MSc Psychotherapy and Counselling
Graduates who wish to pursue suitably accredited postgraduate training in psychotherapy and counselling; including those who have completed introductory counselling or psychotherapy courses alongside degrees in allied subject areas. This is assessed on a case by case basis, via application and an in-depth interview process.
The MSc Psychotherapy and Counselling is part-time for 3 years.
For 2023 cohort, our classes will take place on Tuesdays from 4pm-9pm. There will also be one monthly Saturday session 9am-5pm. The course will begin with a residential weekend. For more details please see "location and time" below.
You will increase your own self-awareness during both your professional and personal development, as you build the skills in an intellectually stimulating, learning experience which will equip you to work with people with a range of needs. There is also an opportunity for research, supported by our high-qualified team of academic staff.
The course will provide an in-depth clinical training which integrates theory and best practice from a suitable range of psychotherapeutic and counselling approaches, framed distinctively by a holistic view of the self and human experience. The course will include a supervised clinical placement which requires a minimum of 100 hours of therapeutic client work during the master’s programme, towards the overall clinical 450 hours required for UKCP registration, as well as a balance of teaching and learning in theory, professional knowledge and individual development.
Upon successful completion of this programme, trainees will be eligible for United Kingdom Council for psychotherapy (UKCP) registration as a psychotherapist (or psychotherapeutic counsellor) through the Universities Psychotherapy and Counselling Association (UPCA)."
The MSC Psychotherapy and Counselling was approved, through the Universities Psychotherapy and Counselling Association (UPCA), to provide training that enables its successful students to go on the UPCA and United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) register as psychotherapeutic counsellors or psychotherapists.*
*In order to complete UKCP requirements for registration as a psychotherapeutic counsellor, a total of 450 hours of clinical practice with clients is needed. If you have not completed the 450 hours by the end of the 3 taught Masters years, there is a 1-2 year post-Masters Accreditation Completion Programme. On this programme, you must attend weekly teaching and supervision sessions at the University.
• 450 Clinical hours completion for UKCP accreditation
• A Supervision ratio of 1 hour per 6 hours practice with UKCP approved supervisor
• A clinical placement in a setting with a Placement Partner (varied by exception only, e.g. regarding student location and distance from University)
Although we are developing partnership arrangements with placement providers for the MSc and can offer some guidance and support with possibilities for clinical placement, we do not allocate placements to students. It is the student's responsibility to arrange their clinical placements in order to complete the 450 hours required for UKCP practitioner accreditation. We do however have a list of placement agencies that we have used before. Although in themselves there is no guarantee they will be sufficient, Warwick students have a strong track record of finding placements and completing them successfully.
In Year 1 of the programme, students undertake a work-based learning placement of 30 hours to gain experience and knowledge about how psychotherapy and counselling agencies operate, which will help them prepare for the full clinical placement which begins in Year 2. As with clinical placements, students find their work-based learning placements themselves, with support from the database of previous providers.
| Psychotherapist | Psychotherapeutic Counsellor | |
| Minimum clinical hours completion by end of Year 3 | 200 | 100 |
| Total personal therapy hours with UKCP therapist | 160 40 hours a year Years 1-4 |
105 Minimum 30 hours a year Years 1-3 |
Minimum requirements
2:i (BA/BSc Honours or equivalent) in psychology, social sciences, arts-related subject; basic counselling skills training and evidence of experience, of forming and sustaining helping relationships (either employed or voluntary).
Where appropriate, applicants with significant relevant study and professional and personal development qualifications and experience which does not equate to 2.i level, will be considered on a case by case basis.
Complete an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check through Warwick. If during the processing of the DBS check it becomes clear that you have lived for six months or more in a different country in the past five years, then we will also add the condition to provide an original overseas police check from that country.
Demonstration of personal and practical readiness to train as a practising psychotherapist or psychotherapeutic counsellor.
Duration
3 years part-time (plus up to two years on a post-master's accreditation programme for registration as a psychotherapist or psychotherapeutic counsellor).
International qualifications
We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.
For more information, please visit the international entry requirements page.
English language requirements
You can find out more about our English language requirementsLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window. This course requires the following:
- Band A
- Overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 and component scores.
Student VISAs
The University of Warwick is not currently sponsoring students on part time courses, including part time courses that are akin to distance learning, with a Student visa.
Therefore, we will not be able to produce a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) for a part-time course.
