First students start on Psychotherapy and Counselling degree

Released: 20.09.18

Plymouth Marjon University is set to welcome the first cohort of students for their new Psychotherapy and Counselling degree.

The degree programme aims to provide an academic backdrop to practical psychotherapy and counselling skills and is one of the first degrees of its kind to be launched in the South West.

On the course, students will learn skills that equip them for working with the public on a range of issues, including mental health and general well-being. Psychotherapists and counsellors often work in a variety of settings and work with individuals, families or groups to help with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and other issues.

Students will be arriving at Marjon early next week, with their first taught session to be on 24^th September.

Programme Lead for the new course, Alister McCormick, said he’s excited that the programme is at the cutting edge of degree programmes in the UK.

“It offers something that is quite unusual for psychotherapy and counselling training in the UK,” said Alister.

“It’s not offered at many universities as a degree. There are courses that offer the opportunity to achieve certificates or diplomas in psychotherapy or counselling. But for it to become an academic degree we’ve made it so it provides the experiential learning, the personal development and the professional skills that is needed and combined that with an ability to use theory and research to understand how to use that knowledge in professional practice.”

In a unique twist on most degree programmes, many seminars and workshops will be delivered by both Maxine Sherrell and Juliana Hopkins, allowing students and lecturing staff to interact in a much more personal way.

“I think this is a really interesting opportunity, particularly for the South West because there aren’t many courses of this type in the area,” said Maxine.

Juliana added: “I’m really excited about teaching a subject that I’m passionate about. I love counselling and psychotherapy and find it an intensely interesting area. I hope that my passion will translate to the students and that they’ll find it interesting as well.

“I think there’s a huge amount of scope for growth and development within this department and within this particular area.”

Alister thinks the unique course design of the Psychotherapy and Counselling degree means it will appeal to a broader range of students than most degree courses.

“I think this degree has the potential to attract a new type of student in terms of their interests and where they might be in their life,” said Alister.

“The degree obviously has the potential to prepare those people who specifically want a career in psychotherapy and counselling for their career choice but it also provides a lot of transferable skills relating to listening, communicating, and working with people that can be used in a wide range of contexts and that could be valuable in a wide range of professions.

“It’s offering something different that is gaining a lot of interest from people who may not have otherwise applied to go to university.”

You can still apply to study Psychotherapy and Counselling in 2018. Find out more on our Clearing page.

The next Marjon Open Days are 6th October, 2018 and 28th November, 2018. Register for an Open Day here.