Accelerated Psychology Degree Online

The accelerated degree program online prepares you to earn a degree either in any one of these; bachelor of art in psychology, master of art in psychology or bachelor in counseling. Just like the counterpart—on-campus programs, this program has been designed online to train you with an in-depth understanding of human behavior. The courses are taught one or two at an accelerated manner rather than the normal full-time semester approach. Depending on the program, some are taught fully online while some will require your presence.

Details you should know about the accelerated degree program online

These types of psychology programs do not prepare you for licensure and they are taught by private and Christian colleges. This means the programs are designed to prepare you to work in Christian ministry or another area of life where the in-depth knowledge of human behavior will be useful. Such knowledge could be useful at public administrations, public relations, education or health care, and social services.
What are the Course topics

The courses are taken based on the focus and the level of your degree. This is the list of the courses:

• Abnormal psychology
• Psychology of learning
• Research methods
• Physiological psychology
• Statistics for the behavioral and social sciences
• Adult development and life assessment
• Social psychology
• Theories of personality

Short Description of the Courses

Accelerated psychology degree online: the course is a 3 credit program and involves adult development theory and merges the theoretical concept of life and learning through a process of psychometric assessment and reflection. In this course, the classical and contemporary adult development theory will be observed. It will train you on how to analyze yourself and life learning. It will also train you to plan for personal, academic and professional learning.

Psychology of learning: this focuses on a range of topics related to the approach of learning by people in their environment. This suggests that behavior is as a result of the learning process. Psychologists have described learning as a “relative permanent change in behavior as a result of experience”.

Research methods: these vary depending on the type of information obtained. It involves a naturalistic examination, case studies, surveys, laboratory observation all of which are known as a descriptive research method. If you apply this type of research method, you will be able to describe various events, behavior, experiences, also check the relationship between then and then come up with strategies to solve the problem that may be examined during the observations.

Abnormal psychology: this involves the study of human behavior that is not normal as expected. A behavior is said to be abnormal on the statistic influence graph if the rare statistics is unusual. For instance, if a person violates the social normal after the rules and regulations for a person to live normally in such society has been clearly stated. We can say, such person is abnormal in his behavior. This signifies that your behavior must be acceptable in society. A person’s behavior should not be a treat to others. This course will teach you how to examine a person with abnormal behavior so that you can strategies a means to provide a solution for it.

Physiological psychology: this is classified as a subdivision of behavioral neuroscience i.e. biological psychology that deals with the study of the neural mechanisms of perception, and behavior through the direct manipulation of the brain of nonhuman animal objects in control environments—according to Wikipedia. It is a field of psychology that takes an empirical and practical approach during the study of human behavior and the brain. The course also diverts to the extent of teaching to believe that the mind is also part of the nervous system, therefore, if you study and gain knowledge about the mechanisms of the nervous system, you will be able to understand shocking facts about the human behavior.

Social psychology: this topic is designed scientifically to study how a person or group of people thoughts, feelings and behavior are affected by their interaction in actual, imagination and the implication of their interaction with others.

Universities that Offer the Main Course

Colorado Christian University
BS in Psychology

The major coursework that is associated with this accelerated program can be finished in four semesters. Note that the classes are taken in 5-week blocks through which students will take one course at a time at convenience. As a Graduate, you are prepared to seek admission into the same college’s Master of Arts in a counseling program. You will be allowed to apply up to 31 credits which will be based on life or learning practices that point at the Bachelor of Science degree. You are lucky because the courses will be taught by professors who are also professionals in their field.

The curriculum designed for the 120-credit hour program that will be offered online is, biblical studies and coursework in communication, general education. The course has 36-unit core sequence of psychology and they are interpersonal relationships, research methodology, and environmental psychology and so on. There are also 33 hours of elective courses for you to take.

Le Tourneau University
MA in Psychology

This is a dynamic curriculum course that consists of 35 credit hours of required and elective coursework, including internship and fieldwork. If you are aiming to work in a Christian based ministry, this course is designed for you. Although, the way the school is set, does not lead to your acquiring licensure as a psychologist or mental health professional. These are the courses under this program for you to decide: topics that involve counseling skills, group counseling, family assessment, and lifespan development. You can also take elective courses from the areas in relation to psychology, business and Bible studies.
It has been made available to acquire an online bachelor’s or master’s degree in psychology using this type of platform—that is, accelerated pace, however, note these programs are specifically designed for students that aim at combining both the study of psychology and Christian ministry.

