Psychology Courses

Study Abnormal Psychology - gain an understanding of behaviours, their causes, and how to treat them.

• This course is particularly beneficial for counsellors or support workers, for it will develop their ability to  distinguish different types of psychological disorder, and determine when to refer clients for treatment.
• Learn about mood, anxiety, and drug disorders as well as psychotic, gender, food, and personality disorders.
• Be able to identify the signs and symptoms of different psychological conditions - disorders may be caused by environmental, physical, or genetic influences.
• Learn about disorders that are usually diagnosed during infancy, and then move onto to lessons which focus on the causes, symptoms, and diagnosis of different types of disorder.

Understand teenagers and adolescents with this distance learning course

• Learn about the changes and challenges that adolescents face.
• Understand behaviours arising from the emotional, physical, and psychological changes that adolescents undergo.
• Study with ACS and learn how to deal with issues in an appropriate and beneficial manner.
• Start studying at any time with full support from our specialist tutors.
• Professional development for people working with adolescents.
• Studying this course will equally be of benefit to parents, or to sports coaches.

Aged Care Course - Understand counselling and care for older people with this distance learning course. Start at any time to suit you.

Learn care and counselling of older people – for anyone who cares for older people professionally and personally.

The demand for aged care counsellors is increasing because people are living longer.  There are many ways that the elderly person can learn to cope with health impairments in order to maintain the quality of their life. Counsellors can play a role in helping the elderly client find solutions to problems and ways to avoid them. It may just be that changes need to be made to the home environment, or friends or family need to play a more active role in the life of the elderly person, or perhaps some different skills, behaviours, routines, or habits are needed. There are often several ways to solve everyday problems.

• Explore the complex range of emotional issues that confront the elderly - from dealing with the loss of a spouse to relationships with children and grandchildren... and much more.
• This course was written by tutors highly qualified and experienced in the field of Psychology.

Learn to manage anger and develop skills to work pro-actively with others.

We hear a lot about Anger Management.  Whilst we tend to construe anger as a bad thing, anger involves both positive and negative aspects. The negative aspects are all too familiar i.e. thinking becomes clouded, you may become overly defensive, and you might act on your anger in a violent or aggressive way.  The positive aspects which are often overlooked are that we often express our feelings when we otherwise might repress them, we have heightened energy levels due to physiological arousal, and we can often solve problems and take control whilst we are in this elevated state. The idea behind anger management is not to remove all anger, but to manage it by channelling it into the positive aspects and away from the negative aspects. If anger is expressed in acceptable and appropriate ways then it can be productive rather than destructive.

This course will help you to:

• Learn to understand anger.
• Explore techniques that can be useful in the management of anger.
• Learn how to deal with anger management appropriately with different demographics.
• Develop skills to work constructively with others to manage anger.

Learn about Animal Behaviour

What makes animals tick?Are you interested in why birds migrate? How their senses work? Why cats behave the way they do? How animals can judge time and distance? This could be the course for you. The course is relevant to pet owners, veterinary assistants, or people who work with animals (eg. on farms, zoos, pet shops, trainers, etc). In understanding animal behaviour, we extend our basis for understanding human behaviour, and as such, the course may also be valuable for anyone studying general psychology.

Learn about the mind-brain relationship

Biopsychology is the study of the biology of the brain and nervous system and its relationship to behaviour. Learn about how the brain functions and influences how we perceive the world with this informative distance learning course.

Discover how our anatomy and physiology influence the way we think and behave.

Biology is the study of life and the way living organisms function. The sub-discipline of physiology encompasses the way things move, chemical and bodily processes, growth, atrophy, and anything else that supports or causes physical or chemical changes to occur within the body. Therefore, it differs from anatomy, which is the study of the physical structure of the body. Psychology is concerned with behaviour and our underlying thoughts and feelings. This subject marries these fields for a unique perspective on how we function as people.  

Gain greater understanding of the field of biopsychology

Biopsychologists generally consider that evolution has an influence on the pool of behaviour – influencing genes available to members of each species. Evolution is a gradual process of genetic development and change in animal life over generations. Those members of a species best adapted for their environment in any generation (ie. the “fittest”) will have the best chance of surviving and reproducing successfully. Each individual’s genes will initiate a programme of neural development. Genes are the units of inheritance that form part of a chromosome. Some characteristics are determined by one gene, whilst others are determined by many. 

