School of Health in Social Science
Counselling and Psychotherapy
MASTER OF COUNSELLING (PART-TIME)
INFORMATION BOOKLET, 2010 – 2012
Introduction
The part-time Master of Counselling, (MCouns) at the University of Edinburgh is a four
year part-time professionally-accredited postgraduate qualification in counselling: Year 1
is the Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling Studies; Years 2 and 3 are the
Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling and Year 4 is the Masters Dissertation Year.
Combining academic rigour with high quality professional training, the programme
provides unique opportunities for training, learning and research in the field of
counselling and psychotherapy. The Master of Counselling is a comprehensive
professional training programme for individuals wishing to qualify as counsellors or
therapists. It is a flexible student-centred training process with a strong emphasis on
practice skills, including one or more substantial placements in counselling agencies.
Academically, the MCouns is an enhanced professional postgraduate programme,
consisting of 360 postgraduate credits, double the standard 180 credit MSc. The
MCouns is on a par with other professional programmes, such as the MEd (Education),
MSW (Social Work) and MBA (Business Administration).
Professional Accreditation
The Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling is validated by COSCA, the professional body
for counselling and psychotherapy in Scotland. Students successfully completing the
academic and practice requirements of the Pg Diploma automatically meet the training
requirement for COSCA accreditation. While this constitutes a substantial part of the
accreditation process, full accreditation as an individual counselling practitioner involves
further post-qualifying requirements related to practice hours and personal and
professional development.
The Pg Diploma in Counselling also meets the professional and academic requirements
for counselling training laid down by BACP, the British Association of Counselling and
Psychotherapy, the UK-wide professional body for counselling and psychotherapy.
There is significant correspondence between the accreditation processes of COSCA and
BACP and it is a matter of individual choice whether Pg Diploma graduates seek
accreditation through COSCA or BACP. For more information on accreditation
requirements, please contact COSCA or BACP directly. Their web addresses are
www.cosca.org.uk and www.bacp.co.uk respectively.
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Aims
The overall aim of the Master of Counselling is to provide a generic professional training
in counselling at postgraduate level, and to foster the development of critically reflective
practitioners who are able to work in a variety of settings with a broad range of client
groups.
Students who successfully complete the Master of Counselling will:
 be reflective, self-aware, safe, accountable and competent counsellors
 have a sound knowledge base of theories and research on the development of
the person, group process, therapeutic relationships and processes, and the role
of counselling in society
 possess highly developed and transferable interpersonal, conceptual and
analytical skills, including critical thinking, self-evaluation and research skills.
Core Orientation
Counselling and Psychotherapy degree programmes are founded on a dialogue
between the person-centred approach, located within the humanistic tradition, and
psychodynamic perspectives, located within the psychoanalytic tradition. Open
exploration and dialogue permeates all aspects of the programmes, including structure,
content, process and methods of teaching and learning. This stance characterises the
relationships between tutors and students. Through an active engagement with the
dialogue, students are encouraged to experience, experiment with and integrate
insights, values and practices drawn from each perspective.
Overall Programme Structure and Content
The professional training programme offers a comprehensive pathway from
Postgraduate Certificate through Postgraduate Diploma to Masters Dissertation, each
stage combining professional training with academic validation. It is a four year part-time
programme tailored to accommodate people in employment, or with other
responsibilities, and enables a broad range of people with an interest in counselling to
train and learn to the level that meets their needs and interests.
There are three stages:
Year 1 is the Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling Studies. This is a stand-alone
professionally-accredited qualification, a postgraduate certificate and the foundation year
for the MCouns. If they do not wish to pursue training as a counsellor, students can use
the Postgraduate Certificate towards the taught Masters programme, the MSc in
Counselling Studies, of which the Postgraduate Certificate is an essential component, or
they can leave the programme with the Postgraduate Certificate award. Full information
about the Pg Certificate in Counselling Studies and the MSc in Counselling Studies is
available on the Counselling and Psychotherapy website:
http://www.health.ed.ac.uk/counsellingstudies.
Programme
booklets
for
both
programmes can be accessed via the website or obtained from the Counselling and
Psychotherapy Office, contact details below. Students who decide to pursue training as
a counsellor apply to the next stage of the programme, the Postgraduate Diploma in
Counselling.
