Postgraduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Theory and Practice (Psychodynamic Psychotherapy - PDP L1)

Please scroll down to see modes of delivery of this programme

Programme Manager: Stephen Crawford & Gwen Evans
Venue: 23 Magdalen Street, London SE1 2EN
Fee:

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Qualification (PDP L1) with a licence to practise in once weekly psychotherapy.

This training leads to registration with BPC and is also BACP accredited. This is a 4 year training which combines theoretical seminars and clinical experience. All trainees on this programme are provided with a clinical placement within WPF Therapy's Clinical Services. Clinical supervision of this work is provided on site. The fees are inclusive apart from the cost of personal therapy, which is the trainee's responsibility.

______________________________________________________________________________

Further Details

The training programme:

• Includes a clinical placement in WPF Therapy's  Clinical Services
• Leads to registration with the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) as a psychodynamic psychotherapist practising once weekly psychotherapy
• Fulfils the training requirements for individual accreditation with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
• Is validated by Roehampton University
• Is recognised by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) as a route to registration as a psychotherapeutic counsellor

There is an option to complete the MA in Psychodynamic Theory and Practice.

This qualification provides a foundation for psychoanalytic psychotherapy training and for further training to achieve a licence to practise twice weekly psychodynamic psychotherapy.


WPF Therapy organises the Postgraduate Diploma flexibly to allow for recognition of previous learning experience and the individual learning needs of trainees.

The course structure enables trainees to proceed to qualification in four years. Applicants with a WPF Therapy Network Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling or with equivalent and certificated previous learning experience may be admitted into years two or three of either of the four year training routes.

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

Modular Daytime Route
The Modular Route (Mode M), caters for people who want to fit their training in with other commitments, without attending in the evenings. This training programme runs over four years on one day a week. In the first year, training takes place on Tuesdays from 9.15am  -  5.45pm.

Afternoon Route
The Afternoon Route, Mode A, runs from 1.00pm - 7.00pm one day a week for four years (with years one and two taking place on Thursdays and years three and four taking place on Fridays).

Training Programme

Structure

The is delivered through a combination of seminars, experiential groups and clinical supervision. In addition to the training sessions set out above, trainees will undertake clinical work with clients at WPF Therapy's Clinical Service at London Bridge. Trainees have the opportunity to see clients during the day, in the evenings or on Saturdays. On Mode A, clients can sometimes be seen in the morning before the timetable starts or in the evening after it ends. Trainees on both Modes may need to see their clients on days other than those when they attend the scheduled course.


Each Mode of this training leads to registration with the graduate body of WPF Therapy, the Foundation for Psychotherapy and Counselling (FPC), and with BPC as a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist licensed to practice once weekly psychotherapy. Trainees who wish to work towards a qualification and a licence to practise as twice weekly psychodynamic psychotherapists (PDP L2) may apply for this programme in their final year of training.

Course description

There are 30 teaching weeks in a year. Client casework takes place over 44 weeks and supervision continues for 42 weeks per year. The course is composed of modules taught at postgraduate 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 traditions. Trainees study a wide range of theory, from the seminal contributions of Freud, Jung, Klein, Winnicott and Bion to contemporary views 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 Clinical and Theoretical Issues Year 1
• Advanced Clinical and Theoretical Issues Year 2
• Client Casework and Supervision (continues throughout)

Professional modules

• Groupwork
• Family Perspectives
• Ontology
• Time Limited Work
• Issues of Difference and Diversity
• Research Awareness
• Psychiatry
• Assessment of New Clients

Some Saturday workshops are compulsory for trainees on all Modes.

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. 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. 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 will provide extensive experience of face-to-face practice in the WPF Therapy Clinical 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. The 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.

It is not mandatory for applicants 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.

Selection criteria
At the time of making the initial application applicants must:

• Usually be over 25 years
• Already have experience of using counselling skills with individuals in a face to face context
• Have successfully completed, or be about to complete a basic course in counselling skills of not less than one year's duration and which is equivalent to the WPF Therapy Certificate in Counselling Skills
• Be personally suitable to train as therapists and to work with clients at WPF Therapy
• Have the potential to work at postgraduate level

Written and Spoken English
Please note all applicants must be fluent in written and spoken English.  These are the qualifications in English regarded by WPF Therapy as an acceptable minimum level of competence:

• British Council IELTS at 6.0 overall with no less than 5.5 in any band (see www.ielts.org)
• GCSE grade C
• Cambridge Proficiency Certificate grade C
• Cambridge Advanced Certificate grade C (with no less than 'weak' in any band)

WPF Therapy may require proof prior to the offer of a place.

WPF Therapy reserves the right to extend or terminate training.

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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

MA in Psychodynamic Theory and Practice

This is open to those who have successful completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Theory and Practice.  It consists of dissertation workshops, the writing of a proposal and the writing of a 10,000 - 12,000 word dissertation.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Further Details

Further information and application forms are available from the Programme Administrator at training@wpf.org.uk or 020 7378 2052.

An individual training consultation can be arranged for a fee of £40.

Go back to all courses >

Download Document