Psychotherapy and Counselling

MA Psychotherapy and Counselling forms a key part of the professional training route for anyone wishing to become a registered psychotherapist.

This three-year, part-time course builds on your existing knowledge foundation to give you a deep understanding of psychotherapy and the work of historical and contemporary figures. You’ll revisit theoretical perspectives including existential, psychoanalytic, humanistic and integrative – and start to develop your own approach to psychotherapy and counselling.

Personal and professional development is a cornerstone of this course. Throughout your training, you’ll be encouraged to further evaluate and reflect upon your own personal beliefs and prejudices to prevent them from influencing your clinical practice. You must also engage in weekly personal psychotherapy sessions with a UKCP-registered therapist.

This training will prepare you for professional practice, enabling you to develop your own practical skills within a safe classroom environment. Working in groups in masterclasses and during approved clinical placements, you’ll learn to apply your theoretical knowledge and acquired skills under the supervision of experienced practitioners.

Your education, your way

At the end of your second year, you'll choose the pathway to follow on the third year of your studies. You can specialise in integrative psychotherapy via the integrative pathway, or existential psychotherapy via the existential pathway, or you can undertake a significant piece of research in the field via the dissertation pathway.

Clinical placements

Clinical placements begin in your second year under the supervision of an experienced practitioner, enabling you to apply your theoretical knowledge and skills in a professional context such as medical care, research agencies, charities, social services and private practice.

You must accrue at least 100 hours of clinical practice to complete the course on the dissertation pathway, and at least 200 hours to complete the other pathways. This will involve at least half a day of practice each week, both during and outside term time. Your course leaders and the University’s Careers, Industry & Enterprise team will advise you on finding a placement.

In order to be eligible to apply for one of the professional bodies (BACP or UKCP) you’ll need to have accrued at least 450 supervised client hours.

Accreditation and next steps

This course meets the accreditation criteria of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). Upon successful completion, you'll be eligible to apply to one of our Postgraduate Certificate courses – in Existential or Integrative Psychotherapy – the final stage of your training for eligibility to apply to become a UKCP registered psychotherapist.