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Years 2 and 3 make up the Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling, the professional
qualification for counselling practitioners in the UK, combined with an academic
postgraduate qualification. In addition to their course attendance and course work,
students undertake counselling practice placements which consist of a minimum of 200
hours of counselling practice and 40 hours of professional supervision. The Professional
Practice Co-ordinator assists students to identify a suitable placement from a network of
approved counselling agencies. Students can leave the programme with the
Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling award or they can continue on to the Masters
Dissertation Year.
Year 4 is the Masters Dissertation year which consists of the preparation of a
dissertation of approximately 15,000 words in length. Students can choose between a
dissertation which focuses on their therapeutic work with clients or a dissertation centred
around a theme or issue in counselling or psychotherapy which is of particular interest to
them. A member of academic staff with suitable research interests and experience will
be appointed to supervise the dissertation. At the end of Year 4, students are awarded
the Master of Counselling.
The programme is designed to be accessible and adaptable to individual circumstances,
producing maximum flexibility and transferability within an academic postgraduate
framework. It enables students to enter and exit at different points, transfer between
programmes, suspend and then resume studies, while holding on to the credits they
have gained from each stage. Students are encouraged to define their own pathway,
adapted to their personal needs, circumstances and interests. Programme tutors work
closely with students in helping them plan the professional training and academic
pathway best suited to their circumstances, strengths and stage of development.
Pg Diploma Structure and Content
Pg Diploma students move through Years 2 and 3 as a closed cohort and none of the
taught courses are available to students outwith this group. The closed cohort enables
students to develop a significant level of trust which in turn facilitates personal and
professional development at all levels. The two Pg Diploma years run from September to
May and are structured around a sequence of courses which are designed to promote
students’ personal and professional development. The Pg Diploma begins with an
intensive introduction, delivered in a four day block. Thereafter the taught courses are
delivered on Wednesdays during the academic year. Further full day meetings are
scheduled at a later date.
Introduction
4 sessions – dates to be confirmed
This four day intensive course provides a comprehensive induction to the Pg Diploma
phase of the Master of Counselling and focuses on students’ preparation for starting
their counselling placements.
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The counselling relationship: theory, practice and process
10 sessions - 1.30pm to 8.15pm
This course develops and deepens the dialogue between the theoretical, practice and
process perspectives offered by the person-centred approach and psychodynamic
traditions in relation to the counselling relationship. It introduces the concept of narrative,
which is used to explore what is going on within and between the client and the
counsellor in the counselling endeavour, and the embeddedness of these in the wider
world. Central to the dialogue is the emphasis on the relational dimensions of
counselling and how these are conceptualised and expressed in practice. The course
introduces some current debates about professional and ethical practice.
Developing narratives of the self
5 sessions, Wednesdays - 1.30pm to 8.15pm
This course explores the development of selves and of persons-in-relationship. It
considers person-centred and psychodynamic accounts of human development, and
draws on current research and debates in developmental psychology and neuroscience.
Narratives and metaphors concerned with human development and distress are
discussed in relation to therapeutic processes. The relationship between psychological
and socio-cultural approaches is central to the course.
The group in the development of self and others: a person-centred approach
10 sessions, Wednesdays - 1.30pm to 8.15pm
The person-centred approach identifies the experience of being in an unstructured group
as a significant place to learn about self in relation to others. The group experience
provides a rich context in which students can become aware of familiar patterns,
experience new and different ways of being and of shared facilitation. Within the group
the core conditions can be powerfully felt, reflected upon and developed. The personcentred group is a place of learning about group process and experience. Working
without agenda or leadership, students have the opportunity to make their personal
process available to others, to develop their self-awareness and reflexivity and to think
about the application of their learning for their work as a counselling practitioner.
From two person to three person to the group: a psychodynamic perspective
10 sessions, Wednesdays - 1.30pm to 8.15pm
This course examines ideas about the development of the relational self between two
persons, three persons and the family available in contemporary psychoanalytic ideas
and practices. A primary focus will be on the links between feeling and thinking,
experience and knowledge, and phantasy and reality. These ideas will be linked to the
concepts and uses of transference and counter-transference in therapeutic processes.
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Negotiating Identities in Transition
15 sessions, Wednesdays - 1.30pm to 8.15pm
This course explores the theme of negotiating identities in transition as students are
deepening their knowledge and experience of therapeutic practice, coming to the end of
their professional training in counselling and preparing themselves for working as
qualified counsellors. Students consolidate their knowledge of the central tasks of
counselling in facilitating change and growth in clients and examine the process of the
formation of new and altered identities through integrating personal experience with
professional counselling practice. Theories of attachment, separation and loss, endings
and beginnings, change and transition will be revisited. The course analyses counselling
as a contemporary social phenomenon, locating counselling within specific social,
cultural and political contexts. Students are required to define their own professional,
theoretical and political orientations as practising counsellors.
