Master of Science in Psychology with a concentration in Mental Health Online

Examine how different backgrounds, abilities, and motivations as well as psychoactive drugs shape the psychology of individuals and society.

Apply by: 5/4/25 Apply Now
Start class: 5/5/25 Apply Now

Program Overview

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Discover our online M.S. in Psychology – Mental Health program

Gain valuable insight into human behavior and how it is shaped by life experiences ranging from everyday workplace relations to traumatic events in our 100% online Master of Science in Psychology with a concentration in Mental Health. In this mental health psychology master’s program, you will develop an advanced understanding of how addiction, trauma, and stress present challenges to people of all backgrounds.

Our supportive faculty works closely with you and provides quality, individualized feedback. Serve your community and apply what you learn through a hands-on, faculty-guided capstone project that addresses the needs of a nonprofit organization. You can use this online psychology master's degree as a pathway to continue into a doctoral program.

Career opportunities:

  • Postsecondary Instructor
  • Case Manager
  • Children’s Division Worker
Career opportunities:+
  • Postsecondary Instructor
  • Case Manager
  • Children’s Division Worker
$21,600 Total Tuition
12 months Duration
36* Credit Hours

Personalized learning experience

You will receive a personalized learning experience online. Faculty regularly engages in value-added comments and feedback providing the same level of instruction as if you were in person.

Apply Now

Need More Information?

Call 888-941-1120

Call 888-941-1120

Tuition

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Tuition is affordable for our mental health online master’s degree

The online M.S. in Psychology – Mental Health program tuition is the same, affordable, pay-by-the-course rate for all U.S. residents. Fees are included in the total tuition, and financial aid may be available. Choosing Avila University means choosing a top 10 affordable online master's program, according to Forbes (2024).

View additional tuition information+

Program Per Credit Hour Per Course Total Tution
MSP – Mental Health $600 $1,800 $21,600

Tuition breakdown:

$600 Per Credit Hour
$21,600 Total Tution

Calendar

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Find the start date that works for you

Ideal for working professionals, the M.S. in Psychology – Mental Health online program features 8-week courses and multiple start dates each year so you can begin at the time that works best for you. View the full calendar for all upcoming starts and corresponding deadlines.

View full calendar  + 

TermStart DateApp DeadlineDocument DeadlineRegistration DeadlineTuition DeadlineClass End DateTerm Length
Spring 2 20253/3/252/26/252/26/252/28/253/3/255/4/258 weeks
Summer 1 20255/5/255/4/255/4/255/6/255/5/256/21/258 weeks
Summer 2 20256/30/256/29/256/29/257/1/256/30/258/23/258 weeks
Fall 1 20258/25/258/24/258/24/258/26/258/25/2510/18/258 weeks
Fall 2 202510/20/2510/19/2510/19/2510/21/2510/20/2512/13/258 weeks

Now enrolling:

5/4/25 Apply Date
5/5/25 Class Starts

Ready to take the next steps toward earning your degree?

Apply Now

Admissions

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Application is quick and simple

We’ve simplified the admission process to help you get started quickly and easily. You can find all requirements for admission to the Avila mental health master’s degree online below.**

Admission Requirements:

  • No GRE required
  • Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution**
  • Minimum 2.5 GPA
View all admission requirements +

In order to be eligible to receive a psychology master’s degree from Avila University, you must have the following:

  • Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution
  • GPA requirements for unconditional admission: 2.75 cumulative grade point average at the completion of the undergraduate degree
  • GPA requirements for conditional admission: 2.5 cumulative grade point average at the completion of the undergraduate degree
    • Students admitted provisionally must achieve a 3.0 GPA on the first nine (9) credits in their program of study
  • Official transcripts from all institutions previously attended

Submit all official transcripts to:
Email: [email protected]
Mail: Avila University
11901 Wornall Road
Kansas City, MO 64145

**Undergraduate degree in psychology not required, but some students may need a leveling course if they have not had courses in developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, abnormal psychology, and social psychology.

Courses

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Browse our online mental health psychology master’s curriculum

In order to earn the M.S. Psychology – Mental Health online degree, you will complete 12 courses for a total of 36 credit hours. Students who are provisionally admitted or do not have a bachelor’s degree related to psychology will need to complete an additional leveling course (3 credit hours).

