This course starts in September 2013 and is completed over one year of full-time study.
The MA Counselling Children and Young People is a unique course in the field, focusing on the complex new challenges faced by practitioners working with children and young people in a range of settings, including schools, public and voluntary sectors and in private practice.
The challenges for early intervention today are informed by new modes of family reconstruction, high levels of depression, suicide and self-harm, eating and addictive disorders among children and young people. The course is situated at the threshold of social inclusion & restorative citizenship and positions the talking therapies as a primary task of early intervention, not just in terms of response, but also in terms of prevention and health education.
The personal development of the counsellor is central to the course which is delivered with a strong emphasis on experiential learning, personal therapy, supervised practice (practice route) and self-other reflection including using video and refined multi-sensory activities. Modules bring professional practice alive with opportunities to experience and critique different counselling modalities under the umbrella of humanistic therapy (ranging from mentalization therapy to person-centred, cognitive and psychoanalytic approaches).
Previous students on the programme have found it especially helpful to consider, in-depth, the theory and practice of counselling children and young people. Some graduates have gone on to develop doctoral research based on their MA.
Routes
The MA Counselling Children and Young People has two routes of entry and study.
Practice route: This route is applicable if you are an experienced counsellor already working in an appropriate professional setting, wishing to undertake a supervised placement module which will count towards BACP accreditation.
Studies route: This route is applicable if you meet the academic requirements but have relatively little experience of counselling and wish to deepen your knowledge and understanding of counselling theory and practice with young people at a postgraduate level. The studies route is also appropriate if you are an accredited counselling professional but do not wish to undertake a placement as part of your postgraduate programme