Postgraduate Studentships - Search for funding opportunities.
Postgraduate Studentships - Search for funding opportunities.
Study Details: 2 years full time, 4 years part time
Find out about courses, learn about the application process, and discover how we can help you achieve your professional goals.
Our MSc in Counselling at Bangor University aims to prepare you to take an active role as a member of the professional counselling/psychotherapy community.
This course explores a range of psychological approaches and therapeutic methods to provide holistic training in adult counselling. You will learn about the Humanistic approach and Person-Centred therapy, Psychodynamic approach and Psychoanalytic therapy, Behavioural approach and Behaviour therapy, and Cognitive approach and Cognitive therapy. In addition, you will be introduced to several integrative approaches (for example, we might explore Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, or Transactional Analysis).
This Counselling Masters can be taken as a full-time two-year course or a part-time four-year course and there is more information on how that works in practice in the Course Content tab.
You will also take part in practical activities to develop your communication skills and integrate therapeutic techniques into your practice. You will engage in regular observed counselling skills sessions with your peers and this will prepare you for undertaking a placement of 100hrs of supervised counselling. Our skills lecturers and placement coordinator have an extensive counselling background working with clients in the NHS, and they will support you in developing your counselling skills and applying them in practice on placement. Our previous students have completed these placements with organisations such as the NHS Primary Mental Health Service, bereavement service CRUSE, Age UK, the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Service, etc. Our course also has a strong academic core and we are proud of the way that we integrate Psychology and Research training throughout the course to ensure that our graduates are fully rounded practitioners. Our modules draw on the expertise of a range of practitioners in addition to counsellors - including clinical psychologists and researchers – to provide comprehensive training in mental health. Evidence-based practice is becoming increasingly in demand within this sector and we prepare our students for a career which may require them to draw on research skills and psychological knowledge, alongside applied counselling skills. The extensive curriculum covered on our programme will equip you to work with clients across various settings, and provide you with a toolkit of evidence-based techniques and relationship-focused methods. This training programme is designed to provide you with an opportunity to graduate with all of the skills needed to apply for doctorate level study or work in an empirically-based practice.
You must have one of the following academic qualifications:
If the applicant has English as a second language, then they will also be required to hold an IELTS of 7.0 (with no element below 6.5) and exhibit clear evidence of communication skills through the medium of English in the interview.
Applicants will also be required to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Applicants who have lived or worked outside of the UK for 12 months or more may also be required to submit a check appropriate to that country.
Applicants must pass a structured interview (including a small group activity), and acceptance on the course will depend on their fitness and suitability to practice counselling with vulnerable adults. This interview is an essential part of the assessment to determine suitability for placement, and the placement is a core requirement of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. The interview will be conducted online so the applicant must have access to a device with internet access, the capacity to download Microsoft TEAMS, speakers, a microphone, and a camera.
For fees and funding options, please visit website to find out more
One in four adults experience at least one mental health difficulty in any given year and mental health issues account for the largest single cause of disability in the UK (Mental Health Taskforce Strategy, Feb 2016).
The NHS committed to a transformation of mental health care across the UK and pledged to invest more than one billion pounds a year by 2020/21. As a result of this commitment and the increasing need for mental health support, employment opportunities in counselling are likely to expand in the near future. Graduates from this course will be particularly well equipped to succeed in this growing market.
"I wasn't expecting to find a way to work full time as a counsellor within my first year of qualification, but I've been really pleasantly surprised to be working with 20 clients a week. It's sometimes a bit overwhelming, but I'm getting used to it and am generally just really grateful for my career thus far. I went into private practice in October 2020, and I'm happy to say that my books are full!"
"I am working as a psychological wellbeing practitioner for an employee assistance provision. This company offers drop ins for domestic violence and substance misuse. To secure this role, I was asked to explain how I developed my therapeutic orientation and my experiences of counselling. Without the course, I would not have had the opportunity to develop my knowledge and practice in counselling, and would not be in this position."
This course trains you in integrative counselling, and this means that your training will combine elements from different approaches and therapies around therapeutic principles:
Your Future in Action. Nestled between the mountains and the sea in North Wales, Bangor University offers a postgraduate experience shape...
