Qualified with a renowned British Degree in Psychology at SLIIT
Day to day stress even without being aware of the meaning of stress, seep into our lives on a regular basis; as humans stressful situations in life are unavoidable.
What if you can learn about aspects related to stress and many other subjects which influence the mental well-being of an individual? Mental health, emotions, personality, sleep, stress, are some of the topics of discussion in today’s world. Even though we tend to see the above said terms many times a day in different platforms how many of us can explain the actual importance of mental stability?
We as humans tend to explore many aspects in our immediate external environment however, more often than not mental well-being is neglected and paid less attention.
SLIIT being the forerunner of visionary higher education has identified the need to provide an opportunity to be knowledgeable about importance of mental health via offering a degree programme in Psychology.
For many people, psychology is a “profession that understands or heals the mentally ill.” Maybe the word “therapist” comes to mind or you can get a picture of someone lying on the couch while the therapist asks, “Tell me more?” or “how are you?” These images, although legitimate, represent only two specialties in psychology: psychology of counselling and psychotherapy.
Did you know that psychologists prepare toys for children or they try to understand how we see colours? Did you know that psychologists are involved in drafting developing ways to manage stress, developing solutions to reduce substance abuse, exploring the complexity of the brain, researching about people’s minds and many other problems? Some psychologists are called “social or behavioural researchers”. Scientific psychologists study behaviour using research methods, including experiments.
Thousand reasons can be given why it is worth to study Psychology. However, there is one that sums them all up – it’s exciting! Few disciplines go beyond mere professional development and enrich individuals as people, allowing them s to grow and have a much broader vision of reality. Although it’s a challenging subject to study, it is an adventure that is definitely worthwhile.
“You are what you do, not what you say you will do” -C.G. Jung
The Bachelor’s Honours Degree in psychology offered by SLIIT School of Psychology can qualify you to either assist a psychologist in a mental health or correctional centre, become a research assistant, a psychology high school teacher and many more prospective career pathways in the job market.
The Honours degree in Psychology pathway which would equip the students mainly with 10 skills given below; while earning their undergraduate degrees, all of which make them highly desirable as they enter the job market. They can:
Predict and understand the behaviour of individuals and groups;
Understand how to use and interpret data
Evaluate the legitimacy of claims about behaviour
Know how memory and learning function
Have insight into problematic behaviors
Demonstrate the capacity to adapt to change
Understand and operate effectively throughout the channels of an organisation
Manage difficult situations and high stress environments
Start and carry out projects with limited information or experience
Show persistence in challenging circumstances
This is a formidable set of skills and you might wonder how the average graduate can carry these out so well. If you understand how the major works, the answer is not quite so mysterious.
Psychology is the science of behaviour, and psychologists learn how to predict, understand, explain, and control behavior. Though not professional psychologists, undergraduates are taught how to look carefully at behaviour and gain exposure to basic principles such as motivation, learning, thinking, sensation, and perception. The Psychology degree offered by SLIIT School of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences surveys the field and provides students with the background to develop their interest in the field, no matter which specific area in Psychology they want to pursue later in their careers.
With regard to understanding and using data, the basic statistics courses offered expose students not only to such topics as probability theory, but also the use of statistical software packages that only 15 or 20 years ago required considerable programming mastery. Students can now understand the reasoning behind the statistics that they in fact compute on their own. Students are required complete their own independent research projects (under the advising and supervision of a senior academic) and are also encouraged to participate in a lab to get hands-on experience. This gives them an appreciation not only for how research is carried out, but why research is needed to gain a scientific understanding of behavior.
The content areas in the undergraduate psychology programme build on these basic scientific skills. The standards that accredited undergraduate programs adhere to ensure that students complete requirements that give them exposure to the major substantive areas, from neuroscience to social psychology. Students also learn how to conduct their own independent library research.
They can choose from thousands of research articles made available to them via online databases which have become so sophisticated that within a few keystrokes, they can gain access to almost any article on almost any topic. Through required lab sections, students also learn the basic mechanics of collecting, analyzing, and writing up laboratory data.
Students will also learn about the informal and formal workings of organizations through courses in organizational and social psychology, and by becoming involved in the activities of their own schools and communities.
In terms of managing stress and learning persistence, psychology students may not be all that different from their fellow students in other faculties who must balance their academic obligations with other responsibilities at home and at work. However, psychology students have an edge over their peers because the content of their courses often directly addresses the problems they confront in their daily lives.
They are learning in the classroom about such topics as sleep deprivation, stress and coping, family relationships, health psychology and the scientific basis of addiction. Gaining mastery of the principles of memory, reinforcement, and behavior modification provides them with tools that they can use to manage their own academic and personal challenges.
Module related to developmental psychology, including the psychology of adolescence, help students learn about the development of their own identities.
Gaining insight into identity development helps these young adults learn strategies to test their own values, priorities, and goals. Focusing their attention inward on their feelings and beliefs are processes that these development and adjustment courses foster, particularly when the courses allow students time for discussion and reflection.
What about the claim that students of Psychology can start and execute projects with limited information or experience? Most undergraduates have limited information and experience.
However, students learn about the tools to cope with this situation because they learn about such organizational skills as time management and self-regulation. They also learn about motivation and managing emotions, which are two factors that contribute to the ability to get a job done even when the task is unclear at the outset.
At SLIIT Psychology teaching facilities include several computer laboratories running specialist software which allows students to design and implement their own psychological research, and analyze and interpret the data they collect.
At Honours level our students can access some of our superb specialist laboratory facilities, affording cutting edge techniques for the analysis of cognition and brain function, including electroencephalography (EEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and eye-tracking. With such expertise on hand combined with our state of the art research and teaching facilities, the School of Psychology provides students with an exciting, engaging environment in which to study.
The moral of the story is clear. Parents, guidance counselors, teachers, advisors and most importantly students; Call me biased, but it’s hard to imagine a field that is more intriguing and compelling; it’s also hard to imagine a field that gives you more valuable life skills.
D. Iresha Chamindi, Program Coordinator BSc ( Hons) Psychology – Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT