Study options
- Starting in
- September 2025
- Location
- Distance Learning
- Fees
- Home: £12,250
Overseas: £25,500
EU/EEA/Swiss students
What you'll study
This programme is designed to improve your understanding of the impact of socio-cultural factors on mental health, mental illness and mental health care disciplines and delivery. It will enable you to work in a research or mental health care role in a multicultural setting both here in the UK and abroad as well as put you in a position to pursue further training to qualify as a therapist, social worker or clinical psychologist.
You will examine how cultural factors such as belief systems, values, ethnicity, practices and traditions can affect an individual’s mental health risk – and their resilience. You’ll also look at how migration, race and other cultural phenomena intersect to create mental health challenges and how these can be addressed in direct clinical practice and mental health care systems through the implementation of innovative therapies as well as the adaptation of current psychological approaches and care pathways.
You’ll organise and complete a supervised placement with a mental health service or organisation that provides support to a diverse range of people (eg the NHS, a third sector organisation or a global mental health and development agency). Clinical placements will give you experience of supervised practice and will develop your ability to work with emotional, behavioural and psychological distress within and across different cultural contexts. An organisational/policy focused placement will give you the opportunity to observe and engage in the cultural processes that shape how mental health services are structured and delivered.
In addition, you’ll develop your research skills and complete a research project.
Please note this programme does not equip you to be registered as a psychotherapist in the UK, for which you must pursue additional advanced training.
Mental Health: Cultural Psychology and Psychiatry is also available to study to PgDip or PgCert level.
Additional costs
You may have to pay for travel to placements.
Structure
- Six compulsory modules
- 10,000-15,000-word dissertation
Compulsory/Core modules
This module is designed for students undertaking a research project in their chosen area of mental health. Although this module is predominately independent study, students are expected to complete a set of formative assessments and have regular contact with their supervisor in order to monitor progress.
This module provides students with knowledge about how mental health can be viewed in different contexts. From causal and protective factors to prevention, stigmatization, rehabilitation and social integration. It is also aimed at addressing contemporary issues, such as the impact of digital technology on mental health and the extent to which world crises can affect the onset and prognosis of mental illness. This module aims at enhancing critical thinking skills by giving the opportunity to reflect on the reciprocal relationship between the context and the individual. Issues or health inequalities, continuity of care and accessibility to mental health care are also addressed.
This module equips students with knowledge of core skills employed by Mental Health professionals in their workplace. The module maps out both classic and contemporary work in mental health settings and relates theory and research to practice, particularly in psychotherapy. Theory and research are drawn from a number of distinct areas, such as clinical and counselling psychology with a review of core mental health skills, such as assessment, diagnosis and formulation.
This module provides students with essential knowledge and skills about Applied Research Methods. The general aim is to equip students with transferable skills that can be either used towards completing an empirical project or conducting a systematic review.
This module provides students with practical application of Applied Research Methods. The general aim is to equip students with transferable skills that can be either used towards completing an empirical project or conducting a systematic review. There is no taught component in this module, except for 4 hours of tutorial sessions delivered on alternate weeks. These 4 sessions will be complementary to 5 tutorial sessions delivered in Semester 2 for Psychological Therapies:Paradigms and Systems and Psychological Therapies: applications and Effectiveness. The aim of these 4 tutorial sessions is to provide academic support for their completion of their Pilot study.
This module will provide a critical understanding of the intersection between culture and mental health within a global context. Students will be introduced to social science theories from disaplines such as anthropology and sociology which have been used to inform psychological and psychiatric understandings of mental illness and its treatment. Topics discussed will include the links between culture and mental processes, variations in the manifestation and interpretation of mental illness across cultures, challenges of assessment and treatment of mental illness within multicultural contexts and the impact of intersecting inequalities on the mental health of minority populations . Students will be encouraged to reflect on the impact of culture on both mental disorder and mental healthcare treatment at both local and global levels.
The module links theory to practice, providing an overview of culturally competent approaches to the assessment, treatment and prevention of mental illness in local and global contexts. Students are introduced to research evaluating cultural competency at different levels of service delivery including culturally adapted psychological therapies, culturally appropriate assessment tools, clinical and organizational strategies to improve accessibility of mental health services, cultural competency training frameworks as well as strategic approaches to equitable global mental health care. Students will have the opportunity to learn about the importance and effectiveness of these different approaches and how they are used to enhance and improve available psychological interventions and systems of service delivery to treat a range of mental illnesses across diverse populations. Students will be also submitting a reflective piece based on their work/clinical placement.
