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 and classes will take place on Wednesdays from 4pm-9pm. There will also be one Sunday session 9am-5pm (second Sunday of each month). The course will begin with a residential weekend, the date is currently tbc.
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 provides an in-depth clinical training which integrates theory and practice from a range of psychotherapeutic and counselling approaches, framed distinctively by a holistic view of the self and human experience. The MSc is 3 years long (ending at the end of the third year, rather than the summer). However, in order to achieve practitioner registration, it is essential to complete a post MSc accreditation programme after this MSc which may last 1 or 2 academic years thereafter. There are two routes to the MSc, both of which are accredited by the UKCP: Psychotherapist and Psychotherapeutic Counsellor. Both routes require 450 hours of supervised one-to-one clinical practice in order to reach registration by the UKCP. The key difference between the routes is that the psychotherapist route requires more hours of personal therapy, a mental health familiarisation placement (to be found by the trainee), some extra weekend training, and a summative assessment.
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.
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.
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 extend the initial learning of year two into a comprehensive review of Mentalisation, and Attachment-Based Psychotherapy with Object Relations and Self Psychology. This will involve an exploration of Fonagy and colleagues work, and of Bowlby, Winnicott and Kohut, to help trainees incorporate working with unconscious processes in complex psychotherapeutic relationships. Working with the relational unconscious involves an understanding and appreciation of enactments and re-enactments as well as the symptoms and effects of trauma (both acute and chronic relational). Core concepts of self-organising processes are explored such as intersubjectivity and personality complexity. We review ICD-11/DSM5 personality disorder presentations alongside contemporary practice developments. Anti-oppressive practice, and issues of equality, diversity and inclusion are further contextualised in sessions on interculturalism and gender sexuality and relational diversity (GSRD). The year concludes with an opportunity to consolidate trainees’ holistic integrative approach by mapping their own influences and how clinical practices shaped professional and personal development. |
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. |
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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 are now open.
- October 2023 Start - Applications will close on 31 March 2023. Apply now.
Read our notes on How to Apply.
Please note that we will contact you in due course if you have been shortlisted for an interview. Interviews will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams.
Course fees
|
Fee per head per year |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
|
Years 1 to 3 Part-time Home/EU |
£5,788 |
£6,078 |
|
Years 1 to 3 Part-time Overseas |
£5,788 |
£6,078 |
|
Year 1 |
£2,894 |
£3,039 |
|
Year 1 |
£2,894 |
£3,039 |
|
Year 2 |
£2,894 |
£3,039 |
|
Year 2 |
£2,894 |
£3,039 |
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.
2023 Start
The course starts with a compulsory induction residential weekend held at the University, Saturday 30th September 2023 and Sunday 1st October 2023
During term time:
| Time | Location | Starts |
| Weekly sessions are taught on Tuesdays, 4:00pm-9:00pm | University of Warwick | TBC |
|
There is a monthly Saturday session, 9:00am-5:00pm |
TBC |
2022 Start
The course starts with a compulsory induction residential weekend held at the University, on Saturday 1 October and Sunday 2 October 2022.
During term time:
| Time | Location | Starts |
| Weekly sessions are taught on Wednesdays, 4:15pm-9:15pm | University of Warwick | TBC |
|
There is a monthly Sunday session, 9am-5pm
|
TBC |
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.
Key facts
Starts: October 2023
Level: Postgraduate (Level 7)
Length: 3 years (part-time) with possible 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
