Explore our Psychotherapy and Counselling taught Master's degree.

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Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. This course is part of the Centre for Lifelong Learning department which follows a non-standard fee structure.

Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Fee Status Guidance

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.

Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?

If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.

Find out more about how universities assess fee status.

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 etc.) 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.

P-C8B9

MSc

Part-time: 3 years with 1-2 year post-Masters Accreditation Completion Programme

30 September 2024

Centre for Lifelong Learning

University of Warwick

Psychotherapy and Counselling, offered as a part time MSc with a clinical placement, will provide you with in-depth clinical training. Join Warwick's Centre for Lifelong Learning and work with field experts as you develop psychotherapeutic and counselling skills.

The course will provide 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, as well as a balance of teaching and learning in theory, professional knowledge, and individual development.

You will increase your self-awareness during both your professional and personal development, as you build the skills in an intellectually stimulating, learning experience that will equip you to work with people with a range of needs. There is also a research opportunity, supported by our highly qualified team of academic staff.

Upon successful completion of MSC, students on the psychotherapist route will be eligible to complete a mandatory 1-year post Masters, after which trainees will be eligible for UKCP registration as a psychotherapist or psychotherapeutic counsellor through The Universities Psychotherapy and Counselling Association (UPCA), via Universities Training Council (UTC), which is one of the colleges of the UKCP.

We are currently confirming with the UPCA the requirements for the students on the Psychotherapeutic Counsellor route to take the additional ACP year or other suitable requirements for completion. Applicants and students will be informed as soon as we have the information.

Skills from this degree

• Use a range of meaningful and effective integrative approaches to develop relational skills for application to therapeutic practice
• Address a broad range of client need including more complex and severe mental health difficulties
• Apply a high level of relevant academic and professional knowledge to a range of settings, which provide counselling, psychotherapy and mental health services
• Utilise personal development opportunities to enhance interpersonal skills
• Acquire research skills and knowledge which are relevant to the counselling and psychotherapy field, and which can inform and enhance evidence-based practice

Learning is via a combination of formal lecture, seminar, practice development, experiential learning and personal development groups. There is also a requirement for 450 clinical practice hours in a community based placement setting (with 1 to 6 hours supervision requirements) plus a minimum of 35 hours a year personal therapy.

Typical group size is around 18 students.

One evening each week (4.5 contact hours) plus one Saturday or Sunday a month (6 hours).

Location and time for 2024 cohort

The course starts with a compulsory induction residential weekend held at the University on September 28 & 29 2024.

Location and time for 2023 cohort

The course starts with a compulsory induction residential weekend held at the University, Saturday 30 September 2023 and Sunday 1 October 2023.

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.

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you when you join us.

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).

• 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 visit our visa pages and read the guidance provided to see if your visa permits study at The University of Warwick.

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Throughout this degree, you will take 60 credits per year.

Year One

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 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 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. 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.

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, 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

Year Two

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, and a clinical seminar where a student presents and critiques case material from relevant literature. 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.

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.

Year Three

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).

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

Year 4-5

Accreditation Completion Program

Depending 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.

There are no optional modules for this course.

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Apply to the course

This part-time course has one intake each year. Applications for 2024 entry are now closed.

Application closed

Interviews will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams.

Read our notes on how to apply

Apply now

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