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PROFICIENCY AWARD IN PSYCHOLOGY VPS001

Duration (approx) 500 hours
Qualification
Proficiency Award

Why Study Psychology

Studying Psychology offers you the opportunity to enhance your understanding of yourself and those around you. But it is also useful in many different careers. For example –

  • Law enforcement
  • Counselling and Therapy
  • Coaching
  • Business and Management
  • Teaching
  • Architecture and Design
  • Ergonomics
  •  And many more careers.

Studying Psychology, therefore, also enhances your job and career prospects.

This qualification has another advantage. It offers you the opportunity to -

  • Specialise in an area of psychology that is of interest to you
  • Carry out research to learn more about a specialist topic, or make use of your existing work experience and knowledge.

How does the Proficiency Award Work?

You study three x 100 hour psychology modules.

Then complete a 200 hour industry/work based project. They include options for you to research a topic around psychology that interests you or give evidence of your previous experience etc.

You can also view more information on the projects here.

 

It's easy to enrol...

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Select a learning location:
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Select a payment plan:

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Select a learning method

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Flexible Studies

The course is flexible, so you can also mix other subjects with psychology courses if you prefer, for example -

  • Marketing and psychology
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Counselling
  • Nature and Mental Health
  • Business and Psychology

There are so many combinations that could be just what you are looking for.

Our psychology tutors are more than happy to help with ideas and suggestions for what might suit you.

Some Examples of Three Module Choices  (300 hours)

Examples of subject combinations which may be approved could be:

Any other sensible combinations may be approved. You must contact us with your module choices BEFORE enrolling to ensure that they are suitable combinations. Our psychology tutors are happy to work with you and your requirements to find the most suitable course for you. 

You can view all psychology courses here.

What You Will Learn From This Course

If you were interested in learning more about child and adolescent psychology, for example, you could be studying more about depression. See below for a short example of what you could be studying when you enrol on this course.

DSM and ICD

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) are two different manuals that describe the signs and symptoms of different conditions. The two manuals are similar in some ways and different in others. They are both regularly updated to take account of new research and greater understanding of different conditions.

Depressive Symptoms

It is not always easy to identify depression in children. The DSM states that the child must show:

  • Depressed or irritable, cranky mood.
  • Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities.

And other symptoms such as the following:

  • Significant weight loss or decrease in appetite.
  • Insomnia or hypersomnia.
  • Psychomotor agitation or impairment – psychomotor impairment involves the slowing down of thought processes and physical movements of the person. The person may show visible slowing in their speech and emotion. Psychomotor agitation is when the person appears agitated, moves more quickly, speaks more quickly and so on, such as rapid pacing, rapid talking.
  • Fatigue or lack of energy.
  • Feelings of guilt and worthlessness.
  • Indecisiveness and decreased concentration.
  • Recurrent thoughts of suicide.

Besides the DSM symptoms, the child may also show some of the following:

  • Persistent sad or irritable mood.
  • Vague, no specific physical complaints.
  • Frequent absences from school.
  • Poor performance at school.
  • Being bored.
  • Alcohol or substance abuse.
  • Increased anger, hostility, or irritability.
  • Reckless behaviour.

Some depressive disorders may also have other symptoms. For example, Premenstrual Depressive Disorder also has physical symptoms.

Many of the symptoms above might also be shown in normal changes due to adolescence. This is what makes depression in children so difficult to identify. 

Also, as mentioned previously, children are usually less capable of expressing their emotions and may react to their moods in a more obvious physical way than adults. Some children with depression will be sad, tearful, and withdrawn, but others will display their depression by behaving in a hyperactive way or by becoming bullies.

But you can study psychology courses from our wide range of courses - to suit you and your interest.

Advantages of Studying with ACS Distance Education

There are many advantages of studying psychology with ACS –

  • You can start at any time to suit you.
  • Our courses are self-paced.
  • Our tutors are all experts in their field, with years of experience in psychology and counselling.
  • Our tutors are all keen to help you and enthusiastic about their subject area.
  • Courses are also updated regularly to meet the demands of the changing needs for knowledge and to keep our courses up to date.

Would you like to enhance your job and career prospects by specialising in an area of psychology?

Then please get in touch with our Psychology tutors, they are happy to help.

Click here to contact a tutor.
Courses can be started anytime from anywhere in the world!

Meet some of our academics

Tracey Jones (psychology)B.Sc. (Hons) (Psychology), M.Soc.Sc (social work), DipSW (social work), PGCE (Education), PGD (Learning Disability Studies) Tracey began studying psychology in 1990. She has a wide range of experience within the psychology and social work field, particularly working with people with learning disabilities. She is also qualified as a teacher and now teaches psychology and social work related subjects. She has been a book reviewer for the British Journal of Social Work and has also written many textbooks, blogs, articles and ebooks on psychology, writing, sociology, child development and more. She has had also several short stories published.
Jacinda Cole B.Sc.,M.Psych.Psychologist, Educator, Author, Psychotherapist. B.Sc., Psych.Cert., M. Psych. Cert.Garden Design, MACA. Jacinda has over 25 years of experience in psychology, in both Australia and England. She has co-authored several psychology text books and many courses including diploma and degree level courses in psychology and counselling. Jacinda joined ACS in 2001.
Jade SciasciaBiologist, Business Coordinator, Government Environmental Dept, Secondary School teacher (Biology); Recruitment Consultant, Senior Supervisor in Youth Welfare, Horse Riding Instructor (part-completed) and Boarding Kennel Manager. Jade has a B.Sc.Biol, Dip.Professional Education, Cert IV TESOL, Cert Food Hygiene.
Kate Gibson B.Soc.Sc.15+ years experience in HR, marketing, education & project management. Kate has traveled and worked in a variety of locations including London, New Zealand and Australia.


Check out our eBooks

Animal PsychologyExplore how animals think and comare how this differs between different animals (and humans)
Psychology DictionaryThis book provides explanations for common terms used in Psychology.
Counselling HandbookA book for both students, as well as volunteers who may be involved in helping people with problems. This is a starting point for understanding counselling, and a reference for developing counselling skills. The book contains seven chapters: 1. Where can counselling be used 2. How to see behind the mask 3. Emotions and attitudes 4. How to communicate better when all you have is words 5. Theory versus practice 6. Diffusing difficult situations 7. Golden rules or tips
How Children ThinkAnyone who has ever tried to make a child do anything (clean up their mess, desist from throwing mud, stop drawing on the walls) knows that children think differently to adults. This book attempts to provide the skills and knowledge to develop a greater understanding of children.