Mental Skills and Mental Health in Sports and Exercise

Entry requirements

Entry to the programme will be based on the result of a written application with appropriate references (no interview required). Applicants require a minimum 2.2 Level 8 honours degree (NFQ or other internationally recognised equivalent) in the domain of sport science, psychology, sports coaching or sport management. RPL (Recognised Prior Learning) entry will be available for those without a related degree.

Months of entry

January

Course content

This MSc has more flexible entry requirements (e.g., RPL) than the existing MSc in Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology. This degree runs parallel to the existing programme which aligns to the Psychological Society of Ireland accreditation requirements. The purpose of this degree is to offer a pathway for those seeking to upskill on topic areas relating to mental skills and mental health in sport and the degree is not a qualification in psychology. It offers a grounding in research and application for those who seek further training to pursue roles that don’t explicitly require a qualification in psychology (e.g., sports coaching, sports management etc.).

The MSc. aims to:

• Provide a learner-focused and connected curriculum to enable students to develop their capacity to think critically and acquire a broad set of attributes as identified by the UL as knowledgeable, proactive, innovative, responsible, articulate and collaborative.
• Extend the traditional remit of sport psychology by focusing on performance restoration, resilience and mental health, rather than exclusively targeting performance enhancement.
• Enhance the understanding of mental health challenges in sport contexts using a positive psychology approach.
• Develop a multidisciplinary mode of graduate enquiry coupled with an ethical scientist-practitioner basis.