Take this course to find out more.

This course builds on the foundation of Biopsychology I to give you a deeper understanding of the influence of biology, in particular, the influence of the brain, on human behaviour.

Study Careers Counselling

ACS student comment:  "I have really improved my knowledge in this field.  It has also given me the confidence to start my own small business in private Careers Counselling.  The presentation allowed the course to become very accessible and practical.  Even for those with a lower level in English like me."  Charles Mboning, Republic of Cameroon - Careers Counselling.

Careers Counselling involves more than just finding work for people.

Among other things, Careers Counselling may involve helping people:

•  identify the best job for their skills and interests
•  find any job to meet their personal and financial needs
•  find a better or more appropriate job for their situation
•  achieve job satisfaction through appropriate choices
•  plan and cope with career changes
•  better adapt to the workplace
•  improve their potential for advancement in the workplace
•  identify new career possibilities when circumstances change.

Understand mental health issues in children and adolescents.

This course introduces the student to an important issue that affects our younger population - mental illness amongst children and adolescents.

Mental health issues in young people are becoming more widely documented. This does not mean that it is on the rise, rather we are better at diagnosing problems.

If you work with children and adolescents this course is invaluable in expanding your knowledge of how to recognise mental health problems, possible causes and treatments.

Learn about:

• Signs and symptoms of a range of mental health disorders
• What the young person may experience
• Causes of mental health disorders
• Possible forms of treatment for mental health issues
  
  

Forge yourself a career working with children through learning child psychology.

• Understand patterns of behaviour in children from infancy through to adolescence.
• Recognise how children think at different stages of development.
• Evaluate what different influences affect children's growth and development.
• Apply the knowledge you gain from studying this course in a variety of work roles. 
• Use this course as a gateway to further study and personal development.

Learn constructive ways to deal with conflict

This course will provide you with a range of conflict management techniques. You will gain an understanding of different types of conflict and how we can work to reduce or avoid conflict, as well as how to negotiate positive outcomes. Learn a wide variety of things, through a combination of reading, interacting with tutors, undertaking research, and practical tasks. Develop your ability to manage conflict situations. These skills can be applied to many different positions such as counsellor, manager, supervisor, or other professional.

Nurture your ability to assist with negotiation or mediation in group conflicts. Develop an understanding of the nature of conflict, the importance of listening skills, and the use of resolution techniques such as negotiation, mediation and facilitation.

Provide counselling adapted to the needs of children

Children are just as likely to need counselling as adults. They are prone to a range of mental health disorders and can suffer from other mental health issues which affect their wellbeing and development. As a child counsellor you need knowledge of mental health issues which children may face. You also need an idea about how to relate to children and what sorts of treatments are useful.  

This course is designed to give counsellors and other health care workers an insight into mental health problems faced by children. It also examines possible causes of those problems, difficulties faced when interviewing children, and legal issues and the role of parents in treatment. Internalising and externalising disorders are reviewed and possible treatment options presented.    

It is an insightful course for anyone working with children in a professional capacity, but especially counsellors and psychologists as well as nurses, social workers, youth workers and other health professionals. It could also be of value to others in related fields.

Foundation in Counselling Course

• Study online by distance learning.
• Understand counselling skills.

Counselling means different things to different people. It is not a get well quick option, offering quick answers, but is asking the person to engage in a process and an exploration. There are many definitions of counselling. A simple version is that counselling is a working relationship where the client is helped to manage what is happening in their life and to explore their life. It is a form of psychological or talking therapy that offers people the ability to change how they live and feel. The aim of counselling is to provide the client with a more satisfying experience of life. Everyone has different needs, so counselling can be concerned with many different aspects of a person’s life.

• Develop your understanding of the basic practical skills used in counselling and how to apply these skills to the counselling process.
• Completion of this course will equip the student with the means by which to conduct a counselling session.

THIS WEEK ONLY - Enrol on our Counselling I course and receive a free 20 hour self study course on Managing Stress

Advanced Counselling course. Study counselling skills in more detail with this distance learning course.

