Master of Arts (Applied Psychology)

Full-time

Minimum 2.5 years

Maximum 3.5 years

Part-time

Minimum 3.5 years

Maximum 4.5 years

Programme Requirements

AU

9 courses

Practicum 1 @ Work

9

Practicum 2

9

Practicum 3

9

Dissertation

6

Total AU

57

Course Descriptors

CORE:

MAP810 Psychological Assessment (3 AUs)
This core course equips students with the foundational knowledge and skills related to psychological assessment. It provides an introduction to the conceptual and psychometric aspects of psychological testing. The first section of the course covers basic concepts of assessment and psychometric principles that apply to all types of psychological tests. It teaches students how to critically evaluate psychometrically strong assessment tools from weaker ones. The second section provides a brief introduction to cognitive tests. The third section covers a few basic skills and assessment tools that could be used in practice (e.g., intake interviews, mood, suicidality, and behaviour rating scales). The fourth section provides an introduction to behavioural assessment and various observation protocols and behaviour recording tools that could be used on field while assessing a clients behaviour.

CORE:

MAP819 Psychological Disorders Across the Life Span (3 AUs)
This course provides students with the foundational knowledge of the etiology, assessment and evidence-based treatments for psychological disorders that they are likely to encounter in clinical practice. In the first 10 weeks of the course, all students will be introduced to clinical assessment practices and psychological disorders that psychologists are likely to encounter in many clinical populations. In the final 3 weeks of the course, students will be introduced to psychological disorders that are specific to their specialization, i.e. counselling psychology or educational psychology tracks.

CORE:

MAP903 Ethical Issues in Psychological Practice (1 AU)
The purpose of the course is to provide students with a firm grounding in ethics and practice standards of professional psychology in Singapore. Referencing the Singapore Psychological Society Code of Ethics, students will understand the overall principles guiding work in human services, as well as maintain clinical and research practices that are consistent with the specific guidelines in the Code. Students will acquire skills in systematic ethical decision-making which includes seeking appropriate resources and engaging in peer consultation.

CORE:

MAP904 Integrated Psychopharmacology: Bridging Medicine and Psychology  (2 AUs)
This course is designed to provide students with a foundational overview of Singapore’s mental health landscape in Singapore, including key service structures, referral pathways, and the respective roles of psychiatrists and general practitioners in managing mental health conditions. Students will be introduced to core principles of psychopharmacology relevant to psychological practice, including the basic mechanisms, common uses, and typical side effects of major medication classes, and recognising situations that warrant referral back to a prescriber - without requiring medical decision‑making. Students will build their understanding of the medical management of common mental health conditions, particularly depression, anxiety, and related sleep difficulties, and how these approaches interface with psychological interventions. They will be familiarized with other medical and neurobiological interventions, such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and ketamine treatments, focusing on their purpose, general effects, and implications for psychological work. They will also learn to collaborate effectively with medical providers, including communicating key clinical information, supporting patients in understanding treatment plans, and discussing medication‑related concerns in a way that promotes adherence without providing medical advice. Students will learn to integrate psychopharmacological and medical knowledge into biopsychosocial case formulations, appreciating how medication effects, sleep, psychological factors, and social context interact in shaping clinical presentations.

CORE:

MAP902 Research Methods and Statistics in Applied Psychology (4 AUs)
This course is designed to provide skills and knowledge for students to understand, evaluate, and design different types of research in psychological and educational areas. The course will mainly focus on the procedures and issues related to quantitative research approach. Students will learn univariate statistical procedures and some multivariate statistical procedures.

SPECIALISATION CORE: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

MEP913 Psychoeducational Assessment for Educational Psychologists (4 AUs)
The course provides Trainee Educational Psychologists with psychological testing skills in the administration, scoring and interpretation of selected standardized cognitive, language and literacy tests, and writing of psychological reports.

