Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (M.Sc. / P.Grad. Dip.)

Course details

This is a course in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, conducted as a part of a four year training programme in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The course provides students with a comprehensive account of psychoanalytic systems as they have developed from the work of Sigmund Freud to the current time. The course provides a comprehensive conceptual and critical understanding of the theoretical basis of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, as well as a thorough training in the application of psychoanalytic theory to psychoanalytic clinical practice.

The central aim of this course is to provide students with the theoretical basis for training in adult psychoanalytic psychotherapy and child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The course provides a thorough training in psychoanalytic theory from Freud through Klein, Bion, Winnicott, and the Independent Tradition, while strongly emphasising the aspect of clinical training with adults.

Module 1: Theoretical Frameworks I (10 ECTS);

Module 2: Infant Observation I (10 ECTS);

Module 3: Infant, Child - Adolescent Development (10 ECTS);

Module 4: Clinical Concepts (5 ECTS);

Module 5: Infant Observation II (10 ECTS);

Module 6: Theoretical Framework II (10 ECTS);

Module 7: Clinical Practice (5 ECTS);

Module 8: Research (30 ECTS). Modules 1 to 4 are completed in the first year of the course, with modules 5 to 8 being completed in the second year of the course. Students who pass each of the taught modules and the dissertation are eligible for the award of M.Sc. in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Students who pass each of the modules but do not complete the dissertation will be awarded the Post-Graduate Diploma in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy.

Teaching will take place on Tuesday evenings and all day Wednesday during term. Some teaching also takes place on an irregular basis out of term in order to support the Infant Observation module and in relation to the ongoing clinical components of the programme. Students continue their personal therapy out of term as well as in term. The course, including assessment, is the equivalent of 90 ECTS.

The course taught modules are as follows:

Module 1: Theoretical Frameworks I (10 ECTS);

Module 2: Infant Observation I (10 ECTS);

Module 3: Infant, Child - Adolescent Development (10 ECTS);

Module 4: Clinical Concepts (5 ECTS);

Module 5: Infant Observation II (10 ECTS);

Module 6: Theoretical Framework II (10 ECTS);

Module 7: Clinical Practice (5 ECTS);

Module 8: Research (30 ECTS). Modules 1 to 4 are completed in the first year of the course, with modules 5 to 8 being completed in the second year of the course. Students who pass each of the taught modules and the dissertation are eligible for the award of M.Sc. in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Students who pass each of the modules but do not complete the dissertation will be awarded the Post-Graduate Diploma in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy.