Psychology

The continuing master's study programme in psychology prepares its students both for practice in various fields of psychology and for further academic career in psychology. It offers a general curriculum covering the whole range of applications of psychology. By itself, it enables its graduates to directly enter some of the psychological professions or occupations; for others further education or training is required by law or by regulations of professional associations.

The program thus offers students (1) broader understanding of psychological theories of cognition, emotion, development and personality, (2) knowledge of applied theories, which form the foundation of psychological practice in various disciplines of psychology, (3) introduction to the practical, legal and ethical issues of psychological practice, (4) theoretical and practical training in psychological assessment and its psychometric foundations, (5) practical experience in several fields of psychological practice, and (6) the competence to produce and test new findings through empirical research. These goals are in line with the EuroPsy European certificate in Psychology minimal standards. Together, the knowledge and skills build the foundation for a responsible and critical application of psychology across practical and theoretical contexts.

The programme is intended for graduates of undergraduate psychology programmes who plan to enter one of the psychological professions or occupations. The theoretical part of the curriculum makes the study programme suitable also for those considering an academic career in psychology and related fields (e.g., neuroscience).

In its values, the programme follows the strong research tradition of MU's Faculty of Social Studies. It introduces psychology as a science and its body of knowledge and applications as something that is open to empirical research and questioning. During their studies, students can participate in a range of research projects at the Department of Psychology and closely aligned Institute for the Research of Children, Youth, and Family. Our projects traditionally deal with giftedness, psychotherapy factors, psychological development, cyberpsychology, or with measurement and assessment tools in psychology. However, diploma thesis topics may be in any field of psychology.

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• Understand the current advanced psychological theories of behavior, cognition, emotion, personality, and psychopathology from a developmental individual, and social perspective, and apply them to real-world issues.
• Describe legal and ethical issues of psychology practice and research and common approaches to their resolution, and apply them to real-world cases.
• Work with various types of clients.
• Carry out psychological evaluation or assessment, communicate its findings, set an intervention plan and evaluate it.
• Make practical use of academic skills (data collection, literature search, academic writing, critical thinking).
• Make use of psychology research methods knowledge and skills to prepare and carry out a research project to investigate a range of research questions.
• Assess the qualities of measurement, assessment, and diagnostic tools used in psychology; to develop an assessment tool; to adapt an assessment tool from a foreign language.

The programme's graduates are prepared to enter the full range of psychological positions and regulated occupations requiring a full master's degree in psychology. They are also prepared for further professional training and education, specifically training required by some regulated professions (e.g. psychologist in healthcare) and psychotherapy training. The graduates meet the requirements for a school psychologist (law no. 96/2004, § 43 and law no. 563/2004, §19), educational-psychological counsellors and other unregulated counselling positions providing services to children, adolescents, and families. They can also gravitate towards counselling and psychotherapy services provided to adults and couples, including entering the professional training for a psychologist in healthcare. The programme's graduates also accept positions in the industry, such as in human resources or in service-providing firms. Most positions may have the form of independent psychological practice (e.g. psychological counselling and assessment as per paragraphs 6, 7, 8 and 24 of law no. 455/1991)

• Psychologist at schools

As a part of the study programme, students are required to do internships in three fields, each for the duration of at least 40 hours: in healthcare, in educational psychology, and in work and organisational psychology. Additionally, a fourth internship in the student's field of choice is undertaken in the duration of 80 hours. Overall, internships take a minimum of 15 of the total of 120 ECTS credits. The internships are supervised by the teachers of the internship courses which are part of the curriculum.

The objective of a diploma thesis is to show the ability to carry out a research project investigating a specified research question. This includes the ability to assemble the theoretical framework, carry out a critical literature search in available databases, specify the research question, plan and carry out a research project in order to answer the research question. The thesis is written adhering to the structure of an empirical journal article.

Topics of the diploma theses mainly follow current research projects at the Department of Psychology and the Institute for the Research of Children, Youth, and Family. However, any topic suggested by a student is carefully considered. Masaryk University publishes all theses online at http://is.muni.cz/thesis/ .

The single-subject master's study programme in psychology is a continuation of the undergraduate psychology programmes. From the perspective of many psychological positions the master's degree is the final educational credential required. Further professional practice and education may also depend on the type of undergraduate degree attained. Continuing education for graduates of this master's programme is either a Ph.D. study programme in psychology and related fields, or further professional training (psychotherapy training, psychologist in healthcare training, etc.)