Courses / Diploma
Stage 3 of 4 on the training route
Diploma in TA Psychotherapeutic Counselling
Where you begin working with clients. Two years of clinical training, supervised practice and continuing personal development, leading to qualification as a psychotherapeutic counsellor.
- Length
- Two years, October to July
- Each month
- An online Friday and an in-person weekend
- Next start
- October 2028
- Fee
- £3,400 per year
- Level
- Level 7
About the Course
The Diploma turns understanding into practice. You'll start seeing clients on a supervised placement while the training group gives you a place to reflect on the work, bring your questions and keep growing as a practitioner.
Psychotherapeutic counselling sits between counselling and psychotherapy: it works relationally and in depth, while being suited to a wide range of settings, from GP surgeries and charities to private practice.
What You'll Study
Eight modules across the two years, bringing TA together with psychoanalytic thinking. These are the topics each one covers:
Year 1
Narrative Perspectives on Personality and Relationship
- Impasse, Relational Units and Complexes
- Transference and Countertransference
- Script, Identity and Self
- Games and Enactment
Change Processes in TA
- The Contracting Matrix and Process Contracting
- Decontamination
- Deconfusion
- Working with Conflict and Confusion
- Diagnosis and Models of Mental Health
Preparation for Placement Practice
- Skills Practice and Research
- Conceptualising Ethical Dilemmas
Personal Development in Preparation for Practice
- Group Process and Personal Development
Year 2
Psychological Defences
- Second Order Ego State Structure
- Redefinition and Mechanisms of Defence
- Protocol and Child Development
- Projective and Introjective Transference
Difference, Diversity and Psychotherapy
- OKness and Oppression
- Frame of Reference, Culture, Diversity and Intersectionality
Preparation for Independent Practice
- Ethics, Risk Taking and Making Mistakes
- Working with Groups
- Treatment Planning
- Working with Deficit
- Skills Practice and Research
Personal Development in Preparation for Qualified Practice
- Group Process and Personal Development
How It's Taught
Three training days a month for ten months of each year, from October to July: one Friday online and one weekend (Saturday and Sunday) in person at Victoria Halls in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire.
Alongside lectures, seminars and skills practice, you'll keep a personal reflective journal and write a short synopsis of its themes each year. The Diploma ends with a two-part final exam, written and oral.
Clinical Practice
Across the two years you'll complete 100 hours of supervised client work on an approved placement. You'll have fortnightly supervision with a UKCP-registered psychotherapist, including at least an hour one-to-one each month, and hold professional indemnity insurance while you're seeing clients.
Personal Therapy
You'll be in personal therapy for at least 40 hours a year with a UKCP-registered psychotherapist. If you're thinking of taking the CTA route later on, your therapist will also need to be a CTA, PTSTA or TSTA.
Entry Requirements
- Completion of the Foundation Year in TA, or equivalent TA training
- Ongoing personal therapy, as above
- An interview to talk about your readiness for client work