Please click on the following link and read the guidance provided to see if your visa permits study at The University of Warwick: https://warwick.ac.uk/study/international/immigration/othervisas/whatvisa/risks/
Our approaches to therapy are geared to the current economic climate, graduates may have the opportunity to work within a range of sectors:
- NHS and community roles
- Work within the third sector/private sector - (GP Surgeries, Hospices, Survivors of Domestics Abuse or Substance)
On completion of the Masters and required hours via the UKCP either during the Masters programme or during the post-Masters Accreditation Programme, graduates can register as a qualified Psychotherapeutic Counsellor or Psychotherapist.
Throughout this degree, you will take 60 credits per year.
Year 1 |
The psychotherapeutic relationship 1: introduction to theory (20 credits)You will critically analyse and synthesise in-depth specialist knowledge of a range of cutting-edge theoretical approaches and their application to therapeutic practices relevant to a holistic and integrative approach to psychotherapy. You will also critically evaluate and compare psychotherapy theories and analyse and evaluate the evidence for their effectiveness and evaluate their relevance for a holistic – integrative approach. You will be involved in understanding the nature of one – two-person psychology (Stark 2000) involving humanistic and psychodynamic psychotherapeutic relationships. You will incorporate a common factors’ competence model into your emerging understanding, such as the four archetypes of the therapeutic process (conditions, activity, depth and meaning). Specifically, you will become grounded in person centred/person centred experiential psychotherapy integrated with the core aspects of Gestalt work. You will exhibit a sophisticated level of competence and curiosity in the exploration of these theoretical approaches through exercise of generic intellectual abilities as well as a capacity to synthesise and therapeutic theory and then apply this effectively to practice and their own professional and personal development. |
The Psychotherapeutic Relationship 1: Introduction to Individual Development (20 credits)You will critically and consistently reflect on all aspects of personal development, including cultural competence, and proactively formulate and synthesise ideas and hypotheses to evaluate these. You will also successfully complete the Mental Health placement/work-based learning opportunity, and critically evaluate and synthesise knowledge of Mental Health gained to support practice and multi-professional working. You will also understand, critically evaluate, synthesise, and apply, ethical, legal and professional principles to professional and personal development in support of practice. |
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The Psychotherapeutic Relationship 1: Introduction to Practice (20 credits)You will take a proactive and critically evaluative role in practising and synthesising cutting-edge psychotherapeutic skills and approaches, applying key therapeutic qualities in practice and in professional relationships with others. You will critically analyse, synthesise, and apply key therapeutic theory, including integrative theory, to practice. You will be taught the nature of case conceptualisation, of key assessment processes and protocols, professional ethics, e.g. anti-oppressive practice and cultural competencies, To critically and reflectively monitor and systematically evaluate own practice and development and integrate learning from tutor and peer feedback into practice. You will also demonstrate and synthesise all aspects of fitness and readiness to practice therapeutically with clients on supervised placement, assessed through practice observation, written assignments including case studies, overall presentation on the course, including personal development groups and capacity for critical reflection, and viva. |
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Year 2 |
The Psychotherapeutic Relationship 2: Development of Theory, Practice and Individual Development (40 credits)You will be offered every week a blend of formal lecture which includes consideration of application of theory to practice. There is also a weekly clinical practice development session which acts as the focus for therapeutic practice development with tutor, peer and self-evaluation and feedback a prominent feature. You will be offered some Saturday teaching sessions which will offer formal lectures, looking at applications to professional and personal development of key themes as well as being expected to fully participate fully in a personal development group. Key subjects being taught in year two focus on psychodynamic processes, principles and techniques including Freud and Object Relations, and an introduction to Carl Jung’s work. There is an introduction to, and critique of, Cognitive Behavioural and Meta-Cognitive therapies. |
Research in Professional Practice (20 credits)This module aims to develop understanding of the research process and its relevance to your professional practice, including designing and carrying out research into your own practice field. This includes identifying research questions and appropriate research strategies and gathering and analysing sources using a variety of methods. It will enable you to carry out research into an aspect of career development or coaching practice of interest and relevance to you. |
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Year 3 |
The Psychotherapeutic Relationship 3: Integration of Theory, Practice and Individual Development (20 credits)You will thoroughly and critically embed key knowledge about relevant psychotherapeutic theories and research, including holistic and integrative approaches, to a sophisticated level. You will also develop the capacity to recognise severely disturbed clients and understand when the psychotherapist or psychotherapeutic counsellor should seek other professional advice. The module also aims to facilitate a deepening capacity for reflection on therapeutic process and understanding of key principles and theory when working with clients on a short-term contract (maximum 12 sessions) as well as on a long term one (at least 40 sessions). You will also evaluate effectively this in the context of your evolving Holistic Phenomenological Integration (model of practice). |
Psychotherapy and Counselling Research Dissertation (40 credits)MSc Dissertation (15,000 words) is completed during year and is due to be submitted in September of each third year. You will work on a qualitative research project, leading to the submission of a masters’ dissertation on a topic of interest to you which is also closely relevant to psychotherapy and counselling. In pursuing this you will develop the ability to successfully complete a substantial empirical research project, systematic review or systematic case study informed by wide current understandings in the discipline. This includes the ability to effectively operationalize an appropriate topic related to psychotherapy and counselling as well as relevant research questions; research methods and ethics. In turn you will be supervised in your research as you analyse, synthesise and critically evaluate ideas and applications from psychotherapeutic theory and research, including holistic and integrative approaches, and apply in writing a research dissertation to a sophisticated level. |
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Year 4-5 |
Accreditation Completion ProgramDepending on the training route trainees have pursued, and how many clinical hours have been accumulated during the first two years of the program, you will follow either a Counselling Psychotherapist ACP route, or a Psychotherapy ACP route. Each route will have its own curriculum organised around the accumulation of clinical hours and involved in the extended teaching and learning on mental health complexities and challenges. |
You will be assessed by a combination of:
Written academic assignments: Theory essays, case studies, reflective assignments and a 12-15,000 word research dissertation
Fitness to practice assessments: Practice observation, supervision and placement reports, VIVA and completion of practice hours.
