About the Course
About the course: The course provides a critical introduction to the field of counselling and psychotherapy from an integrative standpoint which will be informative and enriching in itself and will provide a foundation for those who wish to go on to train as a practicing counsellor or psychotherapist. This is done by introducing students to some of the key thinkers and theories that have shaped and formed the field of psychotherapy. In the process, we will also help you to understand how a process of integration may begin to take place, this will happen through the learning in this module, the skills work and participation in an Experiential Training Group.
Course Content
Foundation Theory and Practice Seminar
A weekly two hour seminar where students are introduced to key thinkers including Carl Rogers, Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, Alice Miller, Donald Winnicott, Carl Jung, Fritz Perls, John Bowlby, Ernesto Spinelli. In addition, the course will explore Bodywork theory, CBT, and Neuroscience. Students will also be introduced to key skills and attitudes that are used by counsellors and psychotherapists and offered opportunities to explore and practice different styles of facilitation.
Experiential Training Group
A weekly one-and-a-half-hour group experience which supports the development of self-awareness and awareness of others. introduces students to group processes and provides a space for the processing of material raised by the course. Sessions are entirely experiential and have no set agenda. Each group has an experienced facilitator.
Weekend Workshop
For 2024/2025, we have updated our weekend workshop provision. Students now participate in a weekend workshop offering a different structure and context for skills work.
Individual Psychotherapy
It is a requirement that all students attending the Foundation Course to be in weekly personal psychotherapy throughout the course. Your psychotherapy should be with a qualified and experienced, UKCP Registered or BACP Accredited practitioner, or equivalent. Therapists should not be Minster Centre staff. Personal psychotherapy is undertaken at your own expense.
Assessment
Assessment is by Minster Centre staff. Students’ experiential and written work is assessed.
One 3,500 word essay, an academic written assignment of 1000 words, a self-assessment of 1,050 words and a 1,500 word process report reflecting on the movements, changes, realisations and conflicts students have experienced during the course.
In addition to assessment of individual pieces of written work, consideration is given to whether students are ready to progress to professional training based on continuous assessment of participation, self-awareness, awareness of others and therapeutic skills.
Course Leader(s)
Vaughn Goldschagg (Course Leader)
Neelam Zahid (Deputy Course Leader)
Course Dates and Times
This is a one-year part-time course, taught on Mondays, 5.30pm to 9.30 pm for 30 weeks of the year, with the addition of two weekends. The course provides 129 training hours in total.
There is an 80% minimum attendance requirement – successful completion of the course entails a minimum of 80% attendance of each of the three components (i.e. the seminar, skills and ETG). You are required to attend 100% of the two weekends to pass the course.
First term
Compulsory Induction: 6.00pm – 7.10pm on Monday 9th September, 2024
Monday 16th September to Friday 29th November 2023
Half-term – Monday 21st October to Friday 25th October
Second term
Monday 13th January to Friday 28th March 2025
Half-term – Monday 17th February to Friday 21st February
Third term
Monday 21st April to Friday 4th July 2025
Half-term – Monday 26th May to Friday 30th May
Bank Holidays/Closure:
Christmas and NY closure: 20th December 2024 to re-open 2nd January 2025
Good Friday – 18th April 2025
Easter Monday – 21st April 2025
May Day – Monday 5th May 2025
Spring B/H – Monday 26th May 2025 (within half-term)
Term dates for following years will normally be available in July each year; timings for seminars will normally be released in early September.
Course Length
30 weeks
Who Is It For
This course is for people who:
- Want to learn about psychotherapy or counselling.
- Wish to gain skills for another career or interest.
- Seek to build on previous introductory skills training.
- May wish to go on to train as a counsellor or psychotherapist.
Entry Requirements
Training is open to those with a first degree or with previous training in non-degree courses e.g. in social work or health care or those without formal qualification who have equivalent and suitable life experience and can demonstrate the capacity to complete the academic aspects of the course.