Mid-Continent University
BS in Psychology & Counseling

If you study this course at this university, you will be granted access to observe their course materials. The school designed the classes in such a way that you will take two classes at a time in ten-week blocks as a student, while you attend the program as an online student community. In 20 months you will have completed the major coursework. One other advantage of schooling here is that you will have direct access to professors who will take a Christian worldview, personality theory, abnormal psychology, marriage and family, quantitative methods and psychology of religion, and general education courses.

Characteristics of a Counselor or Psychologist

Professional counselors are those that have received their licensure in the field of psychology known as mental health therapy and they provide assessment, carry out tests then and counsel about the various challenge of life which could be due to stresses and psychological issues. They are expert at helping people in their relationship problems, family issues, job stress, mental health disorders which may be due to depression and fear, and many other problems that can bring feelings of wellness and satisfaction. Counselors are expected to enjoy helping people with problems and should possess specific characteristics and skills. A professional psychologist or counselor should possess these characteristic as mentioned below. You need to take note of them so that they will be built along in your mind as you study for your course of a career.

Communication Skills

As a professional counselor, you are expected to possess brilliant communication skills. You can develop some of these skills during the course of your study at graduate school and then nurtured over the course of your career, you should already have developed some specific communication skills before you start on a counseling career. You should have that natural ability to listen and then provide a strategic solution to your clients’ problems.

Empathy

You must be able to help individual or group through some of the most difficult and stressful times of their lives. You empathy skill must be strong so that you can feel pain as others feel it. this is when you will be more serious about helping them. Your deep concern about others will accelerate the speed at which you are going to help them as quickly as necessary. So, for this reason, you must have empathy for others as a counselor.

Problem Solving Skills

If you must become a counselor or psychologist, you must possess problem-solving skills in order to provide a solution to people’s psychological problems. You must learn how to observe human behavior so as to arrive at a strategic solution to curb their issues. This has to be possessed by you so that you can help patients identify their problems and then provide treatment to remove the negative thought they have about themselves or the environment.

Rapport Building Skills

You must be very good at interpersonal skills in order to set up a conversation and rapport quickly with patients and develop strong closeness. You must be able to build a strong decorum of attention so that your clients will trust you and the skills you possess. While you are in session with your client, ensure that you give them all your attention, don’t allow your own personal problem to disrupt the therapy.

Flexibility

Flexibility in counseling is termed as the skill to familiarize yourself and alter the way you react to meet the complaint of your clients. You must be able to identify when a client needs a different approach to the treatment of his or her psychological problem. If you possess this feature as a counselor, it is very important as it will always aid at solving various problems for people. This means you will be able to adjust to any situation that may arise during the course of your examination on your patient. This skill will help you understand your client better and will guide you to know when a family member or teacher or a professional should come in during the session with your patient.

Self-Awareness

You need to possess the skill to look within yourself in order to discover your psychological problems, tackle them so that they will not form conflict with that of your clients during a session or more. If you are a counselor, it means you are there to help people in all walks of life. Therefore, you must be psychologically or mentally sound.

Multicultural Ability

Since your job is to help people solve their problems in all walks of life, it is highly compulsory that you should possess multicultural competence and then train yourself to interact in a multicultural world. This means no matter who your client is, you must learn how to understand him or her regardless of the background, such as the race, ethnicity, religious background and or political belief or socioeconomic interest.

Job-Related to the Field of Psychology

At the end of each program under psychology, it is good to secure a job. The jobs are usually in relation to the psychology itself which you can secure either at private agencies, schools, hospitals, and government agencies. Here are some jobs related to your course of study, note that some of them are directly related to your career:

• Counseling psychologist
• Clinical psychologist
• High-intensity therapist
• Further education teacher
• Forensic psychologist
• Educational psychologist
• Sport and exercise psychologist
• Occupational psychologist
• Health psychologist
• Psychological wellbeing practitioner

Your degree could also be useful for these jobs:

• Counselor
• Detective
• Human resources officer
• Mediator
• Play therapist
• Policy officer
• Psychotherapist
• Advice worker
• Market researcher
• Chaplain
• Education consultant
• Careers adviser
• Life coach

However, understand that your job opportunities do not end above, there are many employers that will accept your degree regardless of the field just for you to work for them since you possess the skill they need. You may be a psychologist graduate while an engineering company may need you to work for them as a counselor.

With this information, you should be able to understand the basic ideas you need to become a good psychologist or counselor.