The psychology department will add a graduate-level degree and two new faculty members this fall with a new master’s program that will provide advanced training to students holding undergraduate degrees in psychology and allow other degree holders to earn a master’s in psychology, KIMEP University officials said.
“This program was founded for people, who already have a bachelor degree or even a bachelor and master’s degree in a completely different field,” said department chair Dr. Matthew Hall.
“For example, if you have a degree in economics or in law and want to pursue another degree to obtain fundamental knowledge in psychology, this program is open to you,” he said.
“It will help people to change their profession or to be familiar with psychology.”
The expansion in degree offerings also means the department will add more faculty, said Hall, who holds a PhD in social psychology from Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom.
Last year, there were three full-time faculty members in the department including Hall, Dr. Herman Grobler, and lecturer Tracy Darch-Hall. Two new faculty joined the the department this fall, Dr. Krishna Mohan and Dr. Kyle Msall.
Aini Bissengaliyeva, a psychology undergraduate, said she would like more professors in the department because that will increase the variety of classes.
Indeed, Hall said, the department plans on adding to the curriculum with the new faculty. The department wants to include at least one faculty member fluent in Russian and Kazakh because it intends to conduct more outreach programs in Kazakhstan as a way to talk about psychological needs in the community and promote KIMEP’s psychology department.
Developing strong public mental health plans has often been difficult because of the stigmatization surrounding mental health problems, according to the World Health Organization.
However, after the Covid-19 pandemic, mental health became a concern for many countries causing the stigmatization to wane.
In 2022, the World Health Organization stated Kazakhstan was moving in the right direction to undo how people view mental health problems.
The organization applauded the Ministry of Health for its work in establishing mental health centers and the government for passing laws that included mental health and updating its national health code.
But there still remains the need for more mental health professionals in Kazakhstan.
As the KIMEP program expands, Hall said opportunities will grow as well to address needs in Kazakhstan and provide students with the tools to succeed.
Check out the World Heath Organizations health data about Kazakhstan.