Ready to take your first steps into the world of psychology and counselling? This module introduces you to the fundamentals of these distinct but related disciplines. It explains how you can apply them to real-world problems – in contexts such as mental health, personal relationships, crime and education. You'll begin to think like a psychologist or counsellor – scrutinising evidence, interrogating data, and questioning how our brains interpret the world around us. Along the way, you'll explore research concepts and develop your communication and problem-solving skills, giving you a solid foundation for your future studies and career.
| Course facts | |
|---|---|
| About this course: | |
| Course code | D110 |
| Credits | 60 |
| OU Level | 1 |
| SCQF level | 7 |
| FHEQ level | 4 |
| Course work includes: | |
| 5 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| End-of-module assessment | |
| No residential school | |
You'll cover the core areas of psychology (social, cognitive, developmental, biological, individual differences), along with learning some basic principles of counselling and mental wellbeing. You'll also develop essential research skills, which will help you to understand and evaluate evidence – the foundation of any scientific subject. Importantly, you'll learn all of this in real-world contexts that reflect the research and practice that psychologists and counsellors do.
The module is organised into the following six blocks:
Block 1
This short introductory block will settle you in with some basic foundations, such as how psychology and counselling are related to each other and how they differ. You'll also learn how psychological knowledge can be used and abused, find out the truth about some psychology and counselling myths, and how studying psychology can help you to study.
Block 2
This is set within the context of an election with some contentious issues. You'll learn about persuasion, leadership, prejudice, discrimination, drugs and addiction, and social division.
Block 3
This is framed around seeking self-knowledge. You'll learn about personality theory, anxiety, mental health and wellbeing, positive psychology, and person-centred counselling.
Block 4
You'll explore the scenario of a new child in a family. You'll learn how children's minds develop, how they come to make sense of the world around them, how attachments form and affect people, and how families work not just as a group of related individuals but as a complex system.
Block 5
This takes you into the realm of crime, as you'll learn about aggression and violence, how witnesses to crimes remember them, how easy (or hard) it is for eyewitnesses to recognise suspects later on, and the emotional effects of crime on victims.
Block 6
The final block is based around environmental issues, using the context of climate protest. You'll learn about environmental psychology and why some people become activists while others engage in denial.
Throughout all of these, you'll also learn about a wide range of research concepts that will help you to understand where knowledge comes from and to evaluate claims and evidence. You'll also develop your skills in using academic information and communicating your knowledge in a variety of ways.
This module develops skills that are useful in a range of professional contexts, including critical evaluation of information, developing evidence-based arguments, and communicating knowledge in ways that are appropriate for a range of different purposes and audiences (e.g. essays, presentation slides).
This is an OU level 1 module. OU level 1 modules provide core subject knowledge and study skills needed for both higher education and distance learning to help you progress to OU level 2 study.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the module, please speak to an adviser.
You'll be provided with two textbooks and have access to a module website which includes:
You'll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They'll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. Where possible, we'll make recordings available. While they're not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate.
The assessment details for this module can be found in the facts box.
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone. The Accessibility Statement below outlines what studying this module involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
Approximately half of this module's study materials are online. Online materials are composed of pages of text with images; audio and video resources (all with transcripts and/or subtitles); diagrams; interactive media; and animations. Online materials also include links to external resources, online forums and online tutorial rooms.
The study materials contain a substantial number of diagrams, graphs and other images, for example to indicate brain areas associated with particular mental functions, or to represent data from research studies. Working with these is an important part of the study of this module. We provide descriptions for all essential figures.
This module has five tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) and an end-of-module assessment (EMA).
You'll receive feedback from your tutor on your submitted Tutor-Marked Assignments (TMAs). This will help you to reflect on your TMA performance. You should refer to it to help you prepare for your next assignment.
We structure all University modules to a set timetable and you'll need time-management skills to keep your studies on track. We'll support you in developing these skills.
Exploring psychological worlds: thinking, feeling, doing starts twice a year – in February and October. This page describes the module that will start in October 2025 and February 2026. We expect it to start for the last time in February 2033.
This course is expected to start for the last time in February 2033.