SPECIALISATION CORE: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

MEP820 Behavioural Interventions for Special Needs (3 AUs)
This course uses a scientist-practitioner model to develop skills in constructing and implementing various behavioral interventions within applied settings such as schools, community centers, clinics, and homes. It intends to follow a hands-on approach towards providing students with essential background knowledge and tools to conduct effective evidence-based interventions for the most common reasons for referrals to educational psychologists within applied settings.

This module is divided into 3 main areas:
1. The need for evidence-based practice and interventions within applied setting and linking assessment with intervention.
2. Basic behavioral principles, interventions, data collection systems and single case research designs to monitor the progress of various interventions.
3. Behavioral Interventions used in applied settings for children with ADHD, ASD, ODD and Conduct problems.

SPECIALISATION CORE: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

MEP824 Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) to Build Success in Literacy (3 AUs)
This course equips trainee psychologists with foundational knowledge of a multitiered system of support, which will enable schools to identify and serve students who struggle with reading and require additional support.

SPECIALISATION CORE: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

MEP900 Basic Counselling Skills for Educational Psychologists (1 AU)
This course is designed to meet the foundational skills needs of students from the Educational Psychology track, so that they are able to use basic counselling skills to give negative news sensitively to clients and manage clients’ distress appropriately.

SPECIALISATION CORE: COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY

MCP909 Theories and Techniques of Counselling (4 AUs)
This course aims to introduce fundamental theories and techniques of counselling to trainee counselling psychologists. It explores the role of the counselling psychologist, the nature of the counselling relationship, and different approaches to counselling.

SPECIALISATION CORE: COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY

MCP812 Group Dynamics and Counselling (3 AUs)
This course examines the psychological processes underlying human interactions ingroups. Current theories applicable to group work in counselling are considered. Students will be expected to develop a repertoire of skills and ideas and to develop communication skills essential to group counselling in both face-to-face and on-line environments.

SPECIALISATION CORE: COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY

MCP900 Mental Health Assessment for Counselling Psychologists (1 AUs)
This course provides a basic exposure to common mental health assessment tools and integrates the findings of these tools with historical information gathered from the assessment process, i.e., gathering relevant background information during an intake or review session. The course also develops knowledge and skills to summarize and explain diverse clinical information about clients presenting issue(s) in a brief, coherent statement or map that elucidates the clients basic pattern to guide the treatment process. This aims to build a clinicians competency and skills in developing and utilizing case conceptualization to guide the treatment formulation and process.

SPECIALISATION CORE: COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY

MCP821 Cognitive-Behavioural Management and Interventions (3 AUs)
This course aims to provide students with a basic understanding of the theories, principles, procedures and practice of behavioural and cognitive-behavioural management. The basic assumption of the behavioural approach is that both desirable and undesirable behaviour are learned and the best strategy for remediation of problem behaviour is to structure the environment to reward desirable behaviour and extinguish maladaptive behaviour. In the cognitive approach, behaviour and emotions are viewed as resulting from cognitive processes, and maladaptive behaviour and emotions are changed by correcting dysfunctional beliefs and helping clients to develop new cognitive and behavioural patterns. Both approaches can be applied to a range of real life issues and problems of children, adolescents, and adults. Students will be provided opportunities to practice CBT skills in class and to receive feedback.

SPECIALISATION CORE: CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

MLP821 Cognitive-Behavioural Management and Interventions (3 AUs)
This course aims to provide students with a basic understanding of the theories, principles, procedures and practice of behavioural and cognitive-behavioural management. The basic assumption of the behavioural approach is that both desirable and undesirable behaviour are learned and the best strategy for remediation of problem behaviour is to structure the environment to reward desirable behaviour and extinguish maladaptive behaviour. In the cognitive approach, behaviour and emotions are viewed as resulting from cognitive processes, and maladaptive behaviour and emotions are changed by correcting dysfunctional beliefs and helping clients to develop new cognitive and behavioural patterns. Both approaches can be applied to a range of real life issues and problems of children, adolescents, and adults. Students will be provided opportunities to practice CBT skills in class and to receive feedback.

