Postgraduate Diploma Practitioner in Complex Trauma

Entry requirements

See our general University entry requirements for information on flexible entry, mature students and alternative qualifications.

UK applicants must have one of the following (or equivalent for International applicants):

• HCPC registration
• BACP registration
• BABCP accreditation
• GMC accreditation
• Additional registrations with therapeutic experience will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Students will also need to have access to a patient population and to clinical supervision for their therapeutic work.

International Applicants

Find out about our requirements and see useful information for international applicants:

• International entry requirements by country
• Postgraduate language requirements

If you are uncertain whether you will be eligible to apply for this course, please contact our Admissions team: FMHS-admissions@buckingham.ac.uk.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Elevate your practice and become equipped to provide psychological services to those who require specialised trauma care. The Postgraduate Diploma Practitioner in Complex Trauma has been established to support professionals working clinically with adults affected by prolonged or significant exposure to trauma and adversity. You will develop professional competences to provide psychological services to those who require specialised trauma care.

This course has been developed in partnership with St Andrew’s Healthcare’s Centre for Developmental and Complex Trauma, Foster Postgraduate Centre.

Complex PTSD is a novel diagnosis, although traumatology has long acknowledged the spectrum of complexities in trauma related needs. Yet, current psychological assessment and treatment approaches often fail to differentiate between varying levels of complexity, in the context of limited evidence relating to the efficacy of treatments for complex trauma, specifically. As an emerging field, with a limited, and growing, evidence base, this can create challenges for clinicians wanting to ensure their service users have access to the latest evidence-based models and approaches to treatment.

This course has been developed in recognition that individuals with more complex and enduring needs require nuanced approaches to conceptualising service models and treatments. It adopts a holistic approach to the needs of people who have been exposed to prolonged or significant incidents of adversity or trauma. The structure and content of the PGDiP follows the level three ‘trauma expert’ competencies outlined by the British Psychological Society (Karatzias & Buxton, 2016).

The PGDip operates within a framework of emphasising the idiosyncratic care needs of service users to provide specialist complex trauma care. It provides students with the opportunity to develop trauma-sensitive practice within their organisations and team. There is also a strong emphasis on theory-driven and integrated approaches, and from working from the evidence base, including acknowledging, and working with their limitations.

Emphasis is placed on strengthening core skills of self-awareness, including of awareness of one’s own professional and academic needs, as well as promoting self-care and accessing appropriate supervision.

Course Highlights

• Strong emphasis on theory-informing practice and the integration of different evidence-based theoretical perspectives of complex trauma.
• Developing therapeutic skills and competencies to respond effectively to clinical challenges associated in working with people with complex trauma needs.
• Free access to the Centre for Development and Complex Trauma’s international Trauma conference programme.

View the PGDip Practitioner in Complex Trauma brochure (PDF)

Fees and funding

Assessment