Course summary

This UKCP-accredited MSc offers a rigorous and experiential training in Gestalt Psychotherapy, emphasising awareness, creativity, and relational contact. The programme develops practitioners who can work responsively and authentically with clients, drawing on the immediacy of experience and the co-created nature of the therapeutic relationship. Students learn to work with Gestalt’s distinctive focus on the here-and-now, exploring how patterns of experience, emotion, and behaviour emerge within the therapeutic encounter. The course supports the development of a lively, embodied, and reflective clinical practice that integrates theory, creativity, and personal process. Course philosophy Gestalt Psychotherapy is grounded in the belief that awareness of present experience is transformative. This course focuses on the relational and experiential aspects of therapy, encouraging students to explore how meaning and change arise through contact between therapist and client. The training fosters curiosity, openness, and creative experimentation as key aspects of Gestalt practice. Teaching and learning Teaching takes place in weekend blocks and combines experiential group work, theoretical study, and skills training. Students engage in dialogue, movement, and creative exploration, integrating intellectual understanding with embodied awareness. Clinical supervision and reflective practice are woven throughout the learning process. Assessment Assessment is through multimedia portfolios, written assignments, skills observations, professional conversations, presentations, case studies, clinical supervision reports, and a final research project, allowing students to demonstrate integration of personal, theoretical, and clinical learning. Clinical placement Students are required to undertake supervised clinical placements throughout their training. These placements provide an essential context for integrating Gestalt principles into practice, supported by reflective journals and supervision. Career pathways Graduates are eligible to register with the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and may practise professionally as Gestalt Psychotherapists in private practice, health, education, or community settings. Programme delivery This part-time programme is studied over three years and delivered through weekend intensives in a blended format, combining in-person and online learning. The intake begins in September each year.