Addiction and Mental Health – MSc

Why study this course?

Gain the tools needed to understand the intersections between addictive behaviours and mental health, in relation to life. Learn how mental health issues and addictive behaviours can be understood and are culturally framed.

This master’s degree will allow you to pursue or advance a career in a range of fields including addiction and substance use, mental health and medical disciplines. Our multidisciplinary approach will give you a rounded, holistic understanding of the complexities of addiction within a mental health context.

More about this course

On this Addiction and Mental Health MSc you’ll develop a broad scientific knowledge base, learning how to critically approach addictive behaviours, mental health conditions and understand how the two interact.

At the core of this course are theoretical models and critical approaches around addictive behaviours and mental health conditions. Knowing how to intervene in an addiction and mental health context is key and complex. This master’s course allows you to build your understanding of intervention and learn about neuroscience and pharmacotherapy in relation to addiction.

In order to develop a broad knowledge base, we’ll guide you through the legal framework, relevant policies and ethical arguments to give you a complete, holistic understanding from a societal perspective.

By engaging with evidence, you’ll learn to determine for yourself what counts as robust and forward-thinking in the field.

We focus on your career development and giving you the knowledge and skills to work in areas across the addiction sector. You’ll be taught by practitioners and researchers in the addiction and mental health fields about the assessment, management and treatment of addiction.

We’ll also show you how to become a member of the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA) so that you can become an active participant in the creation of knowledge.

Accreditation of Prior Learning

Any university-level qualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course.

Modular structure

The modules listed below are for the academic year 2022/23 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.

Year 1 modules include:

Addiction Psychology (core, 20 credits)

Law, Policy and Ethics (core, 20 credits)

Neuroscience of Addiction and Pharmacotherapy (core, 20 credits)

Psychopathology (core, 20 credits)

Research Design and Analysis for Psychology (core, 20 credits)

Research Project (core, 60 credits)

Treatment Interventions (core, 20 credits)

Where this course can take you

Completing this master’s degree will help you identify and pursue a career that’s important to you.

Our programme of studies will strengthen pathways toward a career as an addictions practitioner or a career in research studying addictive behaviours. Many of our graduates have found that their studies help them enter a range of careers, including clinical psychology, social work and para-medical disciplines.

Alternatively, you may already work in addiction services and therefore this course aims to strengthen your career progression.