20 Free Online Psychology Courses With Certificates

• Offered by: Yale University

This free psychology course uses a recording of a class taught at Yale in 2007. It covers introductory topics like personality, development, emotion, and cognition. Resources include the course recordings and the supplemental materials but not the official textbooks.

This course tries to answer the question of how men and women differ in nature, whether can apes learn sign language, and why can't we tickle ourselves and many others. You will learn concepts regarding perception, communication, learning, memory, decision-making, love, hunger, art, and dreams. You will also observe how these factors of mind develop in children and how they are different from other people.

• Offered by: Yale University

This free course addresses the psychology of food and eating, political and social aspects of food production and policy, and personal and societal barriers or supports for healthy eating. It includes malnutrition and obesity, eating disorders, and environmental and socioeconomic factors in food and eating. 

You will also learn about taste preferences, food as comfort and friendship, eating as a social ritual, and social norms of blame for food problems. You will also understand the impact of food advertising aimed at children's poverty and food and how their eating is affected by the modern environment. 

• Offered by: Wesleyan University via Coursera

If you ever wonder why people do what they do, this course offers some specific answers based on the latest research from socio-psychology. You will also receive free membership in the Socio Psychology Network.

This course offers a brief introduction to classic and contemporary social psychology, and topics such as decision-making, persuasion, group behavior, personal attraction, and factors promoting health and well-being. Your focus will be on surprising, entertaining, and intriguing research, that is easy to apply in daily life.

• Offered by: Opencourse Wave, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology

This course shows the scientific study of human nature, including how their minds work and how the brain supports the mind. The course includes the mental and neural bases of perception, emotion, learning memory, cognition, child development, personality, and social interaction.

You will understand how such knowledge relates to contradictory discussions on nature and nurture, free will, consciousness, human differences, and society. Throughout the course, you will get a full set of lecture videos by Prof. John Gabrieli, reading assignments, assorted MCQs, and rich online resource collections and exams with solution keys.

• Offered by: Coursera

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's course about positive psychology is the shorter free course available in Coursera. You should spend at least 11 hours to complete the course over three weeks.

The course is broken down into 6 modules covering the psychology of positive thinking, seeking happiness, and other topics related to positive and psychological well-being. It also features practical applications of this science that you can put to use immediately to help you live a meaningful life.

• Offered by: Alison

Domestic violence is common and many adults and children experience it in some ways in their lifetime. This course examines how to report abuse and explore the signs of abuse in a relationship. You will learn different types and what to do if you are suspicious of a child getting abused. 

You will also learn how to help adults and children affected by domestic violence and how to report an incident in confidence. This course will help you know why people stay in contact or remain in abusive relations. You will also understand the cycle of abuse and patterns of behavior. This course recaps who can be a sufferer and analyzes the victim's characteristics. 

• Offered by: Alison

Dementia is the loss of cognitive function and can develop at any age. It can be difficult for those affected by it and their loved ones. This course discusses the causes of dementia and how it affects cognitive function, regarding memory and the ability to use language. It also guides to manage their care and support those, who are suffering as a professional caregiver. 

You will learn the different types of dementia and the psychological processes associated with these diseases. You will also know the risk factors that influence its occurrence and shows how to prevent or delay its onset. 

• Offered by: University Of California Berkeley via edX

This course is the earlier and more popular free online psychological course with nearly huge number of learners enrolled. It focuses on amateurs rather than mental health professionals but remains relevant for those with experience in the field.

The duration for completing this course is estimated at 11 weeks, 4-5 hours per week, and is the longest course on this list. You will get to know about the positive psychology and explore the nature of the positive psychology. happiness, empathy, mindfulness, and other approaches that can improve mental well-being.

• Offered by: Coursera

This specialization primarily focuses on first and second-year undergraduates interested in psychology, data analysis, ethics in research, and quantitative research methods with high school professionals with similar interests. Also, your learning activities focus on knowledge applications to real-world scenarios and on critical thinking on problems.

Learners will develop knowledge about the fundamentals of research design for quantitative studies in psychology analysis of data and the ethical standards for conducting psychological research. At the end of every module, you should complete summative assessments, tracked and graded to assess your overall understanding. 

• Offered by: Alison

Autism is characterized by difficulties with repetitive behavior, social skills, speech, and nonverbal communication. This course will help increase autism awareness and explain how to support those on the autism spectrum.

This course explores the experiences of people on the autism spectrum by defining ASD and identifying its signs and symptoms. You will also learn the primary causes and types of autism and break down various approaches to help people and children with this disorder. You will learn how autistic children and adults communicate and provide some autism communication strategies. Also, you will learn about cognitive styles, functions, and challenging autistic behaviors and how to increase awareness.