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This course is only required if a student is provisionally admitted or if they do not have a bachelors degree related to psychology.
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the major areas of psychology. As a research-oriented, applications-relevant approach to the discipline, it will also promote the critical, receptive, and expressive communication and thinking skills that define a Master’s-level candidate. This course cannot be used to satisfy the requirements in graduate Psychology and Counseling Psychology programs.
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course provides an overview of cognitive processes such as attention, language, memory, and decision making.
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
In this course, students will learn what differentiates scientific from nonscientific approaches to psychology, how different research designs can be strategically and ethically employed to provide an understanding of behavior and mental processes, and how descriptive and inferential statistics are used and interpreted in psychology. We will also cover how to read and understand articles from the peer-reviewed literature, how to critique research and spurious claims, and what type of support is necessary for different sorts of claims. Finally, students will gain an understanding of how data and statistical analysis can be used in practical applications.
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Students in this course will extend their knowledge base from PY 617 by learning to employ statistical tests for appropriate research designs. The focus of this course will be depth of understanding of basic research designs in psychology as well as the appropriate statistical analyses that accompany those designs. Additionally, students will learn how to enter, manage, display, and analyze data in SPSS and report results from statistical tests in APA style. Prerequisite: PY 617 in the preceding semester or by permission.
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course focuses on the study of physical, cognitive, social, personality, brain, and emotional development across the lifespan. The role of the environment and special issues also will be included.
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course explores the relationship between biology and human experience. Topics include the organization and development of the nervous system, genetics, memory, consciousness, perception, movement, and emotion.
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course explores social cognitive processes, personal relationships, and interpersonal processes. In addition, the course examines professional considerations of multiculturalism and diversity, including gender, age, race, ethnicity, physical ability, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status.
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course provides students an opportunity to address the needs of the community through service and the application of psychological science to design a community project. This is a two-sequence course. This course introduces students to models of service, approaches to consultation, strategic planning, and project design. A major goal of the course is for students to identify a nonprofit organization they will work with in the design of a project that helps advance its mission, which will be implemented the following semester in Community Project II. Prerequisite/Corequisite: 12 hours of graduate psychology courses. FA.
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This is the second of a two-sequenced course designed to provide students an opportunity to address the needs of the community through service and the application of psychological science. Students receive training in project development, implementation, and management, and use these skills with their discipline-specific knowledge to work in collaboration with local nonprofit organizations to implement a project designed the previous semester that helps to advance the organization’s mission, addresses a community issue, and/or serves an underrepresented group. Prerequisite: PY 687
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course compares and contrasts the major themes of personality development. Constructs from the psychoanalytic, cognitive, behavioral, biological, sociocultural, and humanistic movements will be employed to analyze individuals’ adjustments from birth through adulthood.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Master a strong foundational knowledge base regarding the key ideas, people, concepts, facts, principles, methodologies, perspectives, theories, philosophies, findings, and trends in contemporary personality psychology
  • Develop a psychologist’s mindset and cognitive discipline regarding the application of personality psychological research in everyday life
  • Hone their social and cultural intelligence skills, demonstrating an understanding of diversity and individual differences
  • Discover, articulate and enact the qualities that make for strong team building and teamwork
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course provides an overview of the major psychoactive drugs (illicit and prescription) and their effects on psychology, physiology, and society. Emphasis will be placed on the pharmacological treatment of mental disorders as well as current policies and controversies for all classes of drugs. Prerequisites: PY 650.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understand and evaluate the danger (physical, psychological, and societal) of psychoactive drugs
  • Understand the mechanisms of drug action in the brain and body
  • Understand the complicated relationship between the brain, behavior, and drug use/abuse
  • Understand the behavioral mechanisms associated with drug use and abuse
  • Discuss policies and societal approaches to drug use and treatment
  • Scholarship: thorough grounding in psychological theory and foundations, application of knowledge and practice, understanding of assessment instructions, and the ability to write in a scholarly manner and demonstrate critical thinking
  • Professional Behavior: This outcome relates to the ability to comport oneself professionally at all times, including the ability to maintain appropriate boundaries, to give and accept feedback, and to analyze one’s own needs, values, strengths, weaknesses, feelings and motivations. It also involves behaving in accordance with academic and professional ethical standards
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course will prepare the student to understand the dynamics involved in the stress response, fight or flight, and trauma. Specific areas of focus will be the impact that stress and trauma have on the brain, different types of traumatic experiences, and effective interventions.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Gain familiarity with the stress response, dynamics and brain regions involved in traumatic stress response
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course focuses on the current paradigms used to understand behavioral and mental disorders and dysfunctions, including the etiology and social implications of mental disorder. Treatment modalities considered most effective in the treatment disorders will be explored. This is a theory-to-practice course taught using a multicultural perspective.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Gain an improved understanding of the different types of traumatic experiences and effective interventions

Graduate faster with our Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)

Credit for prior learning recognizes your previous accomplishments, reducing your total cost and time to graduation. You may be closer to graduation than you think.

*Students may need a leveling course if they have not had courses in developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, abnormal psychology, and social psychology, increasing the total program credit hours to 39 and total tuition to $23,400.


If you are interested in becoming a licensed professional counselor, you will need to enroll in the Master of Science in Counseling Psychology program.

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