Counselling and Psychotherapy

Entry requirements

Applications for course entry in September 2022 - please note the closing date of midnight, 28 January 2022

Please note this course operates a 'gathered field' approach for admission. All applications received by the application deadline (midnight on 28 January 2022) will be given equal consideration. Therefore, you will not receive a decision on your application until after this date.

ACADEMIC ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

The entry requirements, for applicants who have not already completed the Keele Graduate Certificate in Counselling or BSc Psychology with Counselling at Keele, are a 2i degree in any discipline or equivalent professional qualifications. This is to ensure that students have the required foundational written and analytic skills to study at MSc level.

We are also looking for applicants with some experience of working with people in a helping capacity, whether voluntary or paid.

The MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy is a very demanding course - emotionally as well as academically; we are training to people to work with people who may be in great emotional and psychological distress. For this reason, and in line with the requirements of BACP, applicants also need to demonstrate the following attributes: self awareness, maturity and stability; ability to make use of and reflect upon life experience; capacity to cope with the emotional demands of the course; ability to cope with the intellectual and academic requirements; ability to form a helping relationship; ability to be self-critical and use both positive and negative feedback; awareness of the nature of prejudice and oppression; awareness of the nature of difference and equality; ability to recognise the need for personal and professional support; competence in or the aptitude to develop generic personal skills, including: literacy, numeracy, information technology, administrative skills, self-managements skills, communication and interpersonal skills.

Applicants will need to address all of these points in their personal statements in the application form and in response to the criteria questionnaire to be completed as part of the application process.

Applicants will be required to initially complete an online application form including a personal statement. Once the application has been received, if the applicant meets the entry requirements for the programme, they will be sent a set of criteria questions to fill out. In line with the gathered field process, applicants will be scored on their responses to these questions and, on the basis of this scoring, applicants may progress to the next stage of the selection process, a group interview with other applicants and two members of the course team. Applicants not initially called for interview will be held on a waiting list to see whether or not they may be called for interview at a later date or will be informed that they will be not be progressing further.

If called for interview, applicants will be informed of the criteria against which they will be assessed at interview and, following this interview, will be offered a conditional or unconditional place, depending on references and other conditions that might need to be met (e.g. the completion of required qualifications); will be held on a waiting list, or may be informed that they will not receive an offer for a place.

Please note that a DBS will be required.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Please note, all course information including entry requirements relates to the 2022/23 academic year.

The Master's in Counselling and Psychotherapy is a professional training in counselling. The full-time programme has been running for over 10 years and has been accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). This means that students who successfully complete the programme gain automatic entry onto the BACP register.

This MSc programme in Counselling and Psychotherapy aims to equip you with the knowledge and expertise to become professional person-centred/humanistic counsellors. The course integrates your counselling skills practice with academic study of counselling related theory at Masters level and facilitates student’s personal and professional development, as well as offering you a grounding in research methodology.

The course is founded on a person-centred view of personhood and person-centred ways of being and the core training offered by the programme is in the person-centred approach. We accept the overwhelming evidence of the theorists that the major factor in helping human beings change in a desired positive direction is a relationship in which they feel safe, valued and challenged. Therefore, we view the relationship in counselling as central, and support Carl Rogers’ belief in the ‘self-therapeutic capacity and wisdom of clients’. However, we also take a strong ‘anti-schoolism’ stance which reflects our sincere respect for other, non-person-centred practices and practitioners. Our starting point for the Keele Counselling Model is thus a unifying ethos which enables us to respect and welcome a diversity of professional skills and orientations. Additionally, the centrality of a secure and constantly reviewed ethical position, based on the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions, is presented to the programme members as a major personal responsibility.

WHY STUDY AT KEELE

• Both the full-time and part-time MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy are BACP accredited programmes.
• We offer a thorough theoretical grounding in person-centred/humanistic counselling and an introduction to research methodology.
• Keele Counselling staff have a wealth of experience in providing counselling training to both UK and international students.
• Keele has a thriving counselling community with students from a range of professional, cultural, social and educational backgrounds.
• All staff are active practitioners in counselling who are up to date with current therapeutic practice, training and research.
• An annual Counselling Conference with internationally renowned keynote speakers and researchers in counselling.
• Students are supported in a counselling placement where they gain workplace experience.

Information for international students

Fees and funding

For information related to fees and funding, please visit the individual course page on the Keele University website.