Practising as a counsellor or psychotherapist, and training to be one, is a psychologically, as well as intellectually, demanding process. Personal qualities we are looking for in trainees include:
Awareness of own process
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- An ability to express and explore a range of emotions.
- An ability to reflect upon your own process in terms of personal history, identity, intersectionality and patterns of interaction with others.
- Capacity to travel beyond your normal patterns of thinking and feeling to explore your own process.
Intersubjective awareness
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- An awareness of your responsiveness to others and your impact on others including your capacity to be aware of and take responsibility for your own process in interactions with others.
- Your demonstrable capacities to listen to others, to maintain empathy, and/or to demonstrate the ability for self-support.
- Your potential to engage in experiential learning.
An ability to recognise and value difference and diversity and/or maintain curiosity and receptivity to new experiences.
This requires a degree of psychological robustness Having had a mental health diagnosis or difficulty in the past is not, necessarily, a barrier to training; however we do need to consider whether there is a danger of the training exacerbating mental health problems in applicants. For this reason, we may ask about mental health during the application process, and the Centre reserves the right to refuse admission to applicants who we judge would not, at this time, be able to benefit from this course or for whom it might be too disturbing.
Due to high volume of applications, we cannot offer further individual feedback on your application/interview outcome. You can find more information about our Admissions Complaint Procedure here.
Applicants need the technical ability to work online and have a private space to attend online training sessions and for online/phone therapy sessions, if remote client work at the student’s home is required.
Qualifications
Students who successfully complete the Foundation Course will be awarded a certificate of attendance.
Successful completion of the course is also an entry route into the Diploma and MA courses in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy, although a place cannot be guaranteed. We reserve a large number of places each year for students progressing from our Foundation courses.
Please note, if you wish to progress to the Diploma, your Foundation course must have been completed not more than 2 years before the start of the Diploma course.
Career Prospects
About a third to a half of the students who successfully complete this course apply to join the first year of The Minster Centre professional training courses, others continue to train elsewhere or pursue training in related areas.
Fees
Course fees are subject to annual inflation. Once you have started a course, we will endeavour to keep fee increases in subsequent years as low as possible. Increases may occur to reflect changes to the course, changes in the requirements of accrediting organisations, inflation, staff pay rises or other increases to the cost of providing the course.
Fees are payable by bank transfer, cheque or card and may be paid in instalments. For more details see the Fees & Funding page on our website.
A non-refundable deposit is payable to secure your place once you receive an offer. If you withdraw your place on the course after you have paid a deposit and within 28 days prior to the course start date, half of the deposit can be refunded to you as long as we can fill your place with another applicant. The other half of your deposit will be retained to cover administrative costs. The deposit is not transferable. If you withdraw after the course start date, fees are non-refundable and the full year’s fees will be due. If you defer after the course start date, you could be offered a place in the following year, if one is available, but will need to pay a further deposit then. Please note that places are subject to availability on all our courses. Places can only be deferred once after which you will need to reapply.
Venue
The Minster Centre is a five minute walk from Queens Park Tube (Bakerloo line) and Rail Overground Station and a 10-15 min walk from Brondesbury Park Station.
How to Apply
Application update
This Foundation course is now fully recruited for September 2024 and applications are closed. However, you can still apply to our Fast Track Foundation course, starting in February 2025.
Applications
Early application is recommended. You apply directly to The Minster Centre via the online application form below. Please note: we operate a rolling admission process, on a first-come-first-served basis. Interviews will take place from March 2024 onwards.
Please ensure each section is fully completed in order for your application to be considered for this course. If you have any further questions please see our FAQs page or email us on [email protected].
Interviews: Applicants are offered an individual interview with a senior staff member in order to assess suitability for training. The interview fee is £105.
We particularly welcome applications from people from ethnic minority backgrounds and people with disabilities, as they are currently under-represented at the Minster Centre and in the psychotherapy profession.
Please note that initial assessment of applications can take from two to four weeks to complete. For shortlisted applications, interviews will be scheduled in the autumn term, from January 2024 onwards.
