THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION FOR
MSc/PG Diploma in Counselling Studies
1) Awarding Institution:
The University of Edinburgh
2) Teaching Institution:
The University of Edinburgh
3) Programme accredited by:
4) Final Award:
MSc in Counselling Studies
5) Programme Title:
Counselling Studies
6) UCAS Code:
Relevant QAA Subject Benchmarking Group(s):
7) Postholder with overall responsibility for QA: Professor Liz Bondi
8)
Date of production/revision: Semester 1, 2004/05
9)
Educational aims of programme:
The MSc/PG Diploma in Counselling Studies offers advanced academic study of
counselling and related practices. It aims to foster the development of critical
reflection on the field by professionally qualified practitioners and others. It
complements professional training in counselling (provided by the MSc in Counselling)
by providing students from a range of backgrounds with
an introduction to the principles underpinning counselling and related practices
critical perspectives on counselling and related practices
theoretical and empirical knowledge of the social context of counselling and
related practices
analytical skills for evaluating research about counselling and related practices
an opportunity to conduct original research about counselling and related practices
at Masters level.
Distinctive features of this degree include
close links with both professional training in counselling and social science
approaches to the study of health and illness
close links with social science research concerned with counselling and society
This degree completes the process of replacing the Counselling Studies pathway of
the Modular Masters Scheme (MMS) in Education, which has been closed and
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repositioned in revised form within the programmes offered by the School of Health
in Social Science. The new MSc/PG Diploma in Counselling has replaced the major part
of the Counselling Studies pathway in the MMS. That programme integrates the
dissertation more closely with professional practice than was possible within the
MMS. The programme proposed here offers creates opportunities to study
counselling without securing professional qualifications, and enables qualified
practitioners to engage more closely with social science approaches to health and
illness.
The programme proposed requires no additional resources in order to run and can be
delivered very efficiently because it draws primarily on pre-existing courses. One new
20-credit course is required, but it can be delivered within existing staff resources.
In addition to being available to students on other degree programmes across the
College, students completing dissertations for the MSc in Counselling will be
encouraged to attend some sessions.
It has not been possible to secure external assessment of this proposal in advance of
PGSC in February 2005. However, assessors are currently being approached.
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10) Programme Outcomes:
(a) Knowledge and understanding
The programme equips students with knowledge and understanding of:
two major bodies of theory (person-centred and psychodynamic) that inform
counselling and related practices
theories of the therapeutic relationships
debates about research and research evidence in the field of counselling and
related practices
epistemologies and methodologies relevant to counselling and counselling studies
social science perspectives on counselling and other health-related topics
Teaching and learning methods: lectures, seminars, independent study
Assessment methods: essays, dissertation
(b) Intellectual skills
Key intellectual skills fostered by the programme include the capacity to:
situate the theories and practices of counselling in relation to wider debates
critically analyse and synthesise information relevant to research, including
published research and data sources
think from both therapeutic and social science perspectives
question popular and professional assumptions about counselling, health and
society
Teaching and learning methods: lectures, seminars, independent study
Assessment methods: essays, dissertation
(c) Professional/subject-specific/practical skills
The programme seeks to train practitioners and researchers with
a critical appreciation of core elements of counselling and related practices
a critical appreciation of approaches to researching counselling and related
practices
the ability to work across disciplinary boundaries
Teaching and learning methods: lectures, seminars, independent study
Assessment methods: essays, dissertation
(d) Transferable skills
The programme furnishes students with a wide range of highly transferable skills,
including
interpersonal skills
advanced learning and study skills, including working in groups and independently
skills of critical thinking, theoretical reasoning and scholarship
self-evaluation skills
critical appreciation of professional issues in counselling and related fields
time-management
oral and written communication skills
academic research skills including literature search and review, and critical
appraisal of research papers and data sources
Teaching and learning methods: lectures, seminars, independent study
Assessment methods: essays, dissertation
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Programme Structure and Features:
This is a postgraduate degree designed for counselling practitioners and others interested in
studying counselling at an advanced level without securing professional qualifications. It consists
of four elements:
three 20-credit modules, which together form a professionally-validated Postgraduate
Certificate in Counselling Studies, and which is shared with the MSc in Counselling
a new 20-credit module “Between counselling and research: approaches, issues and debates”
40 credits of optional courses drawn from taught courses in cognate areas, and
an MSc dissertation in Counselling Studies, which is the final qualification and includes a
dissertation
Market
This is a new degree programme, but requires only one new course to be offered. The main
market is expected to come from professionally qualified counsellors and psychotherapists
seeking to upgrade their skills and qualifications. Unsolicited enquiries suggest that, with a
modest recruitment drive, it will be possible to recruit 3 to 8 students for a pilot delivery. It
may also be possible to recruit students from other degree programmes to the new course. The
programme could, therefore, achieve viability with modest admissions.