Practice and Process Courses
Through both years of the Pg Diploma, students participate in Practice and Process
Courses through a small facilitated group which focuses on their developing practice as
counsellors. This group runs for ninety minutes on each course day. The PP Courses
evolve with students’ professional experience, moving from initial high levels of support
to a peer group supervision model over time. Students present client work in different
formats including spontaneous recall, written session notes and audio recording of
counselling work.
Interpersonal Learning Group
Through both years, students also participate in an Interpersonal Learning Group which
offers a facilitating environment in which students can explore and reflect upon how the
themes and issues of the Pg Diploma impact upon their experiencing of self and others,
and what implications this may have for their personal and professional lives. It provides
a primary opportunity for the experience of congruence and for learning how to offer the
immediacy of self in relationship to others. The Interpersonal Learning Group is a
powerful environment for experimenting with, and learning about, intra-personal and
interpersonal relationships.
Learning Methods and Assessment
Teaching and learning methods include experiential learning, small group work,
supervised practice, theory seminars and independent study. A distinctive feature is the
system of individual personal tutorials with experienced associate staff who are not
members of the core team and assessment process. Assessment methods combine
essays with seminar presentations, self and peer assessments, placement-based
assessment, the professional portfolio and the dissertation. Pg Diploma courses are
assessed by a combination of assignments and professional portfolio work. Assessment
criteria are included in the programme handbook and tutors provide guidance for the
preparation of each assessed task.
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Counselling Placement
At the heart of the Master of Counselling programme is a graduated progression of
training in professional practice corresponding to the stage of development of the
individual student. Each course and assessment activity has a substantial focus on
interpersonal skills and the integration of practice with theory, reflection and personal
development. Pg Certificate students undertake counselling skills practice in groups of
three, using digital recording to analyse and reflect upon individual skills development.
The Introduction and first course of the Pg Diploma builds on this training, incorporating
a student-centred assessment of readiness to practise in a counselling agency. Once
readiness to practise is achieved, students are assisted to find a counselling placement
to begin direct work counselling clients.
One of the unique strengths of the programme is its negotiated network of practice
placements within a variety of counselling agencies both within Edinburgh and further
afield. Placement providers work closely with the programme in order to offer a
supportive and flexible practice learning experience for counsellors in training. The
Professional Practice Co-ordinator assists students to identify placements which meet
their individual learning needs, skills profile, professional experience and personal
interests. There are opportunities to work in a wide range of settings with a variety of
client groups with placements in generic and specialist agencies, in health care, the
voluntary and independent sectors, with individuals, couples, children and young people.
If they wish, students may arrange their own placement. In this case, programme tutors
negotiate with the proposed placement agency to ensure that the placement meets the
criteria for a safe, supportive and appropriate training experience.
In total, students complete a minimum of 200 supervised hours of counselling practice
accompanied by 40 hours of professional supervision. Many placement providers
arrange individual and/or group supervision for students. When this is not the case,
programme tutors assist students to identify a suitable supervisor. When not provided by
their placement agency, students may also arrange their own supervision on condition
that the supervisor is suitably qualified and experienced.
Personal Counselling or Therapy
Counselling training, touching as it does on the inner life and personal relationships of
each student, is likely to stimulate awareness of vulnerabilities and opportunities for
personal growth. While the programme’s interpersonal groups and individual tutorial
system offer significant support and opportunities for development, students may wish to
seek opportunities for personal work outside the programme, including counselling or
therapy for themselves. Students may also find the experience of being a counselling
client invaluable in understanding the counselling relationship and process. Undertaking
personal therapy is not, however, an essential requirement of the programme.
Counsellors wishing to pursue individual accreditation with COSCA or BACP are
required to demonstrate the personal development work they have undertaken.
Masters Dissertation Year
The fourth year of the programme is the Masters Dissertation Year during which
students undertake the research course, Between Counselling and Research 1:
Approaches, Issues and Debates (details below), and write up a research project based
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on their counselling practice. The Masters progression requirement is an average mark
of 50% or above from all taught courses in the preceding three years. Students are not
required to have completed all the professional requirements of the Pg Diploma before
beginning this fourth year. The research course introduces students to relevant debates,
issues and controversies in the field of research in counselling and is tailored towards
the research needs and interests of counselling practitioners. At the end of the course
students draft a research proposal and this is used to appoint a suitable supervisor from
the Counselling and Psychotherapy Team who has a particular interest and expertise in
the student’s research topic. The supervisor offers regular individual support and
supervision sessions through the remainder of the year. The dissertation is submitted in
late August for graduation in November/December.
