Clinical Psychology Courses

Clinical Psychology addresses a breadth of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. It is designed to integrate the science of Psychology with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of a wide variety of complicated human problems.

Clinical Psychology differs from Counseling Psychology in that it explores more serious mental health issues.

According to the American Psychological Association, Clinical Psychology is important to learn because it helps people live healthier lives. It’s a field that applies the research and science of behavior change to the problems their patients experience. It can make a huge difference in bettering these patients’ lives. ‎

While it’s true that jobs in Clinical Psychology require years of education and training, the payoff is huge when it comes to helping individuals in distress—and learners will have ample opportunities in various psychological fields. Some titles that can be earned in Clinical Psychology include Behavioral Health Psychologist, Child Psychologist, Clinical Case Manager, Clinical Psychology College Professor, Clinical Social Worker, Medical Psychologist, Mental Health Social Worker, Neuropsychologist, and other related roles.‎

Clinical Psychology courses offered through Coursera provide a comprehensive overview of the scientific study of thought and behavior. Concepts explored include how perception, communication, learning, memory, decision-making, persuasion, emotions, and social behavior develop in children, differ across people, are wired in the brain, and how they break down due to illness and injury.

Successful learners of Clinical Psychology are able to listen reflectively, differentiate benign, non-incapacitating psychological / behavioral crisis reactions from more severe, potentially incapacitating crisis reactions. Skills are gained in triaging crises, mitigating acute distress and dysfunction, recognizing when to facilitate further mental health support, and practicing self-care.‎

The skills or experiences you may need to already have before learning about clinical psychology include the ability to empathize, closely listen, and communicate well with others or work in roles that involve caring for clients or patients with physical or mental health disorders. If you have skills and experience from working in various settings, including hospitals and health care facilities, schools, social service environments, and related industries, you may already have the basic foundation you need to learn about clinical psychology.‎

The kind of person that is best suited to learn clinical psychology is interested in helping and supporting clients, patients, or colleagues to make positive changes in their lives. Anyone who wants to help people improve their mental health and well-being is well suited to learn about clinical psychology. It may be advisable for individuals who would like to understand substance use disorder treatment, prevention, screening, or diagnosis to learn about clinical psychology. People who are willing to research and question why others think and behave the way they do may be well suited to learn about clinical psychology. A person who is seeking to work in any of the helping or therapeutic fields with children or adults can find it beneficial to learn about clinical psychology. Also, someone who is interested in understanding medical neuroscience and how the central nervous system works concerning human behavior and cognition is likely ready to learn about clinical psychology.‎

Learning about clinical psychology may be right for you if you would like to provide psychological aid to others in a variety of settings. If you would like to enhance your reflective and active listening, needs assessment, and intervention skills, learning about clinical psychology may be beneficial to you. You may want to study clinical psychology if you have an interest in helping others during crisis interventions. If you work with a diverse group of individuals, you may want to learn about clinical psychology to understand the characteristics, behaviors, and learning processes of people within the autism spectrum, displaced individuals such as refugees, those with substance use disorders, or survivors of violence and other traumas. In addition, if you would like to study what major depression disorder is and how it may be a major global public health concern, learning about clinical psychology could be important for you.‎