MSc in Health and Counseling Psychology

• Our School is the only internationally recognized school in Macedonia
• Our School has excellent professors
• Our School employs the most advanced teaching philosophy
• The student/teacher ratio guarantees individual attention to every student.

• Marjan I. Bojadjiev, PhD– UACS Provost, Professor of Organizational and Consumer Behavior, former CEO in the finance industry
• Prof. Elizabeta Mukaetova Ladinska, PhD, Professor in Psychiatry of Old Age, Institute of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, UK 
• Evica Delova Jolevska, PhD – Adjunct Professor of Statistics, Director of Supervision and Licensing at the National Bank of Macedonia
• Venka Simovska, PhD – Visiting Professor of Educational Psychology, Aarhus University
• Prof. Ana Tomovska-Misoska, PhD – Professor of Social and Developmental Psychology, and Human Resources Management
• Prof. Ilijana Petrovska, PhD – Professor of Marketing Psychology
• Prof. Ivan Dodovski, PhD – Professor of Research Methodology, Dean of the School of Political Science
• Assoc. Prof. Venera Krliu-Handjiski, PhD – Vice Rector for Education, Associate Professor of Organizational Psychology
• Prof. Ljupcho Efremov, PhD – Assistant Professor of Psychology and Statistics
• Prof. Maja Korubin-Kjorluka, PhD – Assistant Professor of Personality Theories and Psychological Counseling
• Prof. Kate Trajkova, PhD – Assistant Professor of Management Psychology and Psychology of Communication
• Prof. Dimitrinka Jordanova Peshevska, PhD– Assistant Professor of Health and Counseling Psychology, Senior Consultant at the World Health Organization
• Prof. Emilija Georgievska, PhD– Visiting Assistant Professor of Health and Clinical Psychology, Saint Louis University in Madrid
• Blagica Rizoska-Vanikj, PhD – Professor of Practice in Cognitive Psychology, Counseling and Stress Management

By the end of the program students should be able to:

Gain knowledge and understanding of:  

• Psychosocial foundations of health, illness and disease;
• Theory and practice of counseling and therapy;
• Psychological processes of acute and long-term conditions and health care delivery;
• Applications of health psychology;
• Conceptualization and articulation of personal evolving model of couple and family therapy, children and adolescents counselling;
• Basic concepts relevant to the theory and practice of counseling and therapy from historical/foundational and postmodern perspectives;

Develop cognitive and specific skills:

• Evaluate evidence regarding the relationships between psychological factors, physiological and pathological factors and health, illness and disease;
• Evaluate research outcomes on the psychological correlates of health and illness behaviours;
• Analytical reasoning related to the complexity of the issues of health, illness, therapy and counselling
• Translation of psychotherapy process information into applied treatment directions and therapy goals in ways that are consistent with systemically oriented theoretical perspectives.
• Discuss in-depth issues in health psychology and counselling by drawing on relevant evidence;
• Comprehensively and critically evaluate research and theories in health psychology and counselling.

Develop practical skills:

• Plan, conduct and write-up research that addresses important and relevant applied health psychology issues;
• Design health-related interventions;
• Critically evaluate interventions or services;
• Make decisions about patients’ needs and welfare through evidence-based reasoning;
• Identify and apply clinical skills and interventions in counselling and psychotherapy;
• Take an ethical and reflective approach to their practice as a health psychologist.

Students gain knowledge and understanding through interactive lectures and workshops involving significant learner activity, which allows students to engage with the material and encourages a deeper approach to learning. Some of the learning methods anticipate active involvement, such as: case study, role play, problem solving, learning by doing, individual and team projects, and simulations.

Carrier opportunities in health psychology and counselling psychology are rapidly expanding. Areas of employment include:

• health promotion at the workplace, in community or public health;
• counselling in business, school or family environments;
• addiction counselling, including smoking cessation;
• stress management;
• management of chronic illness including pain, cardiovascular disease or HIV;
• research and teaching.

Consequently students may work in a variety of settings including the national health system, public health, private clinics, schools, non-governmental sector, international organizations, industry and academia, or pursue further postgraduate training or study.