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Lasell University
Lasell University

School of Humanities, Education, Justice & Social Sciences

B.S. in Psychology

Psychology Students studying

Psychology Major at Lasell

The B.S. in Psychology degree program emphasizes how individuals think, feel, and behave within personal, social, cultural, and societal contexts.

Students learn intervention techniques and counseling skills appropriate for helping individuals. They learn how behavior patterns develop, and about the connection between an individuals' neurobiological, interpersonal, cultural, community, and societal processes. Research and statistics courses familiarize students with basic concepts in experimental design and analysis.

The program prepares students for employment in a wide variety of social service or therapeutic settings in administration, education, child welfare settings, research and human service agencies in positions such as a counselor, personnel interviewer, case manager, market researcher, test administrator, research assistant, or rehabilitation worker.

Students also pursue graduate programs in areas such as clinical or counseling psychology, school psychology, organizational psychology, social work, hospital administration, public health, and criminal justice.

Lasell also offers a Psychology minor.

Program Features

  • The Case Management & Counseling course provides first-year students the opportunity to learn first-hand how to assess, interview, and communicate with clients.
  • First-year students participate in at least one service-learning or social justice project.
  • During their first one-semester internship, students work in a community agency that provides services or a therapeutic environment for its clients.
  • A two-semester, senior year capstone experience provides an in-depth internship placement accompanied by concurrent related seminars.

What You'll Learn

From your first day, you’ll take courses in your major and advance towards graduation with a yearly plan. Not sure what classes to take? We’ll help you create the perfect plan. 

 

Learning Outcomes

    • Use psychological theories to explain human behavior on individual, small groups, and societal levels, and demonstrate knowledge of professional codes of ethics.
    • Professional and effectively interact with clients in social service settings.
    • Engage in action to raise awareness and advocate for change particularly in the areas of social justice that influence social and economic disparities.
    • Demonstrate aptitude with scientific reasoning, research methodology, statistics, and developing a substantiated argument.
    • Communicate in professional psychological writing style and be able to write a preliminary grant and deliver a professional presentation.

    For a complete list of courses and Learrning outcomes, view the Academic Catalog >>


    Accelerated Master's Program

    Save time and money — earn your graduate degree in just 1 year with the Accelerated Master's program. Learn more and how to apply >>

    Career Success

    Students in the Psychology degree program are prepared to seek employment in a wide variety of social service or therapeutic settings in administration, education, child welfare settings, research, and human service agencies. 

    Students are also prepared for graduate programs in areas such as clinical or counseling psychology, school psychology, organizational psychology, social work, hospital administration, public health, and criminal justice.

    Our students have interned with:

    • American Red Cross
    • Bournewood Psychiatric Hospital
    • Brandon Residential Treatment Center
    • Brookline Infant-Toddler Center
    • Charles River Center
    • Chetwynde Health and Rehabilitation Center
    • Germaine Lawrence School
    • Homes for Families
    • John Barry Boys & Girls Club
    • Lasell Village
    • March of Dimes
    • Massachusetts Department of Children & Families
    • Mass Department of Health & Human Services - Early Intervention Division
    • May InstituteMiddlesex Juvenile Court
    • Newton Public Schools
    • Riverside Community Care
    • The Second Step
    • US Autism & Asperger Association
    • Walker School

    Our alumni work for:

    • Boys and Girls Club
    • Harvard University
    • The Red Cross
    • New England Center for Children
    • VA Hospital

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Request more information about the Psychology major:

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    The Psychology Program allows me to combine my passions with my academics.

    Johanna Snyder '24

    Psychology

    Read more about Johanna
    Johanna Snyder profile

    HS101 - Human Services: Systems & Skills

    This course encourages an examination of one’s own value system, motivations and interests in relation to the wish to pursue a career working with people. Students are introduced to the history and development of the field: the concept of the social welfare system; resources and services offered by a range of community agencies; a model to understand social and psychological problems; and interventions to address social needs interventions range from individual case management and counseling to community organizing and planning. The course highlights a social justice basis for human service work. A 10-hour service learning requirement enables students to examine their interests and apply the concepts learned in class.

    HS210 - Case Management & Counseling

    This course introduces students to interviewing skills used by counselors and case managers and to the types of counselor responses that can be effective in human services work. Students learn to assess clients and interventions at the micro, meso and macro levels and explore issues of professional ethics and values. Students also examine cultural contexts as they impact the client, counselor, and client-counselor relationship. Some of the contexts may include race, class, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, and immigration status. The course relies heavily on in-class exercises. Prerequisites: PSYC 101, HS 101 with a C or better.

