Counselling and Psychotherapy MA

This course is in clearing

Overview

Course options

Select year

MA

  • MA Counselling and Psychotherapy, home applicant, part time

    • Home Applicant
    • Part time
    • Pound 2350 per 30 credit module
    Applications for this course are currently closed. If spaces are available, we will open a new application window in mid-April 2024.

MA

  • MA Counselling and Psychotherapy, home applicant, part time

    • Home Applicant
    • Part time
    • Pound 2350 per 30 credit module

What makes this course different

Accredited by the BACP

Accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) since 1990, the longest running BACP accredited programme in the UK.

Focused on therapy

This programme has an Open System Integrative Approach that is founded on a secure evidence base for what works in therapy, rather than any particular modality or theoretical school.

A different approach

We have a strong emphasis on skills and the development of a collaborative therapeutic relationship, where the client is actively involved in developing the goals of their therapy, the ways their issues are conceptualised, and the approaches used.

Accreditation

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy

Accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) since 1990, the longest-running BACP accredited programme in the UK.

See more details

Course modules

NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.

Download course specification

Your future career

Your future career

In recent years, around half to two-thirds of students left after completing their counselling and psychotherapy diploma (which is the professional qualification), with the remainder staying on for a final year of MA study.

In either case, you will be able to work towards the next level of professional standing by seeking individual accreditation within the BACP, which requires 450 hours of supervised working. Past students have attained this level two or three years after graduating.

Even if you do not go on to work as a counsellor or psychotherapist, this course is a strong supplement and support for work you may already be doing in health, social care, or education.

Completing the course often leads to career progression. Many past students have returned to previous jobs while establishing and developing their own counselling practice as a second strand of their careers. In several cases, this has proved successful enough to become their main source of employment.

"Many of our graduates become portfolio workers," says Elizabeth Wilson. "They leave the course and carry on doing whatever they have been doing, but they also start doing some sessions as counsellors.

"Two, three, four years down the line they are spending more time on their practice than their other employment."

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.

How we support your career ambitions

We offer dedicated careers support, and further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. Our courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting-edge technologies and facilities.

Career Zone

Our dedicated and award-winning team provide you with careers and employability resources, including:

  • Online jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work.
  • Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts 
  • 1-2-1 career coaching services 
  • Careers workshops and employer events 
  • Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme which issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you’ve mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

Our Mental Wealth programme

We are careers first

Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top

  • Enterprise and entrepreneurship support 
  • We are ranked 6th for graduate start-ups 
  • Networking and visits to leading organisations 
  • Support in starting a new business, freelancing and self-employment 
  • London on our doorstep

What you'll learn

The course is designed to provide education and training in an integrative approach to psychological counselling and therapy to a level appropriate for safe, ethical, and effective practice.

Topics of study on the diploma, which constitutes the BACP accredited training course, include theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy; models for integration; theoretical frameworks (for example, person-centred, cognitive-behavioural, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and gestalt); and professional and clinical studies - including the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice. 

You will also engage in practical skills training, personal development, and clinical supervision; you will study social context/multiculturalism and common client-presenting problems, including mental health issues.  

If you choose to stay on for a third year to take your MA in counselling and psychotherapy, your work will be based on clinical practice and an independent research project or dissertation.

We consistently review our courses to ensure we are up to date with industry changes and requirements from our graduates. As a result, our modules are subject to change. 

How you'll learn

Please note: teaching takes place over two academic years on a part-time basis, one day a week, which remains the same for the two years you are with us (plus three Saturday workshops each academic year).  Previous cohorts met at the Stratford Campus on either Wednesdays or Thursdays. 

There is no facility to complete this course full-time. Because we are BACP accredited, the course must be completed in full and we do not accept any prior qualifications gained in counselling and psychotherapy. However, that experience may well strengthen your application.

The third-year MA top-up is over one calendar year, part-time. You will have your own academic supervisor.

Once you have passed assessments in the first semester you will be eligible to secure a placement and start recording hours of supervised client work. If you have not reached 100 hours before the end of your second year you have another year to make up the total to qualify for your diploma.

A maximum group total of 25 in years one and two and 20 in year three will ensure you will benefit from an excellent student/tutor ratio.

Our teaching staff have extensive clinical experience and have written and published widely. Several have or still do contribute to the work of BACP committees.

You will develop your practical skills in our suite of six on-campus interview rooms with video recording and playback equipment. There is an emphasis on working in groups and the programme contains regular interactive structured exercises.

Other modes of learning include workshops, lectures, clinical supervision groups, personal therapy, individual tutorials, self-directed private study, and assessed written assignments.

'Current research shows that the theoretical approach is by no means the most important thing in counselling and psychotherapy,' says Course Leader Elizabeth Wilson. 'It's about responding to the individual needs of the client sitting in front of you.'

How you will be assessed

You will be assessed in a variety of ways, including essays, presentations, process reports and your dissertation. You will be assessed on your practical skills, on your personal journal and on your professional log, which is an ongoing record of your client work, supervision, personal development and training.

Campus and facilities

Water Lane, Stratford