Counselling and Psychotherapy (MSc)

Entry requirements

Please see our website for further information on entry requirements for this course.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Make a difference to the lives of others by gaining the knowledge skills and experience to practice as a professional counsellor. Our British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) accredited MSc combines academic study with counselling skills practice, facilitating your personal and professional development as well as offering you a grounding in research methodology.

Why study Counselling and Psychotherapy at Keele University?
- Both our full-time and part-time programmes are accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
- Learn from active practitioners in counselling who have a wealth of experience in providing counselling training to both UK and international students
- You will acquire a theoretical grounding in person-centred/humanistic counselling and an introduction to research methodologies
- Keele has a thriving counselling community with students from a range of professional, cultural, social and educational backgrounds

Course summary
Our MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy incorporates incorporates four interwoven strands of counselling training: counselling theory, counselling practice, personal development, and positionality.

The philosophy of the programme is humanistic, with a focus on person-centred practice. The core theoretical model is grounded in Carl Rogers’ belief in the self-therapeutic capacity and wisdom of clients (1967). The philosophical traditions of existentialism and phenomenology illuminate our understanding of humanistic practice, explored through lectures and small group work.

You will be encouraged to examine and question your own beliefs, assumptions, and lived experiences to develop a personal, integrated theory of human development. This process is rooted in humanistic and phenomenological principles and supports a deepening awareness of how identity, power, and privilege shape therapeutic presence and practice.

Positionality is a major strand of the programme, threaded throughout all aspects of training. You will be invited to reflect on your social location, including dimensions such as race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, and culture, and consider how these intersect with power and privilege in therapeutic relationships. This includes engaging with difference, marginalisation, and the ethical implications of working across diverse contexts. We view this reflective work as essential to developing relational depth, cultural humility, and ethical integrity.

To enable you to build and maintain strong therapeutic alliances, we aim to facilitate your ability to co-create relationships at depth, including an understanding of the barriers that may prevent or impact such relationships. Concepts such as presence, empathic understanding, resonance, acceptance, and challenge will underpin your personal way of being and professional practice, supporting your capacity to meet clients with authenticity and depth.

Information for international students

Fees and funding

Please see our website for further information on fees and funding for this course.