Course summary

This unique counselling psychology programme, with the existential approach as it’s main modality, is a joint programme with Middlesex University and on successful completion graduates are eligible for BPS accreditation as a Chartered Counselling Psychologist and registration with HCPC as a practitioner psychologist. At the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling, we consider counselling psychology and psychotherapy to be important evolving professions, which have an essential role to play in the future of mental health services. The Doctorate in Counselling Psychology programme at NSPC will involve helping you to acquire the right qualification and expertise in this field whilst enjoying its interconnections with other mental health professions. This training involves a substantial period of supervised practice, a sound knowledge of underlying theory, and the development of critical research skills. Theory, practice, self-development and research will therefore be intertwined continuously throughout the programme of studies, so as to bring together all the important elements through concerted work in supervised clinical placements and at our training institution. We value personal maturity greatly and will seek to enable you to draw from your understanding of your life experiences in becoming a practitioner. Indeed life crises often represent a special opportunity for personal development and NSPC students will be expected to use individual therapy and personal and professional development groups to achieve such reflection on and understanding of their own experiences in light of the theories and practice of counselling psychology and psychotherapy. The existential philosophy of the school provides a disciplined philosophical framework for this integration. The existential approach does not focus on what has gone wrong in a person’s life, but on how a person may discover a deeper sense of being through the experience of anguish and a sense of meaning through tackling life’s challenges. The teaching and training provided by NSPC incorporates these basic values by recognising that life experience, in addition to formal academic and practical professional training and alongside careful research together form the four foundations on which students need to build in becoming an accomplished existential counselling psychologist and psychotherapist. NSPC aims to provide its students with every opportunity to work towards professional competence and academic excellence in an integrated way.