Foundation Certificate in Psychodynamic Skills & Attitudes
An introduction to psychodynamic counselling and the development of key counselling skills. No prior knowledge required.
Introductory Course (10 weeks, online)
Delivered live in a virtual classroom by an experienced tutor. Perfect for beginners. Thursday evenings, 18:30–20:30. No entry requirements.
Topics covered: What is counselling?, Listening & active listening, Self-awareness, Feelings, Attachment, Responding & paraphrasing, Open questions, Silence, Boundaries, Loss, change & endings
Key theorists: Freud, Klein, Winnicott, Bowlby, Jung, Bion
Course Structure Options
Year long — Wednesday daytime · 3 × 11-week terms · September – July
Intensive — 6 weekends and 2 × 4-day weeks · January – July
Plus 2 compulsory Saturday workshops and 2 tutorials with your personal tutor.
Learning Outcomes
- •Develop basic skills in listening, reflecting, summarising and paraphrasing
- •Develop skills of supporting and challenging others within a group setting
- •An understanding of the therapeutic frame
- •Knowledge of ethical guidelines, boundaries, confidentiality and containment
- •Elementary psychoanalytic theory of human development
- •Begin to look at, reflect on and recognise patterns in behaviour, feeling and thinking
- •Awareness of working in a diverse society where issues of difference are acknowledged
Who can apply?
No formal qualifications required. Selection is based on personal and emotional suitability, intellectual potential, and ability to attend course dates.
Personal therapy (at least once weekly) is required during the course.