Mode of study
Full-time or part-time
Period of study
The programme is designed to be completed in one year of full-time study or over two years of
part-time study.
Entrance requirements
An undergraduate degree (ordinary or honours) or equivalent (reaching SCQF level 9) is required
to enter the programme. This may be varied for individual candidates who have previously
missed out on higher education and who have demonstrated relevant conceptual and analytical
skills in the course of other experiences.
Accreditation for prior learning
Accreditation for prior learning will be available for those studying part-time who have
completed a Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma in Counselling (validated by a professional
counselling or psychotherapy body), who may transfer up to 100 credits of prior study. Students
who complete all the requirements for the Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling at the University
of Edinburgh may transfer 100 credits to the MSc in Counselling Studies, and will be required to
complete the module “Between counselling and research: approaches, issues and debates” before
proceeding to the dissertation. In order to proceed to the dissertation phase of the degree, all
students must achieve an average mark of at least 50 for the modules taken up to this point.
Others seeking APL on the basis of previous professionally validated postgraduate training in
counselling may be exempted from the three modules “Listening and attunement”, “Self and
other” and “Ethics, boundaries and supervision”.
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Overview of the programme
Listening and attunement
Credit
Points
SCQF
level
20
10
Summative
assessment
Exit qualification
4,000 to 5,000 word
essay/portfolio
Self and other
20
11
4,000 to 5,000 word
essay/portfolio
Ethics boundaries and supervision 20
11
4,000 to 5,000 word
essay/portfolio
Between counselling and research: 20
11
4,000 to 5,000 word
approaches, issues and debates
essay/portfolio
Courses selected from the lists
40
11
As specified in
PG Diploma in
below
course handbook
Counselling Studies
Dissertation
60
11
15,000 word
MSc in Counselling
dissertation
Studies
In order to progress to the dissertation, candidates must pass the courses required for the PG
Diploma, and must secure an average mark of at least 50 across these courses. The programme
director must approve the topic and a member of academic staff with suitable research interests
and experience will supervise the dissertation.
Optional courses:
Research and Evaluation in Health Care and Health Services (20 credits, Health)
Current Issues in Health and Illness Research (20 credits, GSSPS)
Sociology of Health and Illness (20 credits, GSSPS)
Anthropology of Health and Illness (20 credits, GSSPS)
Intimate Relationships (20 credits, GSSPS)
Health Policy and Politics in Europe (20 credits, GSSPS)
Genetics, Nature and Society (20credits, GSSPS)
Refugees, Health andf the effectiveness of Agency Interventions (20credits, GSSPS)
The Anthropology of Death (20credits, GSSPS)
Happiness: Cross Cultural Perspectives (20credits, GSSPS)
Ethical and Political Issues in Social Research (20credits, GSSPS)
Approaches to Analysing Text, Discourses & Narratives (20credits, GSSPS)
Advanced Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences (20credits, GSSPS)
Survey Methods and Data (20credits, GSSPS)
Visual Methodologies in the Social Sciences (20credits, GSSPS)
Listening to Children: Research and Consultation (20credits, GSSPS)
Qualitative Methods and Ethnographic Fieldwork (20credits, GSSPS)
Reflexivity in Qualitative Research (20 credits, GSSPS)
History and Theory of Medical Ethics (10 credits, Public Health)
Health Promotion (10 credits, Public Health)
Resource Allocation and Health Economics (10 credits, Public Health)
Health Services Planning (10 credits, Public Health)
GIS for Health Care Professionals (10 credits, Geography)
Prerequisites apply to some of the optional courses above.
Optional courses may not be available every year.
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Marking scheme
All items of work will be marked according to the common marking scale. Candidates who achieve
an average mark of at least 70 on first submission of taught course modules and a mark of at
least 70 for the dissertation will be recommended for the award of MSc with distinction.
12) Other items:
Students will have full access to the full range of learning resources available in the School of
Health in Social Science and the wider University of Edinburgh, including excellent computing
and library facilities.
A distinctive feature of this programme is its integration of foundation-level professional
training with social science perspectives on counselling and related practices.
Further information about the programme is available at www.ed.ac.uk/****
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