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Course Director: Dr
Aaron Balick
Principal teaching staff:
Dr
Aaron Balick,
Dr
Matt ffytche and Prof Karl Figlio
Deepen your understanding of psychoanalytic theory and its
application to both the clinical setting and to culture and society. This
MA is open to clinicians and non-clinicians alike with an interest in
psychoanalysis.
Starting with the cultural milieu from which psychoanalysis emerged, the MA
in Psychoanalytic Studies begins with Freud and follows on through the
development of Object Relations, focussing on the “British School,” including
theorists such as Klein, Winnicott, Bion and others. By encouraging a
critical attitude, this course fosters an engagement with psychoanalysis, both
historically and comparatively, always keeping in mind its methodological link
to the clinical experiences from which psychoanalysis itself was developed.
Applications of psychoanalysis are considered in both clinical, group, and wider
settings.
The course promotes “thinking psychoanalytically” and offers a profound and
unique approach to understanding a range of practices and phenomena. It is
fundamentally a feature of the psychoanalytic clinical process, but other
clinical practices and non-clinical practices – historical, literary,
artistic, political, social, etc – present similar opportunities, both
for applying psychoanalytic thinking and methods, and for bringing the special
quality of psychoanalytic thinking into sharper focus.
Our MA is taught by clinicians and academics alike, it is therefore of
interest to those who work actively in the mental health field
(psychotherapists, counsellors, psychoanalysts, and others) as well as those who
are interested either in learning about psychoanalysis for its own sake, or
indeed if you would like to apply it to other fields of interest (cultural
studies, sociology, history, organisations, etc.). We also have many
students who are considering a career in mental health and wish to pursue a
grounding in psychoanalysis first.
Our students come from richly varied cultural, professional and academic
backgrounds, and they join a lively and diverse teaching and research community,
with opportunities for other activities and for further study.
You can study on a full-time or part-time basis and our timetable is designed
with students who live away from campus in mind. Successful applicants come from
a range of backgrounds and experiences, and include:
- Good honours graduates (or equivalent) from any discipline
- Psychotherapeutic practitioners and others in the caring
professions wishing to deepen their understanding of
psychoanalytic theory
- Those planning to undertake doctoral research
- Those with an interest in psychoanalysis for personal or
professional development
- Those wishing to apply psychoanalytic theory and/or practice
to their own work
International graduates and professionals
- Concentrates on the theory and practice of the British
Object Relations tradition
- Explores the cultural and intellectual milieu in the
development of psychoanalysis
- Explores methodological issues in psychoanalysis
- Designed for both clinical and non-clinical students, each
aspect enriching the other
- Encourages an attitude of inquiry - thinking
psychoanalytically
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- To provide a thorough grounding in psychoanalytic theory in the
tradition of the 'British School' of psychoanalysis;
- To place psychoanalysis in the social, cultural and intellectual milieu
in which it developed in the 19th and early 20th
centuries;
- To show the importance of psychodynamic understanding of psychodynamic –
especially unconscious – forces operating both in clinical and non-clinical
situations;
- To explore methodological issues in psychoanalysis: what is special
about psychoanalytic methodology; what are its strengths and weaknesses?
- To promote the use of psychoanalysis to understand phenomena outside the
clinical domain, as well as to use knowledge and insights from these sources
in order better to understand psychoanalytic thinking;
- To encourage a questioning and curious attitude towards psychoanalysis
and towards all fields of inquiry, and to understand psychoanalysis as
itself a questioning and curious discipline;
- To help students define an area of special psychoanalytic inquiry and
carry out research in that area
Learning outcomes
By the end of the degree course, students should be
able to:
- Show a grasp of the key theories in the 'British School' of
psychoanalysis and of the leading themes in this tradition, with an
understanding of their relationship to each other;
- Understand enough of the milieu in which psychoanalysis developed and of
psychoanalytic thinking and practice to discuss ways in which it either
reflected or added a new dimension to that milieu;
- Critically assess a psychoanalytic presentation, whether in the
literature used in a student's written work or in an evaluation of an
article or book or verbally presented material;
- Show an understanding of psychodynamic, principally unconscious, forces
at work in clinical or non-clinical situations;
- Show an understanding of methodological issues in psychoanalysis: what
is special about psychoanalytic methodology, what are its strengths and
weaknesses;
- Define and research into an area of special interest
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1.
Psychoanalytic Theory (PA901)
- This module provides a grounding in psychoanalytic theory,
with a clear orientation towards the ‘British School’ of
psychoanalysis. Whilst basically theoretical, it builds on the
premise that psychoanalytic conceptualisations are fundamentally
clinical and teachers will make use of clinical material. It
includes the key concepts of the British School, including those
of Klein, Bion, the Balints, Fairbairn, Guntrip, Winnicott,
Britton, Segal, Rosenfeld and Heimann, which students will be
meeting in the other psychoanalytic courses they are
undertaking.
2.
Psychoanalytic Methodology (PA928)
-
This
module is unusual in that it contributes to the creation of a
critical debate on the application of psychoanalysis. It
explores the use and validity of psychoanalytic ideas in
generating knowledge, both inside and outside the consulting
room. It asks whether the extrapolation of ideas from the
controlled setting in which they were gained, as in the natural
sciences, is valid for ideas gained within the psychoanalytic
setting and what it means to think psychoanalytically. It
examines how we use psychoanalytic insights in the generation of
truth and meaning, using specific illustrations of the
application to literature, art and social science to the nature
of culture itself and its symbolic underpinning, and to the
nature of persons who engage in these activities.