• Learn how to combine skills to both facilitate and improve the likelihood of change. Obviously no two situations will ever be the same, but certain patterns will emerge.
• Gain an understanding that that the different stages of the counselling process may overlap, repeat, or occur in a different order.
• Learn to demonstrate how micro-skills can be combined in the counselling process.
• Develop your knowledge of methods of telephone counselling and techniques for dealing with specific crisis situations.

Counselling Course By Distance Learning - Develop your knowledge of counselling techniques and theories for professional development or CPD

Develop your understanding of the major theoretical approaches to counselling and their application to the counselling process. The course does not adopt a particular stance but provides an overview and awareness of different types of therapy.

Learn about the different types of therapy that can be used to help clients. If you are a counsellor or want to be one, this is an indispensable part of your training or professional development.

Course Aim: "Explain the key principles and applications of different theoretical approaches to counselling and psychotherapy, including the theories of Freud, Erikson, Adler, Ellis, Rogers, Beck, and others".

Interested in learning about the psychology of crime? This is the course for you!

This course is suitable for anyone who works within criminal justice, such as police, social workers, court workers, solicitors, lawyers, probation workers or anyone with an interest in the psychology of crime. If you want to learn more about the psychology of crime, then this may be the course for you.

Crisis counselling - study by distance learning and learn more about the strategies and methods of supporting people after a crisis.

• Develop your ability to effectively counsel and assist clients in times of crisis.
• This course provides those already in the counselling or helping industries with knowledge and skills to give specialised counselling, and will contribute to comprehensive counselling training for those wishing to work in this field.

Learn about psychological growth in people and the changes that occur throughout their lives.

This course is a solid introduction to how people's psychology (intellect, attitudes, values, relationships) develops throughout life form infancy to adulthood. The course examines different theories of development and the processes that are significant at different stages of growth. 

The course is suited to people who work in a counselling, supporting, caring or teaching capacity who will benefit from understanding how physiological and psychological changes over the lifespan affect human behaviour. Students will gain greater insight into issues that present particular challenges at different stages of the life span, especially from adolescence to old age.

Build your knowledge of disorders in children and adolescents

Learn the signs and symptoms of development disorders with this fantastic course. Study a range pervasive developmental disorders, behavioural disorders, learning disorders, and become familiar with their signs and symptoms. Discover how these conditions impact on the child and their family and what some of the possible treatments are.

Discover how to help people learn

• Developmental and learning theory
• Behavioural learning
• Information processing
• Memory, learning strategies
• Individual needs of students
• Motivation and constructivist learning 

Learn about what it takes to lead a good life

This distance learning ethics course will provide you with a detailed knowledge of ethics. You will study ethics theoretically and its practical applications in the business world, health care world, or any other setting. Develop your awareness of making ethical decisions and what represents an ethical society.

Study Family Counselling for Professional Development

This course will develop a better understanding of family dynamics

Develop the capacity to analyse and facilitate solutions to problems that emerge in modern families.

• As a family or relationship counsellor
• To benefit your own family
• To work within your community to support families in crisis
• and more...

Learn more about supporting people through their grief and loss.

Grief is a term used to describe all the thoughts, behaviour and feelings that occur after someone goes through a bereavement. If you work or support people dealing with loss this course should benefit you.

• Supporting people through their grief can be an important part of your job
• You may have suffered grief in the past yourself.
• Gain confidence in supporting people with bereavement
• Save yourself time and money by distance education
• Learn about different responses to grief for different ages, stages & cultures.

Study for a great career in industrial or organisational psychology

This course helps develop knowledge and skills for anyone involved in workplace situations, such as managers, supervisors, small business owners, union representatives, etc.

By understanding the thought processes that take place in the minds of people at work, a manager or supervisor can develop empathy with their staff, and apply this empathy to the way they manage the workplace.

Study psychology to learn more about the human mind. This introductory course will provide you with a thorough insight into psychology.

Start Studying Again - Special Offer - Reduced Course Price Plus 3 Free eBooks When You Enrol

Why we behave the way we do? Would studying psychology be useful for your career? Then why not have a look at our introductory psychology course.

