Masters Degree Description
An intensive foundation in counselling for those who meet elements of counselling in their day-to-day work and who wish to enter this field professionally.
- This programme teaches the fundamentals of psychodynamic counselling - ideal if you don't yet have sufficient experience and qualifications to study at a postgraduate diploma level.
- You’ll study key theoretical concepts that inform the practice of humanistic and psychodynamic counselling, and will identify the specific responsibilities and processes of the counselling alliance.
- The programme is taught by means of theoretical lectures, seminars, experiential workshops, and group tutorials.
- The programme is particularly suitable for those who wish to apply to our MA in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Please note: Entry requirements for further qualification vary considerably between institutions. Students are expected to conduct their own research before applying.
Entry Requirements
You must be able to demonstrate:
- a commitment to counselling as a profession
- an ability to sustain academic study
- the potential to develop those qualities essential to counselling, for example empathy and sense of self
Fees
Please see our website for fees
Programme Funding
Goldsmiths offers a range of financial support including postgraduate scholarships, bursaries and fee waivers. These are awarded based on a variety of criteria, for example academic achievements or personal circumstances.
Student Destinations
Suitable careers for graduates of this programme include:
- support and welfare work
- residential social work
- teaching
- advocacy
- mentoring
Module Details
This course takes place over 26 weeks.
Autumn term
- Defining the counselling alliance
- Fundamental conditions of the counselling relationship
- Overview of the humanistic framework
- Carl Rogers and person-centred counselling
- Gerard Egan’s goal-orientated approach
- Existential philosophy and Gestalt therapy
- Comparing and contrasting the different humanistic theories
Spring term
- Defining the psychodynamic model (Freud, Klein)
- Introduction to human growth and development
- Attachment, containment and trust (Bowlby and Winnicott)
- Unconscious processes: transference and countertransference, projection and introjection, defence mechanisms
Summer term
- Defining Transcultural Counselling and its impact
- Exploring issues of diversity, gender, race, and power in the counselling relationship
- Ethical professional frameworks, supervision, and self-care
- Treatment ending
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