1st
in counselling for teaching
on my course
National Student Survey 2024
4th
in the UK for overall average
positivity for Counselling
National Student Survey 2024
100%
positivity that the course has
developed your knowledge for the future
National Student Survey 2024
Overview
Build your expertise and confidence in an evolving field
Counselling and Psychotherapy encompass a wide range of talking therapy approaches for an infinite number of concerns, delivered across a variety of contexts, time-spans and methods.
This MA gives counsellors the opportunity to learn to research, and to delve deeper into what it means to be a thoughtful, courageous and relational practitioner in today’s therapeutic context.
With existential, interpersonal and spiritual ideas all featuring as themes, students will attend campus for an assortment of lectures, seminars, talks and groupwork (approximately three hours per week) over the course of two years. They will also meet online for additional content and tutorials.

The Course
What you will study
This Master’s degree seeks to give students a broad and exciting range of experiences, from deepening their existing understanding of connecting with clients and themselves, to managing a research project which has real meaning and resonance for them.
In a changing professional landscape, the ability to draw on critical thinking to find sustainability practices for both yourself and the world of counselling is invaluable.
Key transferable skills gained from this degree include:
- Increased confidence and adaptability
- Critical thinking and problem-solving
- Management of a specialist research project.
Modules
Research Methods and Ethics
This module aims to develop your knowledge, understanding and critical awareness of research methodologies, philosophies and methods pertinent to counselling and psychotherapy themes.
Existence and Experience
This module fosters a critical and experiential exploration of human experience through the lens of both Gestalt and Existential ideas.
Contact and Connection Parts 1 & 2
This module is designed to be in two halves; equipping you with a wide range of skills to work in extra-therapeutic and systemic ways with others, including group facilitation, supervision, teaching and leadership, as well as examining how becoming more in tune with our instincts and somatic experiencing affects our ability to connect on a deeper level in relationship.
Spirituality and Transpersonal Perspectives
This module is designed to stretch your existing understanding of the ways in which humans experience the extraordinary, the wider notions of belonging and connection, and recover and embrace ‘lost’ or discounted parts of themselves.
Embracing the Unknown
This module consolidates elements of those which have gone before in the programme, bringing together: the need for research findings to be uncovered via a voyage of discovery rather than confirmation bias, sitting with uncertainty in therapy, and being more open to our own untapped potential.
Counselling and Psychotherapy Independent Research Project
The dissertation will show evidence of ability to: identify problem and interest areas, locate issues within a wider context, obtain relevant data, analyse findings, work within relevant theoretical/conceptual frameworks, synthesise complicated material, employ relevant and innovative research approaches, and present findings in an accessible manner.
Teaching and Assessment
How you will learn
Blended Learning
While a large part of the course will be delivered face-to-face on campus in your class cohort, there will be a variety of delivery methods for different aspects of the course, including online material.
Written assignments will be submitted online. Therefore, it’s important you have access to your own IT equipment (laptop or desktop and reliable internet connection) and have a good level of IT proficiency. You will be fully supported to engage with the learning platforms, via the University’s IT support resources and staff.
You will also be expected to attend campus, to engage fully in discussions and presentations as appropriate, and attend meetings to check your progress.
The face-to-face component of the course will equate to two intensive days prior to Semester 1 each year, and at least two 1.5-hour sessions per week in Year 1. In Year 2, this will drop to one face-to-face 1.5-hour session per week, as the focus shifts to your research. However, there will be additional supervision and cohort meetings (which may be conducted online) to ensure that you feel supported and helped to stay on track.
The mandatory induction/ introduction at the start of the course is held on campus so you can become acquainted with our staff and support services. You can expect to meet others in your cohort, hear from professional speakers and start the exciting process of building your own research ideas. Part of the process of devising and refining your research will include presenting to others on the progress of your Independent Project, and this will take the form of verbal description, PowerPoint presentation and towards the end of the course, a cohort poster presentation event (in-person).
Practice Learning
While the MA does not include core training, a mandatory placement or specify the number of practice hours to obtain while on the course, it is recommended that students continue with their existing practise to some degree (as far as possible). We recognise that it may be necessary to reduce clinical work alongside study, but there is enormous benefit in remaining in ‘live’ work while on the course, to enrich your learning and to have recent examples to draw on in written assessments.
Meet the teaching team
Jo Taylor-Jones
Jo is a BACP Registered counsellor with her own private practice and has an MA in Psychotherapeutic Counselling and a PgDip in Person-centred Counselling.