Psychology is the study of the mind and behaviour, looking at humans and animals. This course offers an in depth introduction to the fascinating field of psychology.

• Develop your ability to analyse aspects of a persons psychological state and apply derived knowledge to motivate that person.
• This course provides a solid introduction/foundation for further studies of psychology covering such things as the nature and scope of psychology, neurological and environmental effects on behaviour, personality, consciousness, perception, needs, drives and motivation.
• Study online - start at any time.

Life coaching involves assisting the client set personal and professional goals and establishing a workable strategy to attain them within a given time frame. For clients, a life coach can provide a life-changing experience, an invaluable opportunity to take control over their lives and fulfil their dreams.

The course will enable people in health, fitness, counselling, social work etc. to help others set and achieve life goals. Develop your skills in setting and achieving goals, not only for yourself but for those who seek your assistance. The course is aimed at students who have prior experience or training in a related field such as health, fitness, counselling, social work or naturopathy.

ACS Distance Education is an organisational member of the Association For Coaching.

• Learn all about good mental health, the nature and causes of different mental health conditions, and treatment options.
• By developing a solid understanding about mental health conditions you will be able to help people better cope with their challenges, and develop strategies to manage their condition.
• An excellent course for someone suffering from a mental health condition, a carer, a mental health worker, a health practitioner, or anyone interested in mental health.

Do you use marketing psychology as part of your job? Or would you like to use marketing psychology as part of your job role? Then learn Marketing Psychology with this valuable course.

Market segmentation focuses on the consumer end of the market. It breaks away from the old-fashioned view that consumers were one large undifferentiated market. Instead it focuses on target groups. Segmentation is the backbone of the marketing concept.

Cultural Diversity Training

Learn to understand more about other cultures

Cultural diversity refers to the differences between human communities based on differences in their ideologies, values, beliefs, norms, customs, meanings and ways of life – in other words, differences based on cultural differences. These differences are expressed and exemplified in social practices, attitudes and values, family interactions and expectations, values concerning education, ways of defining and treating health (physical and mental), business and management behaviours and practices, political practices, and our interpersonal relations.

Understand brain dysfunction and human behaviour

The nervous system allows humans to adapt to changes. Changes can occur inside (e.g. too little oxygen while running) or outside (e.g. the anticipation of food or the chill of a winter wind). The nervous system will perceive the change and will take actions to adjust to it. The nervous system is rather like the look-out on a river boat - it monitors conditions and gives warnings when something unusual or dangerous is ahead. Once the warning is received, the body is able to take steps to avoid or correct the situation. The nervous system has to be highly complex to be able to perform such sophisticated services.

Enhance your personal skills as a therapist 

This course is aimed at those who wish to make a success of private practice but will also appeal to anyone who just wishes to improve their current client-counsellor relationships.

There are seven lessons in the course covering: understanding counselling, counselling practice, ethics, confidentiality, self awareness, personality, behaviours and emotions, supervision, mental health issues, referrals and more. 

Supervision skills training for professionals.

•  This course develops skills in supervising other professionals and an awareness of what to expect when undergoing supervision yourself. 
• The Professional Supervision course is suitable for anyone who is interested in increasing their knowledge and skills in supervision.

Understand what psychological tests are and why they are used.

Psychological tests assess and evaluate information that is given to the examiner by the client. This information is in the form of answers to interview questions or as answers on paper—or on a computer—to specific questions. Ultimately, a test’s accuracy depends on how carefully and seriously the client answers the questions they are asked.  A psychological assessment is when a skilled psychologist uses the techniques and tools of psychology to learn general or specific facts about another person, either to seek information about how they currently function or to predict their behaviour and functioning in the future.

• Learn to determine why and when psychological assessment is used.
• Develop an understanding of the different types of assessment available (e.g. Behavioural Assessment, Wechsler Intelligence and Memory Scales, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, etc.).
• Understand reliability, validity and test construction.

Note: You won't learn how to administer, score and interpret specific tests through this course, rather you will gain a general understanding of test usage.   

Study psychology and counselling by distance learning.

• Start at any time to suit you.

