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Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling

The two year Diploma course qualifies trainees to work as agency counsellors seeing clients on a once a week basis and is accredited by WPF.

It provides a firm grounding in psychodynamic counselling both theory and practice, and contributes towards the requirements for eventual BACP individual accreditation.

The Diploma course at Enfield has the advantage of being attached to a counselling centre so an external placement is not necessary. Supervision is also included in the course fee.

The training comprises of:

  • Theoretical seminars
  • Participation in an Experiential group
  • Client work
  • Supervision
  • Personal therapy

Successful completion of the course depends on trainees meeting the required standard in all the above areas.

Details of the assessment process will be provided on successful application.

What is Psychodynamic Counselling

A psychodynamic model of human behavior and relationships, which is grounded in psychoanalytic theories and has, at its core, the notion that our unconscious shapes our internal world and contributes to how we relate to others.

Our inner and outer worlds are often in conflict with each other in a way which is troubling and which can compromise our functioning in our daily lives. Past experiences, particularly in infancy and childhood, influence us in the present and contribute to patterns of behavior and ways of relating.

We transfer feelings and thoughts associated with important figures from our past onto those in the present, but our conscious awareness of this is inhibited by psychological defence mechanisms. In practice, a psychodynamic counsellor will have in mind this model of the psyche when working with a client.

The aim of psychodynamic counselling will include facilitating unconscious processes to become more consciously accessible to the client so that there is a possibility of change in patterns of behavior and ways of relating. One of the main ways of doing this is through the transferential relationship the client develops with the counsellor. This is an important tool for counsellors to use in their understanding of their clients.

Course structure and time commitments Each term is 11 weeks; 10 weeks of seminars plus one week mid-term which is designated as reading week. The seminars will take place on one evening per week. This is likely to be on a Monday evening from 7pm to 10.15pm.

You will be expected to attend supervision on a weekly basis for 42 weeks per year each session lasting 90 minutes. There will also be additional time commitments for client work, reading and study.

An important part of the course will be once a term meetings with the personal tutor.

There will also be once a term plenary sessions with the training coordinator.

In Addition

As a trainee counsellor you are regarded as part of Enfield Counselling Service and you will be expected to participate in some important Service events, such as the once termly service meeting.

This is held on a Saturday morning and all ECS staff attend.

You will also be encouraged to make every effort to attend the Enfield Counselling Service AGM.

Course Content in full [PDF 62KB]

Fees

£2,250 per year* – this includes the cost of supervision. It can be paid in three installments. In addition to this you will need to fund your personal therapy.

How to Apply

Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling Application Form [PDF 67KB]

Return your completed application form, by post or email, ecs@onetel.com to the Training Co-ordinator together with a brief report from your Counselling Skills course tutor.

Where the requirements have been met, the applicant will then have two interviews.

Please note, there is an application fee of £15 (waived for ECS certificate students).

First interview

This is conducted in two parts. The first part is a case discussion. The applicant will be given a case to consider for discussion with the Counselling and Training coordinators, either individually or as part of a group with other applicants. The second part is an interview with the Training coordinator There is a fee of £40 for the first interview.

Second interview

This will be with our external assessor to whom a fee of £55 is to be paid. Applicants may be asked to attend a third interview. The decision to offer a place will be based on the outcome of all the interviews and the fulfillment of the above requirements. If you have any queries or would like to discuss anything in more detail contact the:

Training Co-ordinator, telephone: 0208 367 8910 or email: ecs@onetel.com

Please note: Enfield Counselling Service reserves the right to cancel or change the contents of all courses.

*Fees are subject to annual review.

Important information about our terms of payment


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