Programme summary for MSc, PG Cert or PG Dip International Humanitarian Psychosocial Consultation by Distance Learning

About the programme

A Unique Opportunity

The programme is understood to be the first of its kind, focussing on psychosocial issues within international humanitarian contexts (e.g. personal communication from Director of HR Services, People in Aid). The programme centres on understanding the multiple contexts that affect people's experiences, capacities and resilience. It prioritises enabling, through its emphasis on different types of consultation and provides students with opportunities to learn from professional practitioners who have direct experience of working with populations around the world.

Testimonials

“I'm now undertaking my second module on the IHPC course, and I continue to appreciate its relevance to my work. Both through the Wellbeing and Resilience module and my current module on Psychosocial Consultation, I find myself able to directly share my learning with, and better support, other humanitarian aid workers in the sector. For example, through the creation of an improved training curriculum around stress management, and through a range of new consultation skills to use when supporting our young humanitarian trainees to think through the various challenges they are facing in their work.”

— Kathryn Becher, Programme Manager: Humanitarian Capacity Building, Save the Children UK.

“Thanks for the content and process of this course. In this seemingly glooming world of hobbits bumbling about in reluctant resistance to Mordor, this UEL program is an important source of light. My only complaint is that it is so relentlessly engaging. I keep hoping that I can just scan readings quickly and capture the high points in the ‘Feedback’ summaries. Yet I find myself reflectively engaged with each one. The readings and activities cause me to continuously sort through a library of experiences and exposures, re-seeing, gaining new perspectives, connecting afresh with sadnesses, frustrations, despair, anger … and joy that there are individuals and communities that
seek to understand and to make better.

You are doing important work. Thank you.”

— Randy Weekes, Director, Duty of Care Programs, CANADEM.

“This unique programme brings together practitioners and subject matter experts and gives humanitarian workers a deeper understanding of the international humanitarian context.”

— Ben Emmens, former Director of HR Services, People in Aid.

“I found the material both extremely interesting and challenging but also somewhat cathartic after several years in disaster response work. It shines a light into the darkness of taboo subjects.”

— Amy Braithwaite, formerly at Save the Children in Haiti.

“Studying this course has helped immensely with my volunteer work resettling refugees. It has adjusted my perspective. The material is relevant, helpful and critical as the backbone impacting the development and delivery of international aid.”

— Angie, MSc International Humanitarian Psychosocial Consultation by Distance Learning graduate.

“The interpersonal, critical understanding of and between different people in different contexts and the ability to engage with them is key to the success of any humanitarian mission. This unique course is aimed primarily at staff of humanitarian agencies around the world and focuses on increasing relevant practical skills and psychosocial capacity. By being exclusively online, students can access the modules from anywhere in the world and continue their studies while working, within a supportive international network of staff and students.

The course benefits from the input of experienced international humanitarian staff who provide a critical awareness of different contexts and with an interest in psychosocial issues, consultation, resilience and wellbeing. The delivery of the programme and assessments focuses on practical applications.”

— Martin Fisher, International Humanitarian Consultant.

“I have been accepted on a temporary assignment as ‘HR Business Partner’ in the HR division of my organization. This is actually part of a career development initiative that I contributed to. So this is my feedback back to you both, I wouldn’t have been considered if I hadn’t already completed most of this degree and demonstrated a level of working knowledge of the area. And I wouldn’t have known to push for these kinds of initiatives, either!”

— Susan Beccio, United Nations.

The Programme Enhances Students

The programme includes important components that enhance students’:

cultural competence, including awareness of a range of issues relating to the diversity of beneficiaries and their situations
confidence in their ability to take account of multiple and complex interacting factors in humanitarian contexts
ability to work with difference, conflict and difficulties faced by teams, groups and within organisations
team working skills
communication skills
problem solving and solution focussed skills
personal and professional development in relation to providing consultation
resilience and wellbeing
self awareness, particularly as relates to being able to critique their own consultations.