Learn more about:

• abnormal behaviour,
• psychological theories,
• individual behaviour,
• group behaviour and more.

What do our students think of the course?

"The notes and study tools encourage me to conduct research to develop my knowledge of components in my course. It is very worthwhile. [My tutor] gives me good feedback and food for thought with her comments and sometimes elaborates on my answers - really value her input." Larissa Kalnins - Psychology & Counselling course.

Learn how different substances affect the brain and behaviour

Drug-taking is part of everyday life. Many substances are taken legally through prescriptions and others are freely available in beverages and foodstuffs. Some are available but are not intended to be imbibed e.g. glue or nitrous oxide. Yet others are illegal and have to be acquired from dealers or produced illicitly. All have an effect on the brain and behaviour when used. 

Study this course to find out about the effects of legal, illegal and prescribed drugs on the mind, body and behaviour. Topics covered include: stimulants, narcotics, hallucinogens, marijuana, steroids, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, solvents, sedatives, prescription drugs, and others. Discover how substance abuse, dependency, and withdrawal affect the nervous system, and the impact of drugs on society.

Relationship Counselling Training - Study relationship and communication training by distance learning. Support people who are experiencing difficulties in their relationships.

An essential course for anyone interested in learning more about relationships and communications and how to support people experiencing difficulties.

There are many and varied reasons why relationships breakdown and irreconcilable differences is one of them.  If you work with families, support them or want to understand your own family better this course is indispensable.  With this course you will: 

• Learn why relationships deteriorate.
• Learn to help people involved in relationship breakdowns.
• Enhance your skills as a counsellor.
• Improve your career opportunities in counselling and psychology.
• Gain confidence in your ability to support families.

If you want to learn more about relationships and communication counselling, this could be the course for you.  Develop your understanding of the role communication plays in creating, maintaining or destroying relationships, and your ability to assist others to improve their relationships communications

Study Social Psychology by distance learning for a fascinating insight into the mind of humans within a social setting.

Man is a social animal, and as such, it is very important to understand the psychology of how we interact with each other, or act as a group rather than as an individual.

One example of social psychological research is that concerning the murder of Kitty Genovese. She was stabbed to death in the middle of a busy residential area of New York. Thirty-eight witnesses saw the attack and none of them did anything to intervene, not even to phone the police.

• Why? The common sense answer might be that they thought someone else had or would intervene, or that the witnesses didn’t care.
• Study this course to gain an understanding as to why people react in such situations as they do.

Sports Psychology online course

Learn how to motivate sports people using psychological techniques.

Sports psychology is the study of the interaction between a person’s psychology and their participation in sport. Singer (1978) defined it as “the science of psychology applied to sport”. Whilst the field of psychology is relatively young, sports psychology is even younger. The field of sports psychology has much to offer, carrying out useful research that can be made available to athletes and coaches.

Whilst knowing about sports psychology itself is important, there are other areas of psychology that are related, such as nutrition, life coaching, motivation and so on. This course enables you to gain a useful qualification that will focus on areas that are of specific interest to you.

Student Comment: "The course was useful for my goalkeeper coaching practises. [It} met my expectations and gave me some good insights; I liked the way the course was structured, especially the way I could work at my own pace WITHOUT any pressure. The course has specifically helped with ideas for motivating players." Mario Rimati, Football Coach & Phys Ed Teacher, Italy - Sports Pscyhology course

A must for anyone seriously interested in working with, or already works with, amateur and professional sports people.

Discover better ways to cope with stress

Stress is the number one cause of mental and physical illness in the Western world. It may be acute or chronic and sometimes people are unaware of how it is affecting them until they develop symptoms. There are healthy ways to manage stress and keep it within levels which we can cope with.

Study this Stress Management course to find better ways to manage stress. Use the knowledge you gain to deal with your own stress levels or apply it to your work in supporting other people when they are stressed.

Everyone suffers stress, and a little can actually be good for you raising adrenalin levels and stimulating bodily functions in a positive way. The problem is when a little stress becomes a lot and that stress starts to have a significant negative impact on your wellbeing. Avoiding stress is not necessarily the best way to deal with anxiety, tension, mental and emotional strain, but there are things that can and should be done by anyone when stress does get too much.