Bachelor of Science (BSc) Psychology

The IPU understands the human being as a biological, social and cultural shaped. During your studies, you will learn to understand the individual by considering the background of personal history and the influence of the unconscious. How people develop in social and societal contexts, how they shape their environment and how a beneficial relationship bond can be created with psychological means - these are central components of the teachings in the Bachelor PsychologyPLUSprogram.

As a graduate of this program, you are particularly well prepared for further study and training opportunities. You will receive additional qualifications in the field of psychodynamic intervention and specialized psychological English.

By studying at the IPU, you are choosing a first-class university with, particularly good supervision by professors, lecturers and the staff of the Students Office and the International Office.

From the very beginning, great emphasis is put on combining studies with practice and research. The focus is on psychoanalytically founded psychology. Many of the lecturers are themselves psychotherapists or psychoanalysts and impart their knowledge from the basis of years of experience. The IPU is located in the middle of Berlin, yet in a green setting, directly on the river Spree.

At the IPU, we are not only looking back on a rich past, but also have a keen eye on the future: Since the impending reform of the psychotherapy law will have great impact on the formal and academic aspects of the Bachelor’ degree, we are continuously following this development and, once the new licensing regulations are in place, will create corresponding transition possibilities in this newly developed degree program, which is expected to start nationwide for the first time in the 2020/21 winter term. The new curriculum will be designed to meet the criteria for a degree in Psychotherapy Studies, a combined Bachelor’s and Master’s program, at the end of which the students will receive a license for psychotherapeutic praxis.

The PLUS in the IPU Bachelor's Program

The IPU Bachelor’s PsychologyPLUS offers a free and certified specialization in psychodynamic counseling techniques.

The IPU Bachelor’s PsychologyPLUS offers a free and certified specialization in psychodynamic counseling techniques.

In addition to the basic course contents of the Bachelor's program, you can:

• acquire a certificate in Psychodynamic Conversational Leadership, which is awarded when you complete a block week of supervised training in combination with qualified modules from the regular curriculum.
• take an English course in which a qualified native speaker teaches psychological and psychoanalytical specialized English.

The certificate "Psychodynamic Conversational Leadership" and the acquisition of subject-specific English skills are extracurricular modules, which can be taken free of charge and which may give an edge to your applications and career prospects after you finish your Bachelor's degree.

International Exchange Programs

Through the International Office, the IPU is connected to numerous universities in Europe and around the world. All registered students can spend an internship or an entire semester at one of these partner universities abroad. The recognition of credit points achieved in the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is already contractually regulated.

The Bachelor of Science PsychologyPLUS is designed as six semesters of full-time study with 180 credit points. Its curriculum covers the classic psychological basics, such as general psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, differential psychology, empirical methods, and biopsychology.

Experience shows that most psychology students start out with the desire to work within the field of counseling and psychotherapy. The subject areas related to clinical psychology - differential psychology, diagnostics as well as theory and methods of psychological intervention - form a focal point of the curriculum from the first semester onwards and are deepened in higher semesters.

At the heart of our Bachelor's Degree in Psychology is the integration of the humanities and psychoanalytical psychology with the natural sciences and academic psychology. With this Bachelor's degree, we at the IPU offer a practice-focused and strongly research-oriented course of study that reflects both the humanities and natural sciences in researching the psyche and prepares you optimally for the future, your training as a psychotherapist and all the legal changes that surround the field at the moment.

As a graduate of the Bachelor of Science, you will be able to work competently and autonomously in the varied fields of applied psychology. You will be able to critically evaluate and apply scientific research results. Many counseling centers like to work with psychology graduates, e.g. in the field of addiction, at schools or in humanitarian aid.

We guarantee every graduate of the Bachelor's program a place in the Master's program in Psychology at the IPU. The completed Master's degree is a prerequisite for training as a psychological psychotherapist according to current laws and regulations.