BA Therapeutic Communication and Therapeutic Organisations

How can you best help a troubled child in your agency? How can you work more effectively with your colleagues? How can you use your understanding to support others in their role with adolescents? How can you make your organisations for adults more therapeutic? Our course is a practical one, consolidating your knowledge and expertise from our Foundation Degree and empowering you to take a more senior role in your agencies.

We combine theoretical seminars, practical workshops, work-place learning, and a dissertation on the subject that inspires you most. Your first term concentrates on developing greater skill in working individually with adolescents and adults, whilst your second involves observing in an organisation in order to understand more fully the conscious and unconscious dynamics at work in institutions.

Your final half-term focuses on supervision and mentoring, enabling you to foster the skills and development of others in your agency. Throughout the year, you will also be able to study an area of personal interest, engaging your curiosity under the expert guidance of our staff.

Our expert staff

What sets our teaching team apart is that each one blends clinical experience and expertise in their field with the academic rigour for which the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies has such a reputation. You will be taught by lecturers who have years of experience working directly with troubled individuals and groups in specialist settings. This means they can draw upon not only the enduring academic tradition and the latest research in the field of psychoanalytic studies but also upon years of clinical experience as teachers, psychotherapists, and therapeutic community practitioners.

Dr Chris Nicholson has some 15 years experience working in residential childcare and therapeutic communities. His PhD thesis concerned the effects of war trauma upon the literary works of Robert Graves. He is the primary author and editor of Children and Adolescents in Trauma: Creative Therapeutic Approaches published in 2010. Chris sits on the Advisory Board for Children and Young People at the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Therapeutic Communities section. He speaks at both national and international conferences and teaches here as well as in Greece.

Mr Chris Tanner is an expert and lecturer in organisational dynamics and leadership. He gained postgraduate qualifications in special education, psychoanalytic studies (MA), and organisational consultancy (PGDip). Chris brings many years experience in special education and therapeutic communities having held a number of leaderships and directorships roles. In addition, Chris is a highly regarded organisational consultant working across diverse sectors in the UK. He is a Specialist Member of the Ministry of Justice Health, Education and Social Care Tribunal.

Mrs Sue Kegerreis is both an adult and child and adolescent psychotherapist. Sue has published numerous journal papers and chapters including her book Psychodynamic Counselling with Children and Adolescents: An Introduction in 2010. Sue has a long career developing and teaching courses applying psychodynamic approaches to both clinical and non-clinical settings, and she is also a consultant offering clinical supervision.

Dr Jochem Willemsen started his career as a support worker in a residential care home for children. He later trained to be a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, and worked for years in private practice. Jochem worked for more than ten years at Ghent University (Belgium), where he completed a PhD on psychopathy. His research on psychoanalysis, forensic psychotherapy, and psychopathy is published in international scientific journals.

Our Undergraduate Administrator, Alison Evans, who will help you with many of the arrangements and technical aspects of the course, has a fantastic reputation among our students as being particularly helpful and approachable.

Specialist facilities

You will experience a lively, informal environment with many possibilities to pursue your own interests:

• Whether in Colchester or Southend Campus, you will have access to the Albert Sloman Library, which houses a strong collection of books, journals, electronic resources and major archives
• The Department has its own dedicated library of specialist texts which inform and influence our research

• At the Southend Campus, you also have access to the new Southend library and IT suite, as well as dedicated open and closed study areas and pods.

• Free evening Open Seminars on topics relevant to psychoanalysis which are open to students, staff and members of the public.

Your future

In undertaking this course you’ll study a range of psychoanalytic concepts - applying them to individuals, relationships and organisations, which will provide you with a unique perspective of why we are the way we are, on understanding others and knowing how to relate to them, which will make you suited for further clinical training, postgraduate study in different fields, or employment.

With around 80% of our students moving on to postgraduate study or employment, this course prepares you to move successfully into your own career path.

Key areas of employment for people with these skills include marketing, advertising, human resources, management, the media, care work, teaching or health care. Our recent graduates have gone on to work in a wide range of careers, including:

• Psychoanalytic therapy
• Clinical psychology
• NHS Mental Health work
• Management Consultancy
• Country Director (Afghanistan) with the Danish Refugee Council
• Therapeutic Consultancy

We also work with the University’s Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

* Non-specialist higher education institutions with a survey population of at least 500.

“I never expected to develop such enthusiasm and passion for my chosen subject. I have acquired and built on a range of different skills, and by the end of my first year I had obtained paid employment within two separate organisations: a community interest company in Essex and a registered charity in Suffolk.”

David Bloomfield, FdA Therapeutic Communication and Therapeutic Organisation.

UK entry requirements

You should have passed the Foundation Degree in Therapeutic Communication and Therapeutic Organisations.

English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English: IELTS 6.0 overall with minimum 5.5 in each component (or equivalent). Different requirements apply for second year entry.

We accept a wide range of other qualifications from applicants studying in the UK, EU and other countries. For further details about the qualifications that we accept, please e-mail us with information about the high school qualifications you have already completed or are currently taking.

We welcome applications from mature students, students interested in direct entry to the second year and students wishing to defer entry.

Please note that a satisfactory enhanced DBS check will be required prior to starting any placement(s) for this course. This will be organised by the University. A satisfactory Overseas Criminal Record Check/Local Police Certificate is also required, in addition to a DBS Check, where you have lived outside of the UK in the last 5 years for 6 months or more.

Example structure

We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of compulsory and optional modules chosen from lists. Below is just one example structure from the current academic year of a combination of modules you could take. Your course structure could differ based on the modules you choose.

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore all modules listed are subject to change. To view the compulsory modules and full list of optional modules currently on offer, please view the programme specification via the link below.

See full list of modules

Teaching

• Teaching takes place in relatively small seminars and fora, with a focus on group discussion
• Discussion in seminars includes both discussing other peoples’ work and discussing your own experiences in the workplace
• You also undertake supervised clinical practice, participate in skills based workshops, and teach others through presentation of theoretical readings and clinical cases

Assessment

• Your grade is made up entirely of coursework marks, including essays and reflective reports