Mental health courses

A mental health course covers key topics like mental health conditions and support strategies. You'll learn how to assess mental health, apply intervention techniques, and manage crises. Mental health degrees also touch on the social, biological, and psychological factors that influence mental health.

If you’re yet to start your career, an undergraduate course in counselling, social work, or psychology  can help to build your foundational knowledge. Alternatively, if you already work in a professional capacity and want to become a mental health specialist in your established career, you may instead choose to focus on an area such as:

• Counselling and mental health first aid

• Mental health nursing

• Mental health leadership

• Research and policy

• Forensic mental health

• Mental health for educators

While both mental health and psychology focus on understanding and supporting mental health, there is a difference between the two. Psychology courses dissect human behaviour, mental processes, and therapeutic techniques.

Meanwhile, mental health courses looks at providing support for mental health conditions. Study in both fields can be complementary, depending on your career goals.

For those who study mental health in person, many courses include practical components or placements to help you get hands-on experience. Mental health courses online are no different.

For example, Griffith University’s Master of Mental Health Practice allows you to complete a placement for experience working in the mental health field. These opportunities vary depending on the course, level of study, and university. Whether or not your desired course includes a practical component or placement will be listed on the course page.

Yes, mental health degrees online can be studied part-time, just like on-campus degrees. Many students find online study to be more flexible. It allows you to tailor your study schedule around work, family, and other commitments. 

Often, students who study mental health do so because they want to specialise within their existing career.

A qualification in this field can lead to a wide range of opportunities across industries. From mental health support to law enforcement, you could pursue opportunities in:

• Nursing

• Occupational therapy

• Community services

• Correctional health

• Counselling and psychology

• Social work

• Disability support services

• Youth work

• Law enforcement

• Teaching and education

Graduates can also explore roles in community services, healthcare settings, and non-profit organisations.   Still considering your options? Here are four areas in mental health where job opportunities are growing fast.

Before starting an enrolment, it’s important to read the entry requirements for your chosen course to ensure that you’re eligible to apply. If you don’t quite meet the requirements, we may be able to help you find a pathway into your course through open-entry subjects, which anyone can study.

Chat with us to find out more.

Here at Open Universities Australia, we make enrolling online as straightforward as possible. To get started, find the course for you by browsing the options on this page. You can also compare different qualifications using our handy comparison tool, or request help from one of our student advisors.

When you’ve made your choice, click ‘Apply now’ on the relevant course page and follow the prompts to begin your enrolment. We’ll ask you to supply some supporting documentation, including proof of your identity, your tax file number, and a unique student identifier (USI) during this process.

Your university will get in touch with you via email to confirm whether or not your application has been successful.

Please note that enquiries and applications for some courses are handled directly by the university. If this is the case, it will be indicated on the course listing page.  

For more information about enrolment, read our online self-service enrolling instructions. If you get stuck at any time, contact us and we’ll talk you through it.