Masters degrees in Psychotherapy equip postgraduates with the skills to use therapeutic psychological methods to rehabilitate individuals and improve their mental health.
Related postgraduate specialisms include Counselling, Art Psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy and Integrative Psychotherapy. Entry requirements typically include an undergraduate degree in a relevant Psychology discipline.
This programme will provide you with a broad understanding of the theories and practices of art psychotherapy necessary for safe and effective clinical work.
The Masters enables you to practice as an art therapist in the NHS, Social Services, and educational establishments, and to become a practitioner registered with the British Association of Art Therapists.
Your learning is underpinned by the principles and practices of psychodynamic psychotherapy practised within the context of mental health care, and informed by contemporary art practice.
Via theoretical studies, clinical work and experiential learning you will integrate cognitive understanding and practical experience with a developing awareness of self and other. The nature of the therapeutic relationship between client, their art work, and the art therapist is explored, and you have the opportunity to put your learning into practice through two 60-day placements which are supervised and supported in-depth.
You are encouraged to develop your own art practice and to situate your work in relationship to your development as a therapist, to contemporary art practice and to psychoanalytic theories. You must be in personal therapy throughout the programme.
Modes of study
The MA in Art Psychotherapy is a course that leads to successful applicants becoming eligible to apply for registration as an Arts Therapist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), the body which regulates and monitors standards of practice in the public sector. The programme can be studied in two modes - full-time for 2 years or part-time for 3 years. A clear indication of the mode chosen should be stated on application forms.
Personal therapy
It's a mandatory aspect of the course that all students must be in personal therapy for the duration of their training. It is usual for therapists to expect attendance throughout the calendar year except for usual holiday breaks; this may entail attendance outside term time.
Therapy may be on a group or individual basis and can be art therapy or verbal psychotherapy. Attendance must be at least once weekly. It must be stressed that it is not acceptable for a student to be in therapy with a trainee; all personal therapists should be qualified and registered with a relevant professional organisation. Students’ therapists will also be expected to register their professional details with the college. Contact is made with students' therapists at various points in the training to ensure that consistent attendance is being maintained.
Modules
Assessed by assignment, portfolio, case study, presentation, dissertation, reports and logs.
Download the programme specification. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact the Quality Office.
Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.
Skills
The MA will develop skills including:
Careers
Completion of the programme provides eligibility for the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration as an art psychotherapist.
Our graduates are invariably seen as offering a valuable and unique service to their clients and to the multidisciplinary teams in which they work – graduates have gone on to practice as art psychotherapists in the NHS, social services and in the education sector.
We regularly receive positive feedback from organisations that employ art therapists and/or accept trainees on placement.
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
Top up your existing postgraduate qualification in body psychotherapy to a full MA. Receive a high level of academic and research input as you work towards a clinically-focused dissertation on an aspect of Body Psychotherapy.
See the website http://www.anglia.ac.uk/study/part-time/body-psychotherapy
If you’re already qualified as a body psychotherapist, our part-time course will give you the chance to work on a substantive piece of academic research, with access to our resources and internationally renowned therapies staff.
You’ll be assigned an academic supervisor to support your work, and will be able to attend our research methodologies training. You can also attend lectures and seminars from our MA Dramatherapy and MA Music Therapy courses, which will give you further insight into arts therapies theory and practice.
Our teaching team includes internationally recognised researchers as well as practising arts therapists. You’ll work alongside other students from our Music Therapy, Dramatherapy and Psychodrama courses, broadening your understanding of the field. You won’t need to undertake further clinical placements, meaning you can focus on your academic studies.
This course is a collaboration between the Cambridge Body Psychotherapy Centre and our University. You’ll need to have a recognised postgraduate diploma in Body Psychotherapy from the Cambridge Body Psychotherapy Centre, and registration with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy Therapists (UKCPT) to apply.
Our course will advance your practice of body psychotherapy, whether you work in private practice or for health or education providers in the UK or overseas. It will equip you with crucial research skills that, according to the QAA Benchmarking for Counselling and Psychotherapy, are required by all counsellors and psychotherapists to '…enable them to read and interpret research evidence related to practice…', '…monitor and evaluate both individual practice and the work of a service or team…' and 'contribute to the developing knowledge and evidence base for their profession'.
You’ll benefit from our links with employers, such as the Cambridge Body Psychotherapy Centre, health providers and charities.
Core module:
MA Therapies Major Project
You will submit a 15,000-word, clinically focused and evaluative dissertation on an aspect of Body Psychotherapy.
