Postgraduate Diploma / MA in Psychodynamic Theory and Practice

Postgraduate Diploma / MA in Psychodynamic Theory and Practice

Trainees on the Postgraduate Diploma / MA in Psychodynamic Theory and Practice are required to be trainee members of The Foundation for Psychotherapy and Counselling and the WPF Therapy Trainee Association. On graduation they are eligible to become Professional Members of The Foundation, which is WPF Therapy's graduate body. All members of The Foundation, both trainee and graduate, are subject to the Foundation's Code of Ethics.

Graduates are qualified to practice independently as professional counsellors working in a once a week model and/or in general counselling agencies. The course is:

* BACP Accredited
* Validated by Roehampton University
* Recognised by UKCP as a route to registration as a psychotherapeutic counsellorCourse Structure and Time Commitment

WPF Therapy seeks to offer the Postgraduate Diploma / MA in a way that is sufficiently flexible to allow for previous learning experience and the individual learning needs of trainees.

The course is offered in a structure which will enable a trainee to proceed to qualification in three or four years, or, in exceptional cases, in two years. Applicants with a WPF Therapy Network Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling or with equivalent and certificated previous learning experience may be admitted into year two or three of either of the four year routes.

Interviews for this course take place throughout the year and there is an intake each October. The components of the course are offered in two routes to qualification.

Daytime Route

The daytime route, Mode D, that runs from 9.00am to 5.00pm two days a week for two years and one and a half to two days per week for the final year. Year one takes place on Tuesday, 9.15am - 5.00pm. There are two variations to the daytime route. It can be taken over four years, Mode M, the first year of which takes place on a Tuesday from 9.15am - 5.45pm. It can also be taken as a full time course over two years, Mode I.

Mode M caters for people who want to fit in with other commitments without attending in the evenings. Mode I is designed for people who have studied to degree level and have considerable experience and personal therapy prior to their application.

Afternoon Route

The afternoon route, Mode A, that runs from 1.00pm - 7.00pm one day a week for four years (with years one and two taking place on Thursday and years three and four taking place on Friday).

The above structure includes attendance of supervision but time spent with clients in the counselling service is not included. The daytime route, Mode D, has the advantage of a less pressured timetable that gives trainees the opportunity to see client during the day.

The afternoon route, Mode A, suits people who want a more compact training timetable to fit in with other commitments such as work or family.

Trainees who wish to work towards UKCP registration as a psychodynamic psychotherapists may begin to meet some of the requirements for this programme in their final year of training.

Course description

There are 30 teaching weeks in a year. Client casework continues for 44 and supervision continues for 42 weeks per year. The course is composed of modules taught at postgraduate or undergraduate level. Clinical work and supervision are included in the course structure and trainees are required to attend experiential groups.

The course has a pluralist ethos within the psychodynamic and psychoanalytic tradition. Trainees study a wide range of authors from the seminal contributions of Freud, Jung, Klein, Winnicott and Bion to contemporary views and development of theory and technique.

Trainees are encouraged to engage critically with the required reading. Some study of cognitive behavioural, family therapy, and groupwork theoretical approaches are undertaken in order to help trainees understand something of the range of psychological treatments which may be suitable for clients.

Postgraduate level modules

* Human Development
* Psychopathology
* Clinical Concepts
* Practice / Techniques
* Advanced Theoretical Issues
* Advanced Clinical Issues
* Client Casework and Supervision (continues throughout)

Undergraduate level modules

* Groupwork
* Family Perspectives
* Ontology
* Time Limited Work
* Working with Difference
* Psychiatry
* Assessment of New Clients

Some Saturday workshops are compulsory for Mode A trainees.

Experiential Groups

* All trainees attend experiential groups for at least one year of their training.

Tutorials

* WPF Therapy allocates a personal tutor to each trainee.

Assessment

This is continuous and intended to provide helpful and constructive feedback wherever possible. Satisfactory completion of, and attendance at, all compulsory modules is required. At the end of each year a staff committee considers the progress of each trainee and makes a recommendation based on a self-assessment, supervisor's report, seminar reports and the written assignments.

Written work

Written work is required in each of the postgraduate level seminars, usually an essay of 2,000 words in each. Essays or student presentations may also be required in the undergraduate level seminars. Trainees are also required to complete two clinical essays, the first submitted in year two of the course, the second in the final year of the course. These are of 3,000 and 3,500 words respectively.

Clinical Placement

WPF Therapy places emphasis on the clinical aspects of our professional courses and the Postgraduate Diploma / MA will provide extensive experience of face-to-face practice in the WPF Therapy Counselling & Psychotherapy Service. This is central to our training and usually involves working with both male and female clients of different ages and from a diversity of backgrounds. Trainees may also be able to gain experience in particular specialities, for example, short-term work, working with clients who have a serious physical illness, or working with young or elderly people. This clinical experience as a whole provides an invaluable opportunity for trainees to develop their skills while under the supervision of experienced practitioners, and so equips graduates for a broad-based professional practice once training is completed.

* Supervision
Weekly group supervision is provided for trainees as a required module of the Course. It continues for 42 weeks in the year.

* Therapy
Trainees are required to be in individual personal therapy at least once weekly with a WPF Therapy approved therapist for the duration of the course. Many trainees find that greater frequency is beneficial to them at some stage in the course.

An approved therapist is one who has completed a recognised training course which is on the WPF Therapy list of training courses that are compatible with our own. The designation "approved" is not intended to make any judgment about the qualities of individual therapists or of other trainings.

Applicants are not required to be in therapy at the time of application, but the strongest candidates are those with some experience of therapy. Candidates who need to find a therapist, or who are with a non-approved therapist and are therefore required to change, will be offered a consultation with an adviser. There is a fee for this consultation.

Each trainee's therapy arrangement must be approved by the therapy adviser to whom they are allocated. All trainees must be in approved therapy by the time the course begins.