• Offered by: Alison

Maintaining mental health is essential to people's well-being and affects their ability to function socially, emotionally, and psychologically. This free course provides the training needed to provide daily patient care and examines various mental disorders.

This course outlines the role of mental health support workers and identifies the characteristics and skills that they require to excel. You will also examine numerous mental health issues, including personality disorders, eating and sleeping, stress, and anxiety disorders, affecting children and adolescents.

• Offered by: Coursera 

This course will help you learn how the nervous system produces behavior, how we use our brains daily, and how neuroscience explains the common problems disturbing people today.

You will study the functional human neuroanatomy and neuronal communication, and then use this information to know how we perceive the outside world, our movements, stay alive, and get along with others. It also elaborates on the hearing process, voluntary movements, abstract function, perception, and vision of an individual.

• Offered by: Doane University via edX

The term Abnormal Psychology refers to the study of behaviors and mental illnesses that are unusual and atypical out of societal norm. It is the studied idea of various thoughts, behaviors, and emotions expressed. This course is a free online psychological course, that provides an overview of abnormal psychology within its framework of mental health.

You will also know how to use the DSM-5 to categorize psychological conditions and methods of treating behaviors. It also focuses on materials related to cultural and biological diversity factors.

• Offered by: Alison

This course will help you identify the mental health disorders peculiar to juveniles and young adults and study the symptoms self-care and clinical treatments to manage such disorders. This course related to child psychology discusses the developmental factors influencing the mental health of children and adolescents.

You will also learn the tools and processes used to assess mental health and will explore the ethical considerations taken when professionals work with children. This course explains how to create a supportive environment that promotes resilience in children and shows you how caregivers can build rapport with young people to identify cases early and administer appropriate treatment.

• Offered by: Alison

This child development course examines the crucial role of play therapy in helping them overcome emotional and behavioral challenges. This course will identify the major social and psychological problems that can appear during the critical preschool phase. 

You will learn how therapists and teachers can use play and games to help those in their care. The course will discuss the role of therapists in using games and play therapy as a toy to help children with the developmental issues. You will also understand the difference between play therapy and simple games. 

• Offered by: FutureLearn

This free online course brings together learners and practitioners interested in how the mind works. It aims to build bridges between traditionally antagonistic approaches to understand the mind. The course by FutureLearn also uses multidisciplinary and often completing disciplines to explore the mind and its nature.

By the end of the course, you will be able to explore scientific and philosophical concepts for understanding our minds. Also, it will discuss the four aspects of the mind and reflect on what it means to be a mind, why, and what it feels like to have a reason. The course will also appeal to practitioners, students, and researchers from several disciplines, whose work directly or indirectly looks at the mind and the brain.

• Offered by: Coursera

This course takes approximately six hours to complete. It includes an introduction to the concept and the principles of psychological first aid, understanding and using the RAPID model, and how to provide self-care, followed by a concluding segment. 

After the course completion, the learners will learn the key concepts related to PFA, prioritize psychological crisis reactions, practice self-care, and recognize when to facilitate access to further mental health support. It applies to public health settings, workplaces, and even the demands of more commonplace critical events. 

• Offered by: Alison

This course provides you information about the therapists and the health practitioners and how to encourage behavioral change through motivational interviewing. You will learn approaches to psychotherapy theories to assist people in changing their motivations.

It guides them the fundamentals of motivational interviewing regarding its principles, approaches, and its history. You will learn how to encourage behavioral change in patients by assisting them in exploring and resolving their ambivalence about the change. You will also learn about change stages and motivational interviewing theories in various health settings.

• Offered by: Alison

The mental capacity assessment helps to determine the person's ability to make a specific decision. It is for caregivers and mental health practitioners how to assess mental capacity. The course begins with the concept of mental capacity and then the code of practice and the five core principles used to gauge mental capacity. 

You will learn to identify the signs that a mental capacity assessment may be required and explain how to implement it daily. The course advises making an assessment and demonstrating how to conduct tests, followed by the process of challenging the result. You will also learn how to make best-interest decisions and handle disagreements. 

• Offered by: Alison

This psychology course examines suicidal behavior as a world health problem and explores the impact it has on the families and friends of those at risk. You will also learn to identify the vulnerabilities and the warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide. This course helps to outline preventative steps and measures to lower the risk of suicide. 

This course also explains how to support individuals and prevent and respond to suicidal behavior and raise awareness of suicidal prevention methods to help you respond in various deadly situations. You will learn the importance of seeking support and practicing self-care to maintain mental health.