Between Counselling and Research 1: Approaches, Issues and Debates
10 sessions – dates and times to be advised
This course provides students with an overview of key approaches to research relevant
to counselling, psychotherapy and related practices. Emphasis is given to critical social
science perspectives on knowledge and research, to the role of subjectivity, intersubjectivity and context in research, and to the relationship between research and
reflective counselling practice.
By the end of the course students should be able to
 identify and conceptualise key research epistemologies and methodologies
relevant to counselling, psychotherapy and related practices, including the
influence of critical social science perspectives
 conceptualise the relationship between counselling practice and research practice
in relation to epistemological and ethical debates
 formulate, justify and criticise research questions relevant to counselling and
related practices
 critically assess the relevance of research for the practice and provision of
counselling, psychotherapy and related practices
The course is delivered through 10 weekly sessions of two hours. A high degree of
student participation is expected, with students required to work on set readings in
advance of each session. These readings form the basis of group discussion,
supplemented by inputs from teaching staff. During the second half of the course,
sessions also include presentations by individual students about their proposed
research.
Students
MCouns/Pg Diploma students come from different backgrounds and nationalities, and
with diverse experience and motivations. While many are working in the helping
professions, many others are from totally different walks of life, such as commerce or IT.
Some students are at the beginning of their working life while others are considering
retraining in a different field. With this diversity in age, experience, motivation and
outlook on life, the student group provides a rich and stimulating learning culture for the
study of counselling and the development of therapeutic practice.
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Career Prospects
The Master of Counselling allows students to gain employment in a variety of contexts
where this unique combination of interpersonal, therapeutic, self-reflective and analytical
skills is highly valued. Students gain employment as counsellors and therapists in a wide
range of settings in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors, or use their counselling
training to enhance their career in a related profession, such as health care, social work
or education. Many graduates of the programme now hold senior positions in the
counselling field and have been leading the development of counselling and
psychotherapy provision throughout Scotland.
Entrance Requirements
The standard academic entrance requirement for entry to Year 2 is successful
completion of the Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling Studies at the University of
Edinburgh. However, we also welcome applications from people who have completed
academically and professionally validated postgraduate certificate courses in counselling
at other institutions of higher education, who may be eligible for Entry with Advanced
Standing – see below.
The general requirements for admission to postgraduate study are outlined in the
University of Edinburgh postgraduate prospectus, which can be accessed at
http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/ . It is also available from
Postgraduate Office
College of Humanities and Social Science
David Hume Tower (First Floor)
George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JX
Tel.: +44 (0)131 650 4086
email: hsspg@ed.ac.uk
In addition applicants are required to demonstrate their suitability for professional
training as counsellors by completing an application form, attending an interview and
undertaking a Disclosure Scotland check to ensure that they are suitable to work with
vulnerable people.
Application Process
To enter the Pg Diploma phase of the Master of Counselling, applicants need to
complete the MCouns / Pg Diploma Application Form. This application is available on
the Counselling and Psychotherapy website on the following page:
http://www.health.ed.ac.uk/counsellingstudies/Documents/index.htm
and may also be obtained from the Counselling and Psychotherapy Office, contact
details below.
In addition to the general academic entrance requirements detailed above, applicants for
the Postgraduate Diploma stage of the professional training programme are required to
evidence their suitability to train as a counsellor. There are four elements to this process.
Applicants must:



complete an application form
provide two references
attend an interview.
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
undertake the Disclosure Scotland check, after a place is confirmed and before
the programme commences
In their application, applicants are asked to address the selection criteria for the
professional training programme which are:







self awareness, maturity and stability
ability to make use of and reflect on life experience
capacity to cope with the emotional demands of the course
ability to cope with the intellectual and academic requirements
ability to form helping relationships
ability to be self-critical and use both positive and negative feedback
awareness of difference, diversity and equality
Evidence of these personal qualities is sought both in the application and the interview.
Applicants to the Pg Diploma who are already matriculated University of Edinburgh
postgraduate students do not need to complete any further application steps.