Jo has a variety of subjects for other Higher Education and counselling training organisations including Brief Therapy, comparative counselling modality theory and research analysis.
She also counselled students and staff and held psychoeducational workshops at a Hampshire university for seven years.
David Taylor-Jones
David’s doctoral thesis was on the experiences of counselling students, with a focus on the perceptions of their relationships with staff, peers, and the therapeutic model during training.
He also previously completed a study of the experiences that adults who stammer had of their counselling.
David runs a Person-Centred counselling and supervision practice in Brighton. As well as his private practice David has experience of counselling with addictions and bereavement and of counselling in schools.
Carol Lloyd
Having trained as a nursery nurse, an early years teacher specialising in 3 to 8 years, and then a counsellor, Carol has over 25 years’ experience of working in various private, voluntary & statutory organisations.
She has a passion for developing ‘creative potential’ and the use of creative arts in psychotherapy and healing within palliative care and continues to be involved in creative projects.
Carol also runs her our own registered private counselling practice.
Holly Myfield
Holly describes herself as a Humanistic Existentialist Counsellor who, in her private practice, specialises in working with adults with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, ODD and other Neurodevelopmental Conditions.
Iva Coombes
Iva is a psychotherapist and counsellor with extensive experience working with various client groups as well as teaching counselling.
Careers
Where you could go after your studies
Upon completing this degree, you could pursue a range of careers, including:
Teaching
To add to your existing options as a counsellor and/or psychotherapist on joining the course, a master’s degree in counselling will entitle you (at most institutions) to teach on a related course in Higher Education. Further Education providers such as colleges will usually require a teaching qualification or the willingness to work towards one during the first two years of the post. Some Higher Education institutions will look favourably on doctoral level study in a competitive recruitment cycle but it is not normally a requirement.
Outlets for specialism
The process of studying the taught module components of the course and creating your research project will give you insight and knowledge towards a number of potential specialism routes, including (not exhaustive):
- Specialised psychotherapeutic roles
- Reviewing others’ work
- Writing in journals and books
- Research projects (some of which may attract funding)
- Development of a new counselling service (private or with others)
- Leading workshops and passive income streams such as recorded material
- Consulting and guest speaking
- Collaboration and outreach.
Other Doctoral training
The course is also suitable preparation for undertaking a PhD in Counselling and/or Psychotherapy or other postgraduate training.
Transferable skills
Successful completion of the MA Counselling and Psychotherapy means you will graduate with transferable skills suitable for working in sectors outside counselling, such as:
- Group facilitation
- Education
- Welfare professions
- Human health
- Psychology
- Business
- Management
- Research
Experience
Explore top-tier facilities designed to support your learning journey
Our MA Counselling and Psychotherapy course is located on the historic Bishop Otter campus in Chichester, which features a range of facilities, designed to help get the most out of your time at university.
Close Community
Our commitment to a friendly and close-knit student community contributes to a high degree of success for our graduates.
Expert staff
Learn from expert and experienced teaching staff who are here to support your needs.
Learning Resource Centre
Our campuThe Learning Resource Centre (LRC) contains the library, a café, IT/teaching rooms and the Support and Information Zone (SIZ).s library holds more than 200,000 books and over 500,000 eBooks.
Subject specific librarians
If you have difficulty finding material for an essay, seminar or project, subject librarians will be happy to provide assistance.
Course Costs
Course Fees
UK 2025/26
For further details about fees, please see our Tuition Fee page.
University of Chichester alumni who have completed a full undergraduate degree at the University will receive a 15% discount on their postgraduate fees.
To find out about any additional costs on this course, please see our Additional Costs page.
Entry Requirements
Typical entry requirements
Having the relevant skills and qualifications helps us to know that you’re ready to start the course. You’ll need to meet certain entry requirements when you apply for this course which is only open to qualified professional counsellors/ psychotherapists/ psychotherapeutic counsellors:
- Registration as a qualified counsellor with a recognised UK membership body (e.g. BACP, NCPS, UKCP, COSCA)
- A minimum of a Diploma in Counselling including 100 supervised practice hours
- 50 post-qualifying supervised practice hours
- A minimum 2:2 (Hons) degree (or equivalent) in any subject
- An academic reference
- A personal statement outlining your interest in the MA and areas of interest for research
- We would normally expect applicants to have Grade 4 / C in GCSE English and Maths
- All suitable applicants are required to attend an interview
- An enhanced DBS check.