Applications for 2024 start are open, which will close on Monday 10th May 2024.
Interviews will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams.
Before you apply
Come to an online taster session to meet teaching staff, like-minded people and have all your questions answered to see if the course is right for you.
Course fees
|
Fee per head per year |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
|
Years 1 to 3 Part-time Home* |
£6,078 |
£6,440 |
|
Years 1 to 3 Part-time Overseas* |
£6,078 |
£6,440 |
|
Year 1 Post-masters accreditation programme |
£3,039 |
£3,191 |
|
Year 1 |
£3,039 |
£3,191 |
|
Year 2 |
£3,039 |
£3,191 |
|
Year 2 |
£3,039 |
£3,191 |
*International fee rates include students from the EU in line with UK Government policy. The terms EU and International are here used as a general guide only, please check with the International Office for more detailed advice on fee status. Contact the team by emailing int.recruitment@warwick.ac.uk.
Additional cost
View any additional cost, including costs that are specific to the course (i.e. residential weekend, text books, placement supervision costs, DBS checks ect.) and also in general for your studies.
- Please note 1: some of these costs are approximate as they are set by external organisations/bodies
- Note 2: student Membership of UKCP is free of charge, in year 2 on your placement, you will pay a 'trainee' membership fee, currently £70.
Funding
Please see the University's Scholarship and Financial Support page to explore funding options. Graduates from other Warwick programmes might be eligible for a 10% Alumni Discount.
2024 Start
The course starts with a compulsory induction residential weekend held at the University. Dates are to be confirmed.
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Terms |
Dates | Location | Time (weekly sessions) | Time (monthly Sunday sessions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
University Autumn Term |
30 September 2024 to 7 December 2024 |
University of Warwick |
Thursdays 16:00-21:00 |
Sundays 09:00-17:00 |
|
University Spring Term |
6 January 2025 to 15 March 2025 |
Sundays 09:00-17:00 |
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|
University Summer Term |
23 April 2025 to 28 June 2025 |
Sundays 09:00-17:00 |
2023 Start
The course starts with a compulsory induction residential weekend held at the University, Saturday 30th September 2023 and Sunday 1st October 2023.
|
Terms |
Dates | Location | Time (weekly sessions) | Time (monthly Saturday sessions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
University Autumn Term |
02 October 2023 - 16 December 2023 (Reading week: W/C Monday 30 October 2023) |
University of Warwick |
Tuesdays 16:00-21:00 |
Saturday 14 October & 11 November 2023 09:00-17:00 |
|
University Spring Term |
08 January 2024 - 23 March 2024 (Reading week: W/C Monday 12 February 2024) |
Saturday 13 January & 9 March 2024 09:00-17:00 |
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|
University Summer Term |
15 Apr 2024 to 29 Jun 2024 (Reading week: W/C Monday 27 May 2024) |
Saturday 11 May & 15 June 2024 09:00-17:00 |
Hear from course director, Dr Phil Goss, describe the course features, who the course is for, career prospects of students, and learning at CLL. This video is filmed in 2018.
Join an Online Taster
Key facts
Starts: October 2024
Level: Postgraduate (Level 7)
Length: 3 years (part-time) with 1-2 year post-Masters Accreditation Completion Programme
Venue: Westwood campus
Student profile
"The MSc in Psychotherapy and Counselling does challenge you to discover yourself but the experience is so worthwhile. I feel supported and I'm really enjoying the process."
Rachael, current student