You’ll work in our new purpose-built therapy centre, which includes state-of-the-art studios. You’ll also have access to the Department of Music and Performing Arts facilities, which include a fully-equipped drama studio, two other drama rehearsal spaces, a large recital hall and a suite of computer music studios.
Students and staff work in an energetic and creative environment, with regular seminars, productions, performances and research- or therapy-based events.
Reflecting current developments in the field, this postgraduate diploma provides quality training in an Integrative approach to Psychotherapy. It is offered part-time and is suitable for those in employment. It will provide students with a constructive and challenging learning experience which develops interconnectedness of theory, practice, research, self-awareness and personal development. It offers trainee psychotherapists a sound experience for the development of an Integrative approach that forms a critical basis for practice and has ethical and professional integrity. It aims to develop practitioners who are competent to offer high-quality Integrative Psychotherapy in a variety of contexts, appropriate to the needs of the client, organisation and society.
This is a BACP accredited professional psychotherapy training, which enables those who successfully complete it to practice as a psychotherapist.
The learning environment will be student-centred, using and sharing students' experiences to aid the learning process and encourage independent learning. Participants and tutors are co-learners. A diverse range of learning and teaching methodologies will be used, including student-led seminars, group discussion, group and individual psychotherapy practice and observation, the use of audio and DVD recording, case studies and discussion, experiential exercises, lectures, guest speakers and supervised practice.
The residential is assessed by a reflexive essay and tutor observation. Students are required to pass the observation before commencement of the course.
In the first year, students are required to submit a theoretical essay, a critique of a research paper, a DVD recording and evaluation, an ethics essay, a reflexive statement and a student-led presentation. There is also an end of year viva, or oral exam, with a personal tutor, which is based on a personal development statement that the student makes.
In the second year, students are required to submit a Case Study, an audio tape and self-evaluation, a reflexive practitioner extended essay, practice portfolio and a student-led presentation and include an account of their clinical supervision.
In the third year, students are required to submit a research proposal and a Masters dissertation.
UCLan’s Postgraduate Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy is BACP accredited and those who successfully complete the Postgraduate Diploma are entitled to practice as psychotherapists. This course provides quality professional training in Integrative Psychotherapy. It will provide students with a constructive and challenging learning experience which develops interconnectedness of theory, practice, research, self-awareness and personal development. It offers trainee psychotherapists a sound experience for the development of an Integrative approach to Psychotherapy that forms a critical basis for practice and has ethical and professional integrity. It aims to develop practitioners who are competent to offer high-quality Integrative Psychotherapy in a variety of contexts, appropriate to the needs of the client, organisation and society.
The course is divided into five main areas:
The first two years of the program constitute the post graduate diploma in integrative psychotherapy. The successful completion of the postgraduate diploma will enable students to claim the status of a graduate of a BACP accredited training course.
The MA dissertation may then be undertaken by those students who are able to continue, having gained at least a merit in the post graduate diploma, and who wish to undertake postgraduate research.
Applicants must be aware that Accreditation of Prior Learning is not permitted on this course.
This programme provides the training in counselling and psychotherapy necessary to become eligible for BACP (British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy) individual practitioner accreditation.
The course, accredited by the BACP, is based on an integrative relational approach to counselling and psychotherapy, which has been developed over many years by our cutting-edge teaching team. Our integrative approach, at the forefront of counselling and psychotherapy theory, practice and research, incorporates aspects from three main therapeutic traditions; person-centred, cognitive and psychodynamic. You will be encouraged to explore psychological processes and experiences from these different perspectives, and recognise the theoretical, personal and cultural assumptions which influence your work.
As well as cognitive and reflective skills, you will also learn practical ways of working with your clients in a therapeutic relationship to address conscious and unconscious needs and produce a change in emotional and cognitive processes and behaviour. This involves integrating complex and advanced skills, and responding creatively to complex, novel and unpredictable situations.
Our teaching includes life-span developmental theories, therapeutic skills practice in small groups, supervision of client work in small groups, critical analysis of approaches and research into counselling and psychotherapy. You will develop a critical understanding of the role of research in the development of the counselling and psychotherapeutic disciplines, and be able to incorporate research knowledge into clinical practice. You are required to be in personal therapy throughout the course, which will help you to develop a high level of awareness of self and the therapeutic process, to be able to use this constructively in therapeutic encounters. You will be equipped with the necessary skills to work with a wide range of people with a range of psychological issues in a variety of settings.
The Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy programme is taught by means of interactive lectures and seminars, experiential skills workshops, small clinical supervision groups, and personal development work. Much of your learning will be by a process of reflection on the experience of skills practiced and the use of demonstration, observation, self, peer and tutor feedback as well as a more traditional academic study.