3.
Freud in Contexts (PA976)
- This module explores the biographical, intellectual, and
cultural roots of psychoanalysis. It asks how the intellectual
and cultural currents of Freud’s time, as well as Freud’s
biography, informed the development of psychoanalysis. It also
asks what psychoanalysis uniquely contributes to understanding
these intellectual and cultural currents, and it encourages a
critical, interpretive use of texts.
4.
Thinking Psychoanalytically (PA977)
5.
Psychoanalysis of Groups and Organisations (PA927)
- This module is designed to provide a psychoanalytic
understanding of groups, and to extend that understanding to
organisations and society. The module commences with a
historical perspective, considering the contributions of Freud,
Klein, Foulkes and Bion to the understanding of the dynamics of
groups. This is then developed to consider the functioning
of groups in the clinical, and other, environments. Hinshelwood
and others will be studied as a way of exploring concepts such
as containment, holding and security in therapeutic groups, as
well as transference, counter-transference, projective
identification, narcissism and language. The module
examines the organisation from a systems-psychodynamic stance.
This takes in the work of Miller and Rice in terms of applying
systemic ideas to the organisation. It looks at the organisation
as a social defence system ( Menzies-Lyth, Jaques). And thirdly
it considers aspects of leadership, authority and power.
The module concludes by considering the impact of some of these
processes from a wider cultural perspective.
6.
Freud and Object Relations (PA902)
-
This is a one term (10 seminar) module
which concentrates on the place of object-relations with respect
to Freud’s own work, and therefore attempts to demonstrate how
the object relations schools of thought have emerged from
certain aspects of his ideas, whilst minimizing others.
Students are expected to have some prior knowledge of
Freud’s work when they come on the course.
This module is aimed at improving students’ current
knowledge of psychoanalysis, by considering the work of Freud
and some of his immediate followers, and how it informs the
later developments, especially within British psychoanalysis.
To this end certain key papers will be re-examined in
order to distinguish the line of development towards an
object-relations school of thought.
7. MA Research Fora (PA981)
- These are a series of fora which are attended by students on
both the MA in Psychoanalytic Studies, the MA in Jung and
Post-Jungian Studies and the MA in Management and Organisational
Dynamics. They are a series of workshops that include
writing and presenting skills and are aimed at preparing you for
both your final dissertation, and the experience you will need
to have if you wish to continue in academia.
8. Supervision and Dissertation
-
Students produce a 12,000 word dissertation, in
consultation with their supervisor. This offers an opportunity
to explore a theme of the student’s own choice, in depth, with
supervisory help, since topics are limited only by requiring
psychoanalytic content and by the realistic constraints of time.
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Applicants should have a good first degree (first class or upper second
class) or an equivalent professional qualification plus a sample of written work
demonstrating academic ability. Applicants without such qualifications, but who
can otherwise demonstrate relevant experience and academic ability, will also be
considered. Students whose first language is not English would normally be
expected to demonstrate English language proficiency to at least the following
levels: iBT 89, TOEFL (computer) 230, or IELTS 6.5.
Course fees
For information about current tuition fees please visit the
Student Finance website.
Part-time students will pay fees on a pro-rata basis for the current academic
year. It is possible to pay fees by termly instalments.
As a student, you will have access to a vast collection of psychoanalytic
papers and books through the online Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing (PEP)
archive through the library: PEP can be accessed remotely from a computer.
Most readings for the course are available from PEP or the University Library.
Additional readings for some modules are available in reading packs which can be
purchased from our administrative office.
For details of financial support please visit the
Student Finance website.
We offer a pre-sessional course on Freud which is a compulsory requirement
for our students. There is an additional fee which hasn't been set for
2011, but should be approximately £260.
This is a series of reading seminars designed for students with little or no
previous knowledge of Freud. The aim of the series is to give students an
introductory historical overview of the development of Freud’s thinking as a
preparation for later study of his works on the MA in Psychoanalytic Studies, or
to serve as a free-standing introduction to Freud’s work. We will look
particularly at the interaction between Freud’s clinical discoveries and his
metapsychology: how does his model of the mind determine what he observes and
how in turn do clinical phenomena cause him to change his model of the mind.
Topics will include the theory of dreams; infantile sexuality; instinct (drive)
theory; the economic (affect-trauma), the topographical and the structural
models of the mind; narcissism and object relations; the theory of anxiety.
This course can be applied for
online,
(please note that online applications will still require additional information
to be mailed to the Centre). Alternatively, please email
cpsgrad@essex.ac.uk
for an application form by post, or download the
application form in PDF format.
Once you have submitted your online application form please send the
following documents to the Senior Student Administrator:
- Either your comments and opinion of the paper: 'Theme
of the Three Caskets' (approx 1000 words) or a
piece of relevant written work;
- A personal biography of around 1000 words - giving some background
information about yourself, what you have been doing, your interest in
Psychoanalysis and what you hope to gain from the MA;
- A copy of your degree certificate
- 2 academic or work related references
- Original Transcript of degree marks
- If English is not your first language please supply a recent English
Language Certificate, we accept 6.5 IELTS or 88 TOEFL.
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NB:Although great care is taken in compiling this
information, it is for the general guidance of prospective students and the
University reserves the right to make changes to modules and programmes of study