The Division of Psychology was formed in 2008 as part of the Faculty of Education, Law & Social Sciences. For the first time, psychology staff throughout the university came together to form a single psychology space for BCU, and this is reflected by the wide range of academic interests within the division. Our BSc Psychology (single hons) degree was accredited by the British Psychological Society.
The Division of Psychology is now the central point for all BCU psychology related actitivies, including teaching, research and consultancy. We have already established ourselves as an academic department with good publishing rates, with many links to external organizations and agencies who require our applied psychology input and collaboration. We have continued to expand our provision of taught courses and research degrees, and we also currently run two MSc courses in Integrative Psychotherapy and in Forensic Psychology.
Disciplines
Staff expertise covers many areas and specialites in psychology; health & well-being, social & cultural, criminal & forensic, cognitive, biological, conceptual & historical, occupational & organisational, business, developmental, abnormal community, counselling & psychotherapy. The Psychology staff pages show more individual staff interests, as do the pages listing recent staff publications. Our seminar series and invited speakers reflect the variety of topics of interest to us.
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Environment
Our working and studying environment is second to none, with all of the Divisional facilities located on a single floor. We house 4 laboratories, an observation room, a video recording/editing suite, counselling rooms, 4 lecture rooms, 2 large computer clusters, an open-plan study area, as well as all the staff offices being located nearby.
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Courses
The Division of Psychology currently houses four main courses of study, which are:
BSc in Psychology (single hons) 
An undergraduate degree that is fully accredited by the British Psychological Society. Providing that you achieve a minimum of a final 2:2 degree classification and complete an empirical project you will be eligible upon completion for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the Society (GBC).
GradCert / GradDip in Psychology
The graduate diploma in Psychology is aimed at graduates who have not studied accredited Psychology and who would like to pursue a career as a professional psychologist. This course is also fully accredited by the British Psychological Society.
MSc in Integrative Psychotherapy
The course (offered as either a Graduate Certificate, Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, or Master of Science) will enable you to apply for United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). The course is currently applying for accreditation with the UKCP.
MSc in Forensic Psychology
Launched in October 2010 the MSc Forensic Psychology offers an exciting opportunity for students to combine knowledge of psychological theory with the development of practical skills and an understanding of professional practice in forensic psychology. The course is currently applying for accreditation with the British Psychological Society in 2011.
These courses are shown in more detail in the Psychology Courses pages.
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Further study
Psychology staff also supervise a number of PhD students, investigating topics as varied as the efficacy of treatments for chronic pain, through to understanding the reasoning abilities of people with shcizotypal tendencies. The research interests of staff members, and the research projects they undertake and supervise are varied, and some of these include:
- Investigating the well-being of prison officers who work with violent offenders.
- Research into the health and wellbeing of workers in the horse racing industry and horse breeding business.
- Studying female offenders and the pathways they take into crime.
- Exploring if drama therapy works in educating youth offenders about the consequences of crime.
- Exploring the psychosocial and demographic factors involved in paediatric burns injuries.
- Surveying the mental health status of UK Army personnel.
- Research evaluating the psychological, emotional and behavioural effects for offenders participating in the "good vibrations" project.