The course emphasises the central importance of the therapeutic relationship, and builds your understanding of a variety of theories and practices, to make informed choices about therapeutic interventions suitable for the problems which clients present. Central to developing your therapeutic skills is a sustained effort of attunement to the client as well as openness to and awareness of their and your internal processes. As well as having a theoretical understanding of these processes, from the first year you will have modules allowing you the opportunity to practice your counselling skills.
Later modules in the course will familiarise you with a variety of forms of psychological assessment, so that you are able to critically evaluate the appropriateness and limitations of the procedures and underlying concepts. As many students will go on to work in a multidisciplinary team, in particular within the NHS, they need to have an understanding and working knowledge of psychiatric diagnoses and classification systems, while being aware of their acknowledge limits and critiques.
You will have the opportunity to work with a placements co-ordinator to find a suitable counselling/psychotherapy placement in which to gain the depth and range of experience necessary to become a competent practitioner. Information on over 500 different counselling placements is available.
Modules
Here are examples of the modules:
Year 1:
Year 2:
Year 3:
Graduates can work in health and social services, voluntary organisations and the education in counselling field.
Normally a minimum of one year’s full-time experience (or p/t equivalent) of work in a caring capacity or equivalent. Relevant care work includes: nursing assistant, project worker, arts instructor, care work in a community setting, art teaching, or facilitating art workshops. Some experience of personal art psychotherapy or psychodynamic psychotherapy, or experiential workshops in creative therapies is desirable. In the absence of a degree, work experience of 8-10 years in one position will be considered for entry.
International: Where your honours degree has not been studied in English, you will be required to provide evidence of English language competence at no less than IELTS 7.0 and no individual component score below 6.5.
Home applicants are expected to attend an interview at QMU and will be required to submit their art portfolio electronically. Interviews will take place normally between December and May. Interviews for international students will be conducted over Skype.
A satisfactory criminal records check will be required
The discipline of art psychotherapy draws upon the visual arts, psychotherapy and psychology and is applied within psychiatry, special education, social services and the voluntary sector. Art psychotherapists work with individuals, groups and communities. Art psychotherapists enable clients to access their own image-making abilities. The therapist and their client jointly explore the meaning of the process and image/art object in the light of personal experiences and/or interpersonal relationships that may sometimes be distressing or troubling. The aim is to facilitate the intra-personal and interpersonal communication of experiences that the client may initially find difficulty in discussing verbally.
The art psychotherapist’s task is to support processes of emotional integration by providing a safe, reliable and containing therapeutic environment within which the client can create and use art making to develop insight and promote change. This course is designed for people who usually have at least one year’s experience of, or are currently, working in a caring capacity such as psychiatry, special education, social services and the voluntary sector.
You will attend classes, work in groups and carry out independent learning. Assessment methods include reports, essays, and presentations. Each year group contains 25-30 students. However, most classes take the form of supervision, seminar, lectures and interpersonal learning groups with a maximum of 15 students. You will undertake 110 days supervised practice placement over the training period; placements are allocated by QMU. All students are required to be in personal psychotherapy throughout the duration of the course. Students will attend supervision on site at the practice placement setting and at QMU throughout the training.
Full-time students attend practice placement two days per week and part-time students attend one day per week over two semesters.
Year One classes for full-time students take place usually from 9-5pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Year Two classes take place from 9-5pm on Thursdays only. Part-time students attend classes on Tuesdays, 9-5 pm and Wednesdays, 9-1pm for Year One and in Year Two, Wednesdays and Thursday only for Year Three and/or Four of the part-time route. You will also be required to carry out independent learning. Full-time students attend practice placement two days per week and part-time students attend one day per week over two semesters. Part-time students wishing to complete their Clinical Project in Year Four will attend personal academic tutorials by appointment. All students will be required to the training programme. The Art Studio will be open for art practice on Mondays, Fridays and weekends.
Graduates are eligible for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council as Registered Arts Therapists (Art) and are eligible for full membership of BAAT (British Association of Art Therapists).
Level 1 (f/t -year 1; p/t-years 1 & 2) Art Psychotherapy Practice Placement 1/ Art Psychotherapy Therapeutic Skills & Inter- Personal Learning Groups 1/ Interdisciplinary Studies 1/ Pre-registration Research Methods
Level 2 (f/t- year 2; p/t- years 3&4) Art Psychotherapy Practice Placement 2/ Interdisciplinary Studies 2 & IPL Groups 2/ Clinical Project.