Applicants who gained their Pg Certificate from the University of Edinburgh but who are
no longer matriculated students need to complete the online MCouns application
through the University of Edinburgh online prospectus entry for this programme, which
can be accessed at:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/finder/details.php?id=130
Full information about the application process is available at:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/applying
Applicants who gained their postgraduate certificate in counselling from another
institution of higher education need to complete both an application for Entry with
Advanced Standing (see below) and the University of Edinburgh online application form
via the web prospectus, as above.
Entry with Advanced Standing
We welcome applications from people who have completed academically and
professionally validated postgraduate certificate courses in counselling at other
institutions of higher education, who may be eligible for Entry with Advanced Standing.
Entry with Advanced Standing can only be granted for counselling courses at the
equivalent level to the University of Edinburgh Pg Certificate in Counselling Studies,
namely 60 postgraduate, or masters-level, credits (SCQF level 11). Other courses,
including the COSCA Certificate in Counselling Skills, are not sufficient on their own to
apply for Entry with Advanced Standing.
For further information about Entry with Advanced Standing and the relevant application
form, see the MCouns/Pg Diploma in Counselling Entry with Advanced Standing
Application Form.
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This form is available on the Counselling and Psychotherapy website on the following
page:
http://www.health.ed.ac.uk/counsellingstudies/Documents/index.htm
and may also be obtained from the Counselling and Psychotherapy Office, contact
details given below.
Cost
In the academic year 2010 – 12, the following tuition fees apply:
Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling Studies (Year 1)
Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling (Year 2)
Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling (Year 3)
Master of Counselling (Year 4)
£2,850
£4,845
£3,525
£2,175
For overseas students, the fees are:
Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling Studies (Year 1)
Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling (Year 2)
Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling (Year 3)
Master of Counselling (Year 4)
£2,850
£4,845
£4,275
£3,640
The fees for the Pg Diploma years are higher because these are the most staff intensive
years of the MCouns with students undertaking significant facilitated group work and
receiving individual tutorials.
Fees are posted annually on the University of Edinburgh Registry website at:
http://www.registry.ed.ac.uk/Fees/PGFees.htm
International students who require visas for studying in the United Kingdom need to be
aware that they may not be able to obtain a visa for part-time postgraduate study. They
have a choice to apply for the full-time Master of Counselling (Interpersonal Dialogue)
which may be taken over two years full-time or the MSc in Counselling Studies which
may be taken over one year full-time. Full information about both programmes is
available on the Counselling and Psychotherapy website (see below) and in the
respective programme booklets. More information for international students is available
from the Postgraduate Office – contact details above – or their website:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/international
Advice and guidance for international applicants is also available from the University
International Office: www.international.ed.ac.uk
Possible Additional Costs
Home Computer Access
While face to face contact remains the principal form of teaching and learning in
Counselling and Psychotherapy, email communication and web-based learning are now
essential elements of teaching and learning in higher education. University of Edinburgh
students have excellent access to high quality computing facilities, including their own
email account and web access, and numerous computer labs and wifi spaces where
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laptops can be used. Students intending to work mainly at home may need to consider
purchasing, or upgrading to, a suitable computer in order to study and communicate
effectively with Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Supervision: Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling
Students on the Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling are required to undertake 40
hours of professional supervision in relation to their placement practice. While some
agencies meet most or all of the costs of supervision, others are not in a position to do
so, and students may have to pay for their own supervision. Some counselling
supervisors offer reduced rates for counselling students. Full supervision rates are in
the region of £40 to £45 per hour.
Personal Counselling
If students do choose to access personal counselling, there may be an associated cost.
Students may access time-limited cost-free counselling at the University of Edinburgh
Student Counselling Service and at various community-based counselling agencies.
Many other counselling services charge clients, either on a sliding scale or at a standard
rate.
Further Information
General information may be obtained from the Counselling and Psychotherapy office, as
follows:
Sue Larsen
Senior Secretary
Counselling and Psychotherapy
The University of Edinburgh
Medical School
Teviot Place
Edinburgh EH8 9AG
Tel. +44 (0)131 651 6671 or 3931
Email: counselling.studies@ed.ac.uk
If you have a specific or more complex query and wish to speak to an academic member
of staff, please contact:
Martha Emeleus
Pg Diploma Application Co-ordinator
Tel +44 (0)131 650 3977
Email: martha.emeleus@ed.ac.uk
(Mail address as above)
Further information about Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of
Edinburgh may be obtained at: www.health.ed.ac.uk/counsellingstudies
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