Assessment
- 67%% Modules
- 33%% Dissertation
Dissertation
We recommend you review existing literature, as original research is often delayed by Ethics Committee approval. However, outlying cases – such as part-time students or those using existing data – will be considered.
Previous dissertations have included:
- Exploring the impact of cultural contexts on emotional regulation in adults in the United States
- Perceptions of traditional healers and healthcare professionals towards collaborative mental healthcare in low and middle-income countries
Teaching
Each of your modules will consist of 12 weeks of teaching and assessment. As an online learning student, you’ll meet for half a day each week in an online group tutorial, facilitated by your tutor. Group tutorials will also cover problem-based learning (PBL), role-play, and other interactive exercises and discussions.
You’ll be able to access your class materials and lectures in an online learning environment.
To complete this programme, you’ll need a standard PC/Mac with access to broadband internet connection, headphones, a microphone and a webcam.
If you’re a part-time student, you'll take 75 taught credits in Year 1 and 45 taught credits plus your dissertation in Year 2. You'll be expected to undertake some preparatory work on your dissertation in Year 1 and in semester one of Year 2. This means you’ll have additional time and flexibility to conduct research or to pursue other work or commitments.
Where you'll learn
Facilities
- Access to Queen Mary’s dedicated online portal, QMplus
- Access to video and audio recordings of all lectures and other online resources (journals, books and databases)
- Online group tutorials for role play and interactive discussion
- Access to our campus facilities if you decide to visit at any point during your course
- Watch our video to discover online study at Queen Mary
About the Institute
Wolfson Institute of Population Health
This course is based at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, which delivers internationally recognised research and teaching in population health. The Wolfson Institute is a part of Queen Mary University of London’s faculty of medicine and dentistry.
The work of our researchers and educators has had a significant impact on lives across the world. We provide integrated teaching and training opportunities delivered by leaders in the field. By sharing knowledge and pushing the boundaries of research, we will continue to advance population health and preventive medicine on a global scale.
Queen Mary is a member of the Russell Group of leading research universities in the UK and the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry proudly holds an Athena Swan Gold Award in recognition of our commitment to gender equality.
Career paths
This programme is ideal if you want to:
- pursue a career in psychology or psychiatry
- work in an international setting or pursue research in cultural and global issues in mental health care.
The course has allowed students who were already practicing clinicians to develop their own practice with culturally diverse populations and to implement cultural competency programmes in their services.
Students who have completed this course have gone on to:
- pursue research doctorates in clinical psychology
- take on assistant psychologist roles within the NHS and third sector
- gain research assistant roles.
This programme doesn’t equip you to be registered as a psychotherapist in the UK: you’ll need additional advanced training for that. However, this course does prepare you for such training.
- 92% of Institute postgraduate taught graduates are in employment or further study 15 months after graduation (2020/21)
- 84% of Institute postgraduate taught graduates are in highly skilled work or graduate study (2020/21)
Fees and funding
Part-time study
September 2025 | 2 years
- Home: £6,150
- Overseas: £12,750
EU/EEA/Swiss students
Queen Mary alumni can get a £1000, 10% or 20% discount on their fees depending on the programme of study. Find out more about the Alumni Loyalty Award
Funding
There are a number of ways you can fund your postgraduate degree.
- Scholarships and bursaries
- Postgraduate loans (UK students)
- Country-specific scholarships for international students
Our Advice and Counselling service offers specialist support on financial issues, which you can access as soon as you apply for a place at Queen Mary. Before you apply, you can access our funding guides and advice on managing your money:
Entry requirements
UK
Degree requirements
A 2:2 or above at undergraduate level in Psychology, Medicine or a related discipline.
Find out more about how to apply for our postgraduate taught courses.
International
English language requirements
The English language requirements for our programmes are indicated by English bands, and therefore the specific test and score acceptable is based on the band assigned to the academic department within which your chosen course of study is administered. Note that for some academic departments there are programmes with non-standard English language requirements.
The English Language requirements for entry to postgraduate taught and research programmes in the Wolfson Institute falls within the following English band:
Band 4: IELTS (Academic) minimum score 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking
We accept a range of English tests and qualifications categorised in our English bands for you to demonstrate your level of English Language proficiency. See all accepted English tests that we deem equivalent to these IELTS scores.
Visas and immigration
Find out how to apply for a student visa.