independent qualitative and quantitative research skills.

In this module you will progress from theory to practice in research within a clear ethical framework. You will be introduced to meta-ethical theories, ethical challenges, and the principles of research governance. During the module, you will develop a real research proposal. The module is also available in an e-learning format.

The aim of the module is to examine the philosophical history of the core concepts of mental disorder and psychopathology both amongst the originators of modern psychopathology and the influences on them of prior philosophical phenomenology. In addressing this aim, emphasis will be placed on looking at the continuity between this history and modern developments. The key figure is Karl Jaspers the inventor of modern psychopathology, his debt to Husserl, and the connection between his ideas of empathy and modern views.

The module examines the broader range of conceptual tools required for assessing the role of values in mental as opposed to physical health. It begins by using practical cases to explore the kind of reasoning skills needed in the case of mental health; the history of the tradition of bio-ethics applied, mainly, to physical health; an introduction to some of the legal concepts used in physical and mental health especially capacity and consent; the relation between ethics and values; the developing tools of Values Based Practice.

The module aims to examine a series of key topics from the philosophy of mind which impacts on conceptual issues from psychiatry, mental health care, psychopathology and neuroscience. These include brain imaging and the mind body problem; cognitive neuropsychiatry and reductionist accounts of mental content; discursive psychology and anti-reductionist accounts of mental content; agency, freedom and neuropsychiatry; delusions.

You'll channel your prior knowledge and clinical experience in the creation of a dissertation project. Your research project will centre around professional and clinical contexts and academic needs. You'll independently work with guidance from a chosen supervisor.