Master of Psychology in Health Psychology

Health Psychologists work with supporting people living with long term conditions and illnesses coming from different settings. This module will tackle different types of long-term conditions (LTCs) and illnesses. The Common Sense Model by Leventhal will be discussed according to the different LTCs. The main aim is to understand the LTCs etiology and their impact on the individual, carer and family. The different LTCs will be understood using the biopsychosocial model.This means that we will be understanding LTCs through biological, psychological and social factors. Different LTCs include diabetes, asthma, hypertension,fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigues syndrome, obesity,cancer amongst others. These LTCs are relevant to the Maltese population due to the high prevalence. Stress is an important component when tackling LTCs and,therefore, we will be delving deeper into understanding the relationships between stress and different LTCs. When working with LTCs, health psychologists will be working within interdisciplinary teams of different professionals such as physiotherapists, doctors, dieticians etc. This unit will also cover briefly what working with different healthcare professionals entails.

Understanding and working with health behavioural change is a fundamental role of a health psychologist. Health psychologists work indifferent settings, from hospitals and clinics, to addictions and other contexts in the community, offering diverse services. This unit will look at the variety of health behaviours, such as: physical activity, nutrition,smoking, and others, within the local context. Health behaviours will be understood through individual and group health behaviour change interventions.This unit will cover different evidence-based models such as the Behaviour Change Wheel and the MAP Model and applying them to an individual and a population context. Apart from behaviour change, health psychologists also work in health promotion and psychoeducation of health behaviours. The Health Promotion lectures will focus on the principles of Health Promotion and they will/assist/guide direct the learner to understand and embrace the actions required to ensure a paradigm shift in the learners’ thinking. The learners will be exposed to theories such as the Health Belief Model, Stages of Change Model,Theory of Planned Behaviour and Social Cognitive Theory and their application to health promotion and techniques of mass communication, ensuring a total population approach.

Health Psychologists mainly work with physical health related issues.However they can encounter clients who have comorbidities with mental and sexual health. This module will investigate the relationship of mental and sexual health. Sexual health and sexual functioning can be affected by mental disorders and or impaired psychological function. In contrast, mental health can suffer when clients are faced with sexual problems. Good sexual health practices are also crucial to a good quality of life. The learners will therefore learn about various sexual dysfunctions and their potential causality or comorbidity with mental disorders. This module will also demonstrate good sexual health practices and positive sexuality. The aim of this module is to equip Health Psychologists with the knowledge to assess sexual dysfunction and determine its relationship to mental disorder or psychological distress; additionally, the module will equip learners with the ability to provide psychosexual education promoting positive sexuality and prevention from diseases. This module is important for Health Psychologists in order to assess, diagnose and formulate intervention related to mental and sexual health and dysfunction with individual clients or couples.  This is of particular importance to Health Psychologists who would be working with clients who may have chronic conditions requiring medication, which may affect sexual functioning.

This Module will expose the learner to Systemic Approaches to Health.The aim of this Module is that of addressing how health-related concerns impact the structure and dynamics of families and relationships, while also addressing how health-related concerns can be exacerbated through the relational dynamics and problem-maintaining patterns.  The History of Systemic Psychotherapy will address the core concepts of Systemic Psychotherapy, as well as the development of the Systemic Approach through its different stages. In this part of this Module, the following schools and models will be addressed: The Systems Theory,the Structural Model, the Strategic Model, the Milan/Post Milan Schools,Solution Focus Therapy and the Narrative Approach. The Theoretical principles of each Model will be presented alongside relevant techniques and tools that are utilized when applying the Systemic Approach in practice. The following techniques and therapeutic tools will be covered in Systemic Approaches to Health: The Genogram, Identifying Problem-Maintaining Patterns,Solution-Focused Questioning, Deconstruction of Problems and Externalization Techniques.

Health Psychologists in their work can work with clients from different ages including old age. Learners will have the opportunity to understand the various psychogeriatric issues that they may face in their clinical work. Inline with its expected aims, the unit will expose learners to a biopsychosocial approach to Psychology in Old Age, with a natural specific focus on the psychological domains. The unit will be designed to provide learners the opportunity to engage in critical discussions on issues and evidence-based practices pertaining to Gerontology. Topics such as mental health issues, loss,grief, bereavement, elder abuse, neurodegenerative disorders, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches as well as the psychological implications of chronic pain will be discussed. These are all issues that psychology practitioners will face whilst working in a health setting, and thus understanding and engaging with such a number of issues is imperative. The unit will also present to learners a preliminary understanding of psychotherapeutic approaches in Old Age. Consequently, the unit will equip learners with the necessary knowledge to work with psycho-geriatric issues in a health setting.