SPECIALISATION CORE: CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

MLP909 Psychotherapeutic Interventions for Clinical Psychologists (4 AUs)
This course provides a conceptual and skills-based foundation in contemporary evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions relevant to clinical psychology. It equips students with the knowledge and competencies needed to deliver effective clinical interventions and lays the groundwork for more advanced training in psychotherapeutic practice.

SPECIALISATION CORE: CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

MLP913 Psychological Testing for Clinical Psychologists (4 AUs)
The course aims to provide Trainee Clinical Psychologists with psychological testing skills in the administration, scoring and interpretation of selected standardized tests and mental health assessment tools that are applicable to the Clinical Psychologists, and writing of psychological reports. The course also develops knowledge and skills to summarize and explain diverse clinical information about clients’ presenting issue(s) in a brief, coherent ‘statement’ or ‘map’ that elucidates the client’s basic pattern to guide the treatment process. This aims to build a clinician’s competency and skills in developing and utilizing case conceptualization to guide the treatment formulation and process.

OPTIONAL

MCP815 Family and Marital Counselling (3 AUs)
This course covers both the theoretical and practical approaches in working with couples and families.

The course aims to:
1. Introduce a new epistemology and show how systemic family therapy is different from other forms of therapy
2. Teach the key characteristics (i.e. basic assumptions and underlying philosophies, process of psychotherapy, tools and technique in intervention and therapeutic goal/outcome) of major family therapy models and outline its therapeutic process and goals.
3. Demonstrate the application of the practical elements of each model in local real- life context.
4. Raise awareness of the strengths and limitations of each model.

OPTIONAL

MCP913 Psychological Testing for Counselling Psychologists (3 AUs)
The course aims to provide Trainee Counselling Psychologists with psychological testing skills in the administration, scoring and interpretation of selected standardized tests and mental health assessment tools and writing of psychological reports. The course also develops assessment knowledge and skills to summarize and explain diverse clinical information about clients’ presenting issue(s) in a brief, coherent ‘statement’ or ‘map’ that elucidates the client’s basic pattern to guide the treatment process. It aims to build a clinician’s competency and skills in developing and utilizing case conceptualization to guide the treatment formulation and process.

OPTIONAL

MEP926 Identifying Disabilities and Cognitive-Behavioural Interventions in Educational Psychology (3 AUs)
This course provides an introduction to identifying Special Educational Needs (SEN) students with socio-emotional difficulties such as in students with language and/or social difficulties. This course also seeks to equip EP trainees with the knowledge and skills to implement certain strategies used as part of Cognitive Behavioural Intervention for this population of SEN students. Trainees will b eprovided opportunities to practice the skills in class and to receive feedback.

OPTIONAL

MEP820 Behavioural Interventions for Special Needs (3 AUs)
This course follows a scientist-practitioner model to develop skills in constructing and implementing various behavioral interventions within applied settings such as schools, community centers, clinics, and homes. It intends to follow a hands-on approach towards providing students with essential background knowledge and tools to conduct effective evidence-based interventions for the most common reasons for referrals to educational psychologists within applied settings.

This course is divided into 3 main areas:
a) The need for evidence-based practice and interventions within applied setting and linking assessment with intervention.
b) Basic behavioral principles, interventions, data collection systems and single case research designs to monitor the progress of various interventions.
c) Behavioral Interventions used in applied settings for children with ADHD, ASD, ODD and Conduct problems.

OPTIONAL

MCP823 Complex Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents (3 AUs)
This course will introduce students to a range of psychological interventions for youth who have experienced complex traumatic stress and often require services in the child welfare system. It is suitable for students who aspire to work with at-risk youth and families and those coping with mental health challenges. The skills practice component of the course will help participants clarify and improve therapeutic skills needed for working with children and adolescents.