    HS215 - Foundation Internship

    This internship provides human service students the opportunity to experience field work. Training in the skills by which students can offer direct and indirect assistance to the client population is provided. Prerequisites: HS 210 with a grade of C or better; and permission of Internship Coordinator. Corequisite: HS 217.

    HS217 - Foundations of Ethical Fieldwork

    This seminar is taken concurrently with the Foundation Internship (HS 215). The seminar provides a forum for discussing common human service experiences, including pathways to professional careers and practice-related issues, and includes an introduction to ethical issues such as confidentiality and privacy in the context of an examination of ethical dilemmas. It also gives students an opportunity to build skills necessary to offer direct and indirect assistance to clients at internship sites. Students review professional and research literature in relation to a topic connected to the internship experience. This is a writing intensive course. Prerequisite: HS210 with a grade of C or better; and permission of the Internship Coordinator required. Co-requisite: HS 215.

    HS415 - Advanced Internship I

    Seniors who have met program requirements spend 125 hours in an approved supervised internship. Prerequisites: HS 215, HS 217, with a grade of C or better; and permission of the Internship Coordinator; Co-requisite: HS 417.

    HS417 - Field Intervention Strategies

    This seminar is taken concurrently with Advanced Internship I (HS 415). Students integrate theory learned throughout their college career with their fieldwork experience. The seminar further develops professional behaviors such as record keeping, creating and maintaining supervisory relationships, conflict resolution, and job effectiveness. Students are also offered an opportunity to analyze cases and tasks assigned to them in their field placements, providing a theoretical framework for understanding them. There is an intensive examination of the ethical considerations involved in working with clients. Students identify and develop a research topic and conduct an extensive review of current literature on a topic related to their internship. This is a writing intensive course. Prerequisites: HS 215, HS 217 with a grade of C or better, and permission of the Internship Coordinator; Co-requisite: HS 415.

    HS425 - Advanced Internship II

    This seminar is a continuation of HS 415. Students spend 125 hours working in an approved supervised field site. Prerequisite: HS 415 with a grade of C or better; Co-requisite: HS 427.

    HS427 - Systems & Organizational Change

    This capstone seminar is a continuation of Field Intervention Strategies (HS417) and is taken concurrently with Advanced Internship II (HS425). Building on knowledge and skills gained throughout the Social Sciences program, students continue to integrate theory with practice through seminar discussion and internship-related experiences. There is an increased focus on the delivery of services, examination of ethical dilemmas, and analysis of the broader systems in which services are delivered and policies are formulated. Students also have an opportunity to explore career development issues through examination of the graduate school and employment processes. This course has been designated as a writing intensive course and also has a strong public speaking component. Prerequisites: HS 415, HS 417 with a grade of C or better; and either PSYC 331 or SOC 331. Corequisite: HS 425.

    MATH208 - Statistics

    This is an introductory course in descriptive and inferential statistics. Topics include: data analysis, and graphical methods of describing data, measures of central tendency and variability, probability, the normal distribution, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, correlation, and regression analysis. Prerequisites: MATH 106 with a grade of C or better or demonstrated competency through placement testing and ENG 102.

    PSYC101 - Psychological Perspectives (KP)

    In this course, students learn to think like psychologists as they study classic and contemporary topics in human behavior, feeling, and thought. Students learn to apply psychological perspectives of thought, including biological, cognitive, sociocultural, humanistic, psychodynamic, and behaviorist, to better understand the human experience. Students will learn to use these perspectives to explore how individual behavior is influenced by and influences one’s biology, family, community and society. Topics may include human development, personality, psychopathology, human relationships, language, memory, perceptual processes, and intelligence, among others.

    PSYC220 - Social Psychology

    This is an introduction to the study of social interactions from a psychological perspective. Research reviewed focuses on topics such as: social perception, group interaction, attitude formation, attitudinal change, aggression, conflict, and pro-social behavior. Prerequisite: PSYC 101.

    PSYC318 - Abnormal Psychology

    This course examines the wide range of personality and behavioral disorders. Both traditional and contemporary theories of psychopathology are reviewed. Emphasis is also placed on the tools, techniques, and process of both the diagnosis and the treatment of various disorders. Prerequisite: PSYC 202 or PSYC 220.

    SOC101 - Sociological Imagination (KP)

    In this course we explore our awareness of the relationship between our experience and broader society. How are our lives shaped by our social positions in society – our social class, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and more? How do the members of different groups view each other and interact with each other? Why do inequalities exist and how do these affect us? How does culture shape our behavior, and why do religions, schools, families, and other institutions remain stable but also change over time?