Introductory description

Integration of Theory, Practice and Individual Development

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Weeks 1-26 Practice development groups; tutor, peer and self-evaluation, group supervision.
W1-26 Weekly Personal Development Group
NOTE: The module will be taught on one weekday evening a week plus four Saturdays.
Theory session for following weeks only, but Clinical Seminar s continue across the year on the theme below:
W 1-2 Consolidating my Holistic - Integrative approach (1): Mapping influences and shaping professional and personal development
W 3-5 Consolidating my Holistic - Integrative approach (2): Mapping influences and shaping clinical practice
W 22-26 Consolidating my Holistic - Integrative approach (3): Integrating influences and shaping my individual development and clinical practice: Presentations
Sat Week 2 Career development planning (1) (Macleod and Macleod).
Sat W4 Working with Mental Health in the clinical setting (7): Revisiting suicidal ideation, self-harm, referrals and safeguarding
Sat W6 Review of Ethical and Legal Framework for practice (3), and, Career development planning (2)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• 1. Thoroughly and critically embed key knowledge about relevant psychotherapeutic theories and research, including holistic and integrative approaches, to a sophisticated level.
• 2. Demonstrate a consistent capacity to recognise severely disturbed clients and understand when the psychotherapist or psychotherapeutic counsellor should seek other professional advice.
• 3. Evidence a depth of reflection on therapeutic process and understanding of key principles and theory when working with clients on a short-term contract (maximum 12 sessions).
• 4. Evaluate effectively this short-term piece of work in the context of the student's evolving Holistic Phenomenological Integration (model of practice).
• 5. Evidence a reflective depth on the therapeutic process of a piece of long term client work (minimum 40 hours) from a two-person psychology theoretical perspective.
• 6. Evaluate this long-term piece of work in the context of the students’ evolving Holistic Phenomenological Integration

Indicative reading list

Bowlby, J. (1988) A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Routledge.

Boston Change Process Study Group (2010) Change in psychotherapy: a unifying paradigm. W.W. Norton & Co. New York.

Bromberg, P.M. (2020) The shadow of the tsunami and the growth of the relational world. Routledge. London.

Casement, P. (1991) Learning from the patient. Guilford, New York: London.

Cashdan, S. (1998) Object relations therapy: using the relationship. Norton. New York; London.

Davis, M. and Wallbridge, D. (1991) Boundary and space: an introduction to the work of D.W. Winnicott. Brunner/Mazel. Karnac Books, London: New York.

Davies, D. and Neal, C. (1996) Pink therapy: a guide for counsellors and therapists working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. Open University Press. Buckingham.

Erskine, R.G. (2004) Integrative Psychotherapy: the Art and Science of Relationship. Victoria, Australia: Thomson/Brooks Cole.

Fonagy, P.(2019) Affect regulation, mentalization and the development of the self. Routledge, London.

Hardy, K.V. (2023) Racial Trauma: Clinical strategies and techniques for healing invisible wounds. WW Norton.

Holmes, J, M., and Slade, A. (2017) Attachment in therapeutic practice. Sage publications Ltd.

Iantaffi, A. (2020) Gender Trauma: Healing cultural social and historical gendered trauma. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Jacobs, M. (1995) D.W. Winnicott. Sage Publications. London; Thousand Oaks CA.

Lago, C. (2011) The handbook of transcultural counselling and psychotherapy. MCGraw-Hill/Open University Press. Maidenhead. Maroda, K.J. (2022) The analyst’s vulnerability. Impact on Theory and practice. Routledge. New York.

Siegel, A.M. (1996) Heinz Kohut and the psychology of self. Routledge.

Siegel, D. J. (2012) The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are 2nd edn. Guilford Press. Stern, Stern, D.N. (1985) The interpersonal world of the infant: A view from psychoanalysis and developmental psychology 1st edn. Routledge.

Stern, D. B. (2010) Partners in thought: working with unformulated experience, dissociation, and enactment. Routledge. New York.

Turner, D. (2021) Intersections of privilege and otherness in counselling and psychotherapy. Routledge, Abingdon. Oxon.

Subject specific skills

As in learning outcomes:

1. Thoroughly and critically embed an appropriate individual holistic integrative approach to psychotherapy, and fully establish a capacity to integrate this into professional and personal development.
2. Thoroughly and critically embed the application, to an advanced level, of key therapeutic theory, to holistic integrative practice, and be able to articulate sophisticatedly what this consists of, and how it operates.
3. Thoroughly and critically embed an advanced understanding of techniques applicable to their own studies, and to professional development in psychotherapy and counselling.
4. Thoroughly and critically embed all aspects of fitness and readiness to practice therapeutically with clients presenting with acute mental health difficulties, including the application of ethical, legal and cultural knowledge and understanding.

Transferable skills

Key Skills Thoroughly embed to an advanced level:

• Self-direction and effective decision making in complex and unpredictable situations;
• Critical self-evaluation of practice
• The ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing across all areas of learning and development.