Part of the role of a Health Psychologist is to work with different age groups. This unit shall look into issues concerning health conditions and health services with respect to children and adolescents. Apart from this, the lectures shall create an awareness of; the conditions related to early development and life stages; which services are currently available together with the use of pharmacological, or other, treatments; theories related to early development and interventions; how medical health professionals interact with minors and how these interactions impact the clinical outcome. These will be understood in terms of the minor’s stage in development and how this impacts their understanding of what is happening. This also needs to consider how one should communicate with the minor and what may impede the child’s understanding of the current situation; how the Health Psychologist can develop skills to communicate and educate the minor’s caregivers to encourage prevention and healthcare planning for the family.Prevention needs to take into consideration other systems that the minors are involved in, such as the school setting, any religious or community groups, and even around sports. These are all aspects that will be focused on during the lectures.

This module will cover the code of ethics for the Psychology profession.   The teaching of the module will be built on the Rest’s model.  Rest argues that (from a psychological perspective) ethical thinking can be seen as

progressing through several stages, rather than being a unitary construct. His model includes four components which, taken together, identify the sequence of thoughts and actions that result in ethical behaviour. These are:

●      Ethical sensitivity: Interpreting the situation, and identifying the presence of an ethical issue.

●      Ethical reasoning: Formulating the morally ideal course of action by identifying the

●      relevant ethical issues and using these principles to consider appropriate actions.

●      Ethical motivation: Deciding what one wishes and intends to do.

●      Ethical implementation: Executing and implementing what one intends to do.  

This will be achieved by:

●      Ensuring that teaching and learning have real-life relevance using case

●      Providing teaching and learning opportunities that generate wide-ranging discussions

●      encouraging and stimulating learners to debate and appreciate the contested and situated nature of ethical dilemmas and problems.

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Health psychologists might require skills from these different therapeutic modalities when working with clients going through illnesses and behaviour change. This unit will provide learners with the basic foundations and theoretical underpinnings to these five psychotherapeutic approaches:

●      Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) – This psychotherapeutic modality focuses on helping people learn how to identify and change destructive or negative thoughts that can have a negative consequence on one’s behaviours and emotions.

●      Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)– This approach encourages and invites people to embrace their thoughts and feelings rather than trying to fight them or avoid them. It aims to foster psychological flexibility in the individual.

●      Psychopharmacology – Through this approach the learners will be gaining an introduction and basic concepts of psychopharmacology, a brief touch upon pharmaco kinetics and pharmaco dynamics.

●      Motivational Interviewing (MI)– MI is a goal oriented style of communication with particular attention given to the language. Its main aim is to strengthen personal motivation and commitment for the client’s goal to be received.

Gestalt Psychotherapy - Gestalt therapy is a humanistic, existential and person-centred approach to therapy that is focused on a client's present difficulties,including the physical responses that a client may present.

Health Psychologists might encounter clients with addiction issues whether it is smoking, alcohol, substances or gaming. Addiction disorder is classified as a condition within the DSM-V. This unit explores the phenomenon of addictive behaviour from several disciplinary perspectives. While addictive behaviour has biological foundations it can also develop within a society with its own social norms.  The unit will discuss several different types of addictions, their causes and possible treatment options.  Behaviour, as well as substance addictions will be explored.  A number of conceptual models that have been developed to examine the phenomenon of addiction will be studied.  Problematic porn use, compulsive sexual behaviour, together with gambling will be explored as research suggests that the same treatment plans as behaviour addictions are proving to be successful.   The unit will also engage significantly with advances in evidence based policy prevention and intervention and examine both national and international legal provisions in the area

Health psychologists will be asked to either conduct research or evaluate research when reading literature. Research is a crucial and fundamental aspect in the career of a health psychologist. This is because evidence based practices are of utmost importance when working with clients. Designing and implementation of interventions should be evidence based using scientific and empirical research.Research and reviews can be done in different ways; quantitative methods,qualitative methods or mixed methods. This module will focus on theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of each methodology. This module will also provide practical information on how to conduct research including research design,data collection, data analysis and writing of research. This module will provide the learners with an opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills about research methods. Through learning about different methodologies, the learner can judge and execute different research methods to their work. The aim of this module is to help learners recognise their research skills and plan their own research for the dissertation project

Health psychologists can be invited in schools, agencies and hospitals to conduct training and talks on health education and promotion. This is the first placement of the course and is spread over the whole of the second year. Learners will spend a minimum of 125 hours engaged in psychoeducation: researching, developing, and delivering workshops and seminars.  This work will be done under supervision by different tutors. Learners will participate in monthly group supervision sessions, as well as attend 14 hours of training in public speaking and delivery. 

This will provide the opportunity to apply health psychology theories to the creation of Health Promotion campaigns for the general public, learners, and other, more specific demographics. The learners will be responsible to establish networking relationships with different agencies and NGO’s and create specific psychoeducation material.  They will also learn and practice creating and managing online health promotion campaigns.  All this will happen under supervision and after adequate training will be provided.  The study-unit aims to help the learners to integrate the professional characteristics pertaining to the role of the health psychologist and reflect on how things can be promoted differently to reach the target group better.

