OU Psychology how much time per week?

minddoodle

can anyone help me with my dilemma?

I am thinking about studying psychology with OU (the conversion course), but I want to be clear about the commitment involved.

I went back to college a few years ago and studied psychotherapy part-time. I am qualified now and working towards accredditation part-time (I have work full time in a semi related field). So I have no problem juggling part-time study with full time work. However that was with spending approximately 4 hours per week on actual studying by myself. In the psychotherapy course we had to go to college one weekend per month which was intense and tiring, but time effcient for working people. Many of my colleagues at the course would spend a lot more than 4 hours per week on study, but I managed on less, and did well.

I have heard that OU means approximately 16 hours per week of study which seems to be a bit much for me right now.

I am just wondering if its like my last course, where even though they SAY its 16 hours, someone who is used to studying could manage it in less.

But i dont want to take on too much, so if the committment is really that much then i am happy to let it go and concentrate on getting accreddited as a counsellor/psychotherapist.

I suppose I am a little concerned about realistic career prospects for psychotherpists. I friend of mine from the course, had a psychology degree before he started the course. and now he is hired as a psychologist working in a counselling service. Just because he had the psychology degree he was lucky enough to get a job with a starting salary of 52000. (thats a fantasy salary for the majority of counsellors/psychotherapists).

If anyone can give me any advice I would be very grateful

Gibs

OU is very demanding from what I understand, and would require considerably more than 4 hours per week if you wanted to do it in a reasonable time frame, but it is modular so perhaps you could try out a course or two and see how you go? If it doesn't fit with your schedule then there wouldn't be that much lost.

I would ask yourself why are you doing the OU course? Is it because you are interested in the subject matter for its own sake or are you just viewing it purely as a means to an end and a 52,000 euro salary? I would suggest that it might be difficult to maintain your interest over a period of several years if you only see it as a catalyst for employment prospects. I know a few people who have done an OU psych degree and they have all been surprised by the amount of time and effort it has taken to complete, particularly because of the need for self-directed study over a long period of time. The message seems to be that it's not necessarily extremely difficult, but it's just that there is so much stuff to get through and learn that it is quite time-consuming. Perhaps if counselling and psychotherapy is your main interest, then you might be better to focus on improving your skills and experience in a more direct way and do other courses in those areas rather than studying more the general aspects of psychology that make up a psychology undergrad degree?

As for your friend's good fortune, it seems likely that things will be starting to tighten up considerably over the next few years now that statutory registration is becoming a reality. It is probably going to get harder and harder for people to gain mainstream employment unless they have qualifications that fit within the criteria outlined in the statutory registration legislation. Check out the PSI website for more info. Best of luck with your career, whatever you decide.

minddoodle

thank you very much for your advice, it has been extremely helpful.

Surion

Hi there - I'm on final year of 5 year study with OU, I will quality 2007 (I hope dear God) with BSC Psych (Open). It has been a VERY long 4 years up until now. It has been incredibly hard at times, and moderate at others - so on a scale of 1 - 5 of how hard I though it was, I would say a VERY easy 4 and sometimes 4.5!

But, I could have made some things easier on myself, by not leaving things to the last minute! But the conversion Dip is about 180 points with OU? Which equals 2/3 years study (assuming you will only take 1 60 point course per annum). One thing is definate, you will require far more than 4 hours pw. a lot more, because the continuous assessment bit keeps you on your toes, running!!

But that said, it is a wonderful degree in hindsight! I fully recommend it but as they say terms and conditions do apply!

Enjoy!!!!