Programme structure

To complete this programme and obtain the MSc students must pass the following six modules which are each worth 30 credits at level M:

GCM901: International Contexts
GCM902: Psychosocial Consultation
GCM903: Humanitarian Contexts
GCM904: Wellbeing and Resilience
GCM905: Research 1
GCM906: Research 2

We expect distance learning students to study this programme full or part time over three years. The modules can be studied in any order with two exceptions. The International Contexts module must be taken before or at the same time as the Humanitarian Contexts module, in order to provide a sufficient introduction to "Contexts". The Research 2 module must be taken last. Students exiting the programme having passed any two modules or any four modules will be awarded a PG Cert or PG Dip respectively.

Career opportunities

It is envisaged that students may progress onto any of the following upon successful completion of the programme:

Careers in humanitarian aid agencies in the UK or overseas
Careers within public health/social services which have a psychosocial focus
Further study in postgraduate masters level programmes in psychology, sociology or anthropology, for example
Further study in applied therapeutic skills, such as Systemic Family Therapy, Psychoanalytic Therapy or Group Analysis.

Support

The programme will include an appropriate and comprehensive induction in the week before lectures begin. Students will be assigned a personal tutor to address learning queries and discuss any issues affecting their progress. The programme team will make an effort to ensure that students take full opportunity of the offer to provide feedback on the drafts of written work.

Students will benefit from specialised distance learning materials that guide the student throughout the learning and allow for appropriate reflection, discussion and tutor feedback. All course materials will be available both in printed format as well as online within UEL Plus. For any questions the Programme Leader, Module Leaders and Tutors can be contacted through the email and discussion facilities in UEL Plus.

Further specialist support (e.g. financial advice, careers advice, counselling and learning support) is available from our University Services. The needs of students with disabilities/dyslexia will be taken into account in compliance with the Special Education Needs and Disability Act (SENDA 2001) and the QAA Code of Practice on Students with Disabilities which states: ''Assessment and examination policies, practices and procedures should provide disabled students with the same opportunity as their peers to demonstrate the achievement of learning outcomes''. Whenever possible, the needs of students with disabilities/dyslexia will be accommodated. In doing so, teaching staff will be relying on the support and advice from the UEL Disability and Dyslexia Unit.

Admission

The admissions criteria will comply with the UEL admissions policy at http://www.uel.ac.uk/qa/manual/documents/part2-admissions.doc and will be:

The normal entrance requirement is an undergraduate honours degree (or equivalent) with a minimum 2.2 classification (or equivalent). Since the programme is to be marketed to individuals who do not have a first degree in psychology but would like to change career path or simply develop greater psychological awareness in their current field, the content of the first degree is not relevant. A lower level qualification together with appropriate experience or, exceptionally, substantial related experience alone may be acceptable.
English Language requirements: In the case of applicants whose first language is not English, then IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent) is required. International qualifications will be checked for appropriate matriculation to UK Higher Education postgraduate programmes.
Students that apply to enter stages of the programme may be admitted through normal Accreditation of Experiential Learning (AEL) or Accreditation of Certificated Learning (ACL) processes, or through an approved articulation agreement. Therefore, such applicants must be able to demonstrate and evidence that they have the required learning outcomes as listed in the modules for which they are seeking exemption.

The admissions procedure will be conform to UEL's general equal opportunities policy of not discriminating on the ground of race, religion, gender and sexual orientation.

Technical requirements

To participate in the programme you need:

Regular access to a PC or Mac capable of running standard MS Office software (or equivalent) for producing word-processed documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Your PC must also be capable of running the required plugins for the Virtual Learning Environment (Adobe Flash player, Adobe PDF viewer, Apple Quicktime).
Reliable Internet access; at least a 56K modem connection, but broadband is highly recommended. For each module that you take, you will be expected to spend approximately 3-6 hours online per week, participating in discussions and accessing resources.
The latest version of your chosen Internet browser. We recommend and support Mozilla Firefox 1.5+, Microsoft Internet Explorer 7+ and Apple Safari 3+.
A valid and reliable email address.
Access to a printer is recommended.