All modules are 30 credits, except Clinical Project, which is 60 credits.
Art psychotherapists work with a wide range of clients and communities, individually or with groups, within the public and private sectors throughout the world. The course meets the requirements of the Health and Care Professions Council Standards of Proficiency for Art Therapists. This degree carries 240 credits/120 European Credits which are transferable across Europe and attracts students from all over the world. Graduates work in a wide variety of different settings across the globe including health, education and the voluntary sector.
This course is designed for people who have prior dance experience and professional or volunteering experience with people in need, and would like to practise as a dance movement psychotherapist.
Dance movement psychotherapy is a relational process in which a client and therapist engage in an empathetic creative process using body movement and dance to assist the integration of emotional, cognitive, physical, social and spiritual aspects of self. We believe that focusing on the creative potential of individuals in a relationship creates a sound ethical basis for psychotherapeutic work.
You will be taught by leading experts who will equip you with the skills, experience, and confidence to work as a dance movement psychotherapist. All graduating students are eligible to apply for registration with the Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy (ADMP UK). Graduates often create their own positions; facilitating dance movement psychotherapy sessions within settings including: social services; special needs; schools; psychiatry; probationary and rehabilitation units; forensic psychiatry.
The course offers opportunities for you to explore and expand movement preferences, ways of interacting with others, belief systems, prejudices and values. Emphasis is placed on development of your own style as a dance movement psychotherapist. You also have the opportunity to perform and exhibit your ongoing work in a yearly Arts Therapies exhibition.
The MA in DMP benefits from cutting edge research conducted through the Centre for Arts Therapies Research (CATR) and this feeds directly into teaching. The programme ethos emphasises a critical consideration of different descriptions and explanations of bodies, human systems and therapeutic practices in different places and times. In the context of an individual student's experiences, beliefs, values and different 'cultures', our teaching actively promotes a participatory ethic, self-reflexive practices and the ability for critical reflection on: creative processes, intersubjectivity and the construction of social and power differentials, in learning and in psychotherapy.
The uniquely interdisciplinary MA course in Dance Movement Psychotherapy integrates theoretical, experiential and clinical learning, preparing students to practice as dance movement psychotherapists. Cutting edge research cascades into teaching emphasising the social, biological and psychological construction of the moving body and meaning-making. Students are encouraged to develop a self-reflexive practice and the ability for critical reflection on creative processes.
Key areas of study include Contemporary DMP and psychotherapeutic theories, Feminist embodied reflexivity, clinical placement and supervision (for one-two days a week), dance movement improvisation skills and interventions, embodied performance practice, experiential anatomy for clinical practice, human development, movement and growth, Laban Movement Analysis and video observation.
Embodied practice and working with attention to the art of dance is placed at the centre of the programme. Drawing from Feminist, Psychoanalytical, Phenomenological and Systemic frameworks, the training emphasises the creative role of curiosity and a 'not knowing' position, a respect for difference, and appreciation of the effects that mutual influences have in all relationships.
Modules
Here are examples of modules:
Graduates can enter a variety of roles including: NHS clinical practice within in and out patient services, community services, prison services, special needs schools, performing arts contexts, drug rehabilitation, in social services with immigrants and asylum seekers, in shelters with women who have suffered domestic abuse, dementia services, learning disabilities services, child and adolescent mental health services.
In response to the growing demand for psychotherapy treatment in the UK, we offer a course that will give you the in-depth training and knowledge of different therapeutic approaches required to become a professional psychotherapist. If you already hold a postgraduate diploma in counselling or psychotherapy, this top-up course will give you the opportunity to obtain a masters qualification by studying two research modules.
Your course will provide an advanced critical and reflexive understanding of the theory, practice and established methods of professional psychotherapy practice.
You will be introduced to the appropriate methods of research in the field of psychotherapy and use this knowledge to form a research proposal. You will then complete a dissertation on a topic of your choice but related to psychotherapeutic practice.
Research Excellence Framework 2014
Research Excellence Framework 2014: 40% of our research in the Psychology unit was judged to be world leading or internationally excellent.
Our course will give you the opportunity to undertake in-depth research in an area of your interest. You'll build on your existing knowledge and experience, and gain an advanced critical and relexive understanding of the theory, practice and established methods of psychotherapy for use in professional practice.
Psychotherapists and counsellors are employed in the NHS, education, social services and private industry, and many professionals in the health sector draw on psychotherapy skills and theory to enhance their primary role. Your course could extend your career options in a range of related counselling and psychotherapy fields, and you could also set up your own private practice.
