Health and Social Wellbeing
Flexible Delivery
A hybrid approach enables flexibility to study either online or on campus, combining self-directed study with teacher-led workshops, tutorials and interactive sessions.
Study at your own pace
Full-time and part-time study options available to all students.
FEE-HELP & Scholarships
Master of Arts
(Health and Social Wellbeing)
Graduate Diploma
in Health and Social Wellbeing
Graduate Certificate
in Health and Social Wellbeing
Unlike traditional health degrees, Nan Tien’s Health and Social Wellbeing courses focus on mindful and compassionate care, and on ‘caring for the carer’. These courses facilitate the deep personal and professional transformation of individuals and communities, empowering graduates to offer service in a way that is skillful, sustainable, and responsive.
Over the last five years, Nan Tien’s Health and Social Wellbeing program has been at the leading edge of combining science and the wisdom traditions, providing graduates with the skills to radically transform suffering on a personal, societal and global level.
Informed by the latest science on resilience, self-awareness and wellbeing, our teaching staff include psychiatrists, medical specialists, senior nurse practitioners and therapists at the forefront of their field. Such experts share knowledge arising out of decades of personal experience in applying the insights of the contemplative traditions within healthcare settings.
Buddhism has recently gained scientific recognition in the West as an ancient tradition that has the potential to equip individuals with techniques, practices, and ways of thinking and being that promote greater resilience, creativity, and the capacity to tend to suffer sustainably.
At the same time, a contemporary paradigm shift has emerged in the health and wellness movement that places compassion for self and others at the centre of caring for others and the world. The HSW courses draw on both of these trends, providing graduates with a comprehensive understanding of the ways compassion and mindfulness are currently being conceptualised and applied in health. They also provide the experiential training needed to foster a strong and life-long practice in self-compassion, self-reflection, and mindfulness.
Explore Health and Social Wellbeing Subjects
Below is a list of all the subjects available for Health and Social Wellbeing (HSW) enrolments. Access to specific subject requirements will vary depending on the course chosen (i.e. Masters, Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate). Please refer to information about specific courses for details on core and elective subject schedules.
HSW801
Mind-Body Wellness
This subject examines wellness within both personal and professional contexts, exploring the psychological, emotional, physical, social, and environmental factors that contribute to, or work against, the health and wellbeing of individuals, groups, and societies. Students will critically examine mind-body wellness research, considering its validity, limitations, and potential applications and methods to encourage positive work culture and societal wellbeing.
HSW902
Nutrition Through the Lifespan
This subject takes a lifespan perspective to nutrition, diet and exercise, addressing nutritional requirements fundamental to human growth through the lifespan, drawing on different health and science disciplines to provide a basis for understanding nutrition. You will discuss the many factors that impact on healthy food choices and how foods can be utilised to enhance wellbeing.
HSW903
Research Methods and Evidence-Based Practice
In this subject, you will learn how to approach research in the health and social sciences by effectively searching the literature, critically appraising evidence, and assessing its significance. You will learn how to apply scientific methods and statistical principles to a variety of research situations and questions and to understand the ways in which knowledge in the health and social sciences is validated and communicated.
HSW904
Social Policy, Health and Welfare
This subject explores the cultural and social dimensions of health and wellness, and looks at the economic and political environment in which health policies and strategies are developed and implemented. Students will learn about health promotion, a process for individuals, carers, communities and populations to increase control over their health outcomes.
HSW905
Compassion at Work
This subject examines the implications of compassion in health care for individuals, organisations and society, and offers both applied and theoretical experiences for personal and professional development in health care. Students will examine evidence that proposes a positive correlation between compassionate health care, enhanced by contemplative practice and staff and clients’ quality of life.
HSW807
Applied Mindfulness for Professionals
Students will explore definitions of mindfulness from a range of standpoints, including psychological, physiological, secular, Buddhist, and sociological, and will reflect on what mindfulness means to them. Empirical and phenomenological research on mindfulness will be examined, as well as specific approaches to applying mindfulness for self-care and the care of those seeking help in professional contexts.
HSW912
Coaching and Counselling for Health and Wellbeing
This subject examine a range of evidence-based and best-practice approaches to coaching and counselling. Under supervision, students will develop practical skills for promoting, motivating, and supporting health, wellbeing, and positive behaviour change in a professional role.
HSW914
Mental Health and Wellness
This subject explores emerging research and recent developments in our understanding of mental health and wellbeing, including severe challenges to mental health and the associated impact on the lives of people having these experiences and their families and communities.
HSW915
Arts Therapy
This subject explores a range of verbal and non-verbal arts therapy approaches, therapeutic interventions used in different educational and clinical health care settings and offers experiences that stimulate emotion and provide opportunity for reflection through evidence-based practice. Students will access their individual inner wisdom and creative intelligence through contemplative practice.
HSW916
Healing Traditions: Buddhism and Psychotherapy
This subject explores the therapeutic actions of Buddha’s core teaching and practice of mindfulness, the theoretical and neurological basis of meditation training, Buddhist and Psychological concepts of insight, relationship issues, mindfulness, stress reduction, positive emotions, addictions, ageing, sickness, death, and self and non-self.
HSW917
Mindful and Compassionate Leadership
This subject develops a mindful and compassionate approach to leadership that is responsive to contemporary issues and challenges. Through the exploration of personal beliefs, values and strengths students will draw on neuroscience, behavioural science and leadership studies to develop a comprehensive understanding of self as leader.
NTI800
Critical Inquiry
This subject is designed to prepare students to be successful in their postgraduate studies by strengthening existing academic abilities and literacies gained through undergraduate study. It introduces contemporary topics to help students develop critical thinking, research and communication skills and includes an introduction to contemplative inquiry and reflective practices, which underpin NTI’s postgraduate curriculum.