Obesity is considered as one of the main factors to various health conditions. Malta ranks quite high on the number of obese children and individuals amongst its population. It is traditionally defined in terms of BMI although there has been a growing interest in the use of alternate classification systems. Obesity is caused by an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure which can be brought about by numerous factors such as genetic traits, behavioural factors including diet and exercise and also environmental circumstances. The treatment depends on the circumstances but can vary from dietary and behavioural to pharmacological and finally to surgical. We will look into the internal effects on the body and the physical limitations it puts on patients. Potential medical & physiotherapeutic ways for patients to overcome the condition will also be discussed. We will also look into the psychological impact of obesity on the individual throughout their lifespan. We will be understanding obesity through the biopsychosocial model. 

This unit will be taught by different professionals such as physiotherapists, dietitians and health psychologists.

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Cancer is not always a death sentence. Throughout recent years, the incidence of cancer as a chronic illness is increasing. According to WHO, in 2020 Malta had 2500 of new cancer cases which varied between breast cancer, prostate cancer and colorectal cancer mostly. Cancer affects around a third of the global population. Health psychologists may find themselves working with supporting clients through their cancer journey. We will discuss the mechanism of cancer and its effects on the body. We will also look into the toxicity effects of cancer treatments and the holistic approach towards a better quality of life.We will look into the process of the acceptance of the diagnoses of cancer and its impact on one’s physical and mental health. We will also look into the quality of life of cancer patients.Managing the many appointments, communication with the doctors and bodily changes can cause a change in one’s mental health. Health psychologists help the individual with cancer and their carers with managing their cancer journey. This unit will be taught by different professionals such as physiotherapists, dietitians, doctors and health psychologists.

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As health psychologists, in your clinic or hospital consultancies, you might be expected to work with individuals with neurodegenerative disorders. Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s disease are amongst the most common neurodegenerative disorders.Dementia is an umbrella term, encompassing a variety of conditions underneath it. It can impact the physical, emotional and psychological aspects of the individual. Dementia is a prevalent condition, especially within the older generation. Dementia can be a challenge to the individual and more so to the people taking care of them. They might require assistance in activities of daily living amongst others. We will look into the types & mechanisms of dementia and their effect both internally & externally. We will discuss holistic approaches for the patient who has dementia and how to improve their quality of life.

Working with patients with neurodegenerative disorders will require the care and consultancy of a multidisciplinary team.

This unit will be taught by different professionals such as physiotherapists, geriatricians and health psychologists.

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Psychosomatic disorders can impact health-related quality of life of the individual and also the people taking care of them. Psychosomatic disorders we will be focusing on include Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. We will be looking into the mechanism of the cause, possible risk factors and the physical effects on patients. We will also discuss the assessment & treatment approaches to maintain clients' lifestyles suffering from these conditions. Int his elective unit, we will be looking at different psychosomatic disorders.Health psychologists will have the opportunity to meet individuals with psychosomatic disorders through their work at clinics and hospitals.Psychosomatic disorders carry a lot of stigma around them, especially within the medical field. During this elective unit, we will be understanding the etiology, diagnosis, management andtreatment of these conditions. We will delve into causal factors using the biopsychosocial model. We will look at scales and tools used to assess health-relatedquality of life whilst gaining an in-depth understanding about the challenges and struggles they can encounter. 

This unit will be taught by different professionals such as physiotherapists, health psychologists and advocates living with psychosomatic disorders.

This is the second placement of the course and is spread over the whole of third year.Learners will spend a minimum of 250 hours engaged in psychological interventions with clients presenting with different issues related to health. The learners will be exposed to different client groups and agencies. This work will be done under regular supervision by a health psychologist.  Learners will participate in monthly group supervision sessions, as well as attend individual supervision with the placement mentor. 

This will provide the opportunity to apply health psychology theories to the individual needs of their client/s. The trainees will be observing psychologists and other health care professionals in their work.  They will have tutorials aimed at giving them more practical skills for working with negative health habits and clients who need their services.  The learners will also engage in one-to-one intervention work with clients with negative health habits under supervision. These clients can be from a private practice setting or members of associations and NGOs locally

In this unit, the learners will have the ability to present a written dissertation as their main research project throughout their masters. This needs to be approved by the Ethical Board in the form of a Dissertation proposal which should be completed by the end of the second year. The learner will have a dissertation supervisor to support them throughout their research project. This will provide the learner with an opportunity to delve deeper into a health psychology topic of their interest, research about it and show their research skills. The learner needs to develop a research question, synthesis of literature, methodology used, findings and a discussion including limitations and future implications. The dissertation needs to provide a unique contribution to the subject chosen. The dissertation can be of quantitative nature, qualitative nature or mixed-methods. The dissertation needs to be provided in written format using APA format (7th edition). The learner will be encouraged to publish their research in a relevant journal. The learner will also have the opportunity to learn how to design and create a poster presentation of their research.

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