The Psychotherapy MSc allows graduates of our postgraduate diplomas in psychotherapeutic counselling to further their professional and academic training.
The MSc involves two further years of study in which you build on your chosen theoretical base and develop ways of working with complex presentations of human distress. You also develop skills in research design and implementation specific to the profession of psychotherapy.
The course is a unique opportunity to undertake a more general psychotherapy training, building on the cross-modality philosophy and approach of the practitioners in the counselling and psychotherapy division at Brighton.
You are required to regularly undertake supervised clinical practice under a supervisor in an approved setting . You must also take weekly psychotherapy yourself with an UKCP psychotherapist. Membership to the UPCA is required from the start of the course.
Modules
The MSc will qualify you to work as a psychotherapist in either humanistic or psychodynamic counselling, depending on your chosen specialism.
To facilitate your career progression, we recommend that you join the main local counselling organisation, Sussex Counselling, which provides a professional network as well as regular seminars and workshops.
Anxiety and depression are among the most common mental health disorders experienced by all ages. Psychological recovery is greatly enhanced when the individual receives the correct treatment. Cognitive Behaviour Psychotherapy (CBP) is currently the key recommended psychological treatment for these conditions. It is essential that practitioners are prepared with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to deliver CBP competently. This course is written to the requirements of the lead organisation in the UK which sets the competency standards for Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy. The teaching at the University and with Clinical colleagues in placement areas is of the highest standard. This course will fundamentally alter the way clinicians work in practice.
On successful completion of this programme you will eligible to apply to become an accredited practitioner with the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP).
Students will actively participate in developing and extending their knowledge and skills in CBP. The client centred approach is used to empower the individual by creating effective cognitive and behavioural strategies to improve their skills in managing their mental health and enhance their quality of life.
Students must be working in a clinical area where Cognitive Behavioural Therapeutic approaches are employed. Students must be supervised by an experienced BABCP Cognitive Behavioural Therapist while on placement in their own clinical area. This must be arranged by the student prior to the commencement of the programme.
This course is designed for experienced artists and professionals who have worked within a clinical setting and would like to build a rewarding career as an art psychotherapist.
You will be taught by leading experts who will equip you with the skills, experience, and confidence to work as an art psychotherapist in challenging, yet rewarding environments. Our graduating students are eligible to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC). Registered practitioners work in a variety of different settings including psychiatric hospitals, social services departments, special education, prisons and the voluntary sector.
Our comprehensive programme is divided into three areas covering theory, experiential learning and work placement experience. The theoretical aspect covers child developmental and psychodynamic principles alongside art therapy theory and Jungian analytical psychology. This perspective is located within the larger field of analytical psychotherapy and provides you with an in-depth theoretical underpinning that informs clinical practice.
A vital part of the programme is a supervised clinical placement which allows you to complete one hundred mandatory days of practice during your training. Placements are available in a variety of settings that include mental health (both in the NHS and other psychiatric hospitals and day centres), disabilities services or in hospitals or social services, special education, or a range of other settings.
The course is divided into three distinct areas; theory, which will develop your understanding as it relates to clinical practice, experiential learning where you will engage in art therapeutic processes to develop an understanding of the discipline from the inside while developing your identity as an artist, and lastly, a work placement. You will also get the opportunity to collaborate with the other students within the arts and play therapies in workshops and shared modules.
Our full-time course starts with an intensive week followed by two taught days, two further days of clinical placement and one day for studio practice per week. The part-time route starts with an intensive week followed by one day per week in University and a minimum of one further day on clinical placement. You will need to complete one hundred days of supervised clinical practice over the duration of the programme. You will also attend weekly personal therapy which is compulsory to become a professional registered practitioner.
Modules
Here are examples of modules:
Graduates go on to work as art therapists within school adult mental health, community, third sector or NHS day service providers. Most art psychotherapists work within institutions as members of multidisciplinary teams and collaborate with psychiatrists, psychologists and other professionals.
We offer opportunities for students who want to pursue research in art psychotherapy.
For MPhil study, you usually register for research by written thesis (although there are also possibilities for research based on a written element and studio practice).
Whatever your topic, you have your first supervisor in Art Psychotherapy and may have your second in another department – Art, Educational Studies, Psychology, or Sociology, for example.
You meet your supervisors regularly for discussion and guidance, and present your work to the Art Psychotherapy research student group.
You also attend the Goldsmiths Research Methods Training Course.
Supervision is currently available in the following areas:
Current research topics include:
You'll be assessed by a thesis and viva voce.
Find out more about research degrees at Goldsmiths.
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