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Counselling and Psychotherapy at Keele University - UCAS

Keele University

Degree level: Postgraduate

Counselling and Psychotherapy (Taught)

Course options

2025 - 20262026 - 2027
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Open days

3Dec
Keele University - Postgraduate Open Event
Postgraduate

Course summary

Make a difference to the lives of others by gaining the knowledge skills and experience to practice as a professional counsellor. Our British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) accredited MSc combines academic study with counselling skills practice, facilitating your personal and professional development as well as offering you a grounding in research methodology. Why choose this course?

  • Both our full-time and part-time programmes are accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
  • Learn from active practitioners in counselling who have a wealth of experience in providing counselling training to both UK and international students
  • You will acquire a theoretical grounding in person-centred/humanistic counselling and an introduction to research methodologies
  • Keele has a thriving counselling community with students from a range of professional, cultural, social and educational backgrounds
Our MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy incorporates incorporates four interwoven strands of counselling training: counselling theory, counselling practice, personal development, and positionality. The philosophy of the programme is humanistic, with a focus on person-centred practice. The core theoretical model is grounded in Carl Rogers’ belief in the self-therapeutic capacity and wisdom of clients (1967). The philosophical traditions of existentialism and phenomenology illuminate our understanding of humanistic practice, explored through lectures and small group work. You will be encouraged to examine and question your own beliefs, assumptions, and lived experiences to develop a personal, integrated theory of human development. This process is rooted in humanistic and phenomenological principles and supports a deepening awareness of how identity, power, and privilege shape therapeutic presence and practice. Positionality is a major strand of the programme, threaded throughout all aspects of training. You will be invited to reflect on your social location, including dimensions such as race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, and culture, and consider how these intersect with power and privilege in therapeutic relationships. This includes engaging with difference, marginalisation, and the ethical implications of working across diverse contexts. We view this reflective work as essential to developing relational depth, cultural humility, and ethical integrity. To enable you to build and maintain strong therapeutic alliances, we aim to facilitate your ability to co-create relationships at depth, including an understanding of the barriers that may prevent or impact such relationships. Concepts such as presence, empathic understanding, resonance, acceptance, and challenge will underpin your personal way of being and professional practice, supporting your capacity to meet clients with authenticity and depth. About Keele Keele University was established in 1949 by the former Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. Founded to meet the needs of a changing world, Keele has always had a pioneering vision to be a different kind of university. We excel in both teaching and research, with some of the most satisfied students in England, and research that is changing lives for the better at a regional, national and global level. Our beautiful 600-acre campus is one of the biggest in Britain – but all the most important services and facilities are on your doorstep, with accommodation, teaching spaces, facilities including a medical centre, sports centre and pharmacy, and a range of shops, eateries and entertainment venues – including the Students’ Union – clustered around the centre.

Modules

For information regarding modules for this course, please visit the course page on the Keele University website.

Professional bodies

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

  • British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy

Entry requirements

Typical offer: 2:2 degree in any subject or Keele Graduate Certificate in Counselling, with 60% in one assignment and a Progression Report from an academic mentor

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

No fee information has been provided for this course

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Information relating to the tuition fees and funding options for this course can be viewed on the Keele University website. https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/postgraduatestudy/tuitionfeesandfunding
Counselling and Psychotherapy at Keele University - UCAS