Counselling Psychology

The DPsych is no longer offering places to applicants in 2021-22 and going forwards.

The Regent’s DPsych Counselling Psychology programme is a professional doctorate in counselling psychology validated by The Open University. The programme consists of taught theory, practice and research modules over three full-time years, a practitioner psychologist training, and a doctoral research degree.

The DPsych underwent a successful revalidation during 2019 and has subsequently been revalidated with no conditions for a full-term period of five years with effect from 1st September 2019. 

Accreditation

The programme meets the learning outcomes and standards of training for counselling psychology required by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). 

Upon successful completion of the programme, you will be eligible to apply to the BPS for Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) status and for Full Membership of the BPS Division of Counselling Psychology. You will also be eligible to apply to the HCPC Register of Practitioner Psychologists to work under the legally protected title of Counselling Psychologist. 

Objectives

The Regent’s DPsych programme promotes a relational, pluralistic and anti-discriminatory ethos in therapeutic work and in research. You will explore existentialist and phenomenological theories and practices, contemporary second-wave and third-wave cognitive behavioural therapy approaches, and relational psychodynamic psychotherapy, together with fields such as critical psychology, art and literature, postmodernism and pluralism, ontology and epistemology, and ethics.

You will gain an understanding of how different theories and perspectives conceptualise the nature of distress and the role of the therapist, and explore diverse ways of working in different settings and among different communities.

Throughout your training, you will be encouraged to demonstrate critical thinking, creativity and reflexivity. You will learn how to respond to your clients’ needs while also considering organisational parameters and contextual demands. You will explore the nuances of the “between spaces” in encounters with others and the ethics of intersubjectivity.

This programme will enable you to:

• Develop as a competent, reflective, ethically sound, resourceful and informed practitioner, able to work in therapeutic and non-therapeutic contexts
• Value the imaginative, interpretative, personal and intimate aspects of the practice of counselling psychology
• Commit to ongoing personal and professional development and enquiry 
• Understand, develop and apply a range of different psychological models and theories
• Appreciate the significance of the wider social, cultural and political domains within which counselling psychology operates
• Adopt a questioning and evaluative approach to the philosophy, practice, research and theory that constitute the discipline of counselling psychology

Scholarships and funding

Postgraduate Doctoral Loans - Student Finance England

Student Finance England (SFE) is now offering postgraduate doctoral loan funding for UK and EU nationals, and students in some further categories.

Full details

Regent's MPhil/PhD Progression Scholarships

Regent's MPhil/PhD Progression Scholarships reward the loyalty of undergraduate students or taught postgraduate students who progress to enrol on an MPhil or PhD degree with us. It's our way of saying thank you. Scholarships are worth up to 15% of tuition fees. 

Full details

Future Finance Loans

Alternative loan funding for students studying at Regent's University London.

Full details

Regent's Family Rewards

Regent’s offers an intimate style of education, characterised by lots of personal attention. This personalised approach extends beyond our students to their families, with the University welcoming increasing numbers of brothers, sisters and even children of our alumni each year. The University is delighted to offer the Regent’s Family Reward as a thank-you to our alumni for their and their families’ loyalty.

Full details

What do fees include?

Fees cover the cost of all tuition and access to the University’s IT infrastructure and library learning resources. Fees are presented for the first year of study. 

What other costs should I budget for?

You will need to budget additional funds for accommodation and living expenses, travel, and any additional trips, visits that you choose to participate in outside of the tuition offered as part of the programme.

The library holds copies of core programme text books and where possible in e-format. You will be encouraged to purchase your own books and will need to budget approximately £80-£100 per year for this.

The DPsych also entails additional costs and fees. These are listed below. Please note amounts are approximate and may be subject to change: 

• External clinical supervision - please note this is not always needed. All placements offer clinical supervision and the vast majority offer this for free. However, you may need to pay for some additional (external) clinical supervision depending on the amount and nature of the supervision your placements offer each year. Even if this is the case in one year, it may not be the case in subsequent years.
• Personal therapy, 120 hours over three years: £40 - £70 per session
• Professional indemnity insurance: £50 - £70 per year
• BPS Graduate Membership (MBPsS): £135 (discounts may be available)
• BPS Division of Counselling Psychology membership (recommended): £12
• Enhanced DBS check (available via the BPS): £65-£85
• Thesis printing costs, miscellanea: £ variable

When are fees paid?

Fees are payable in the following instalments:

• An initial non-refundable advance deposit paid when you accept your offer of a place
• The advance deposit is allocated against the first term’s fees
• Tuition fees (including fees for subsequent terms) are due two weeks in advance of classes commencing

Calculating fee increases

• The University sets tuition fees on an annual basis in line with the University's financial year which runs from 1 August to 31 July
• The fees quoted here are for one academic year of study
• Fees for subsequent years of study are subject to fee inflation
• The University aims to keep annual fee increases in line with the University’s cost inflation. The expectation is that this will be no greater than UK consumer price inflation (CPI) plus 3%. There are occasionally variations to this dictated by the costs of running specific programmes or facilities required for our programmes
• All fee increases are subject to approval of the Trustee Board thus ensuring that affordability for our students remains a primary concern in any decisions regarding fee increases

Careers

Employability is at the heart of the DPsych. As the programme progresses, you will learn advanced skills in consultancy, leadership, supervision, service evaluation and audit, psychometrics and outcome measures, to prepare you for employed life as a qualified counselling psychologist.

Many of the programme’s assessments are also real-world products - for example, a workshop, a conference abstract or a conference poster. Our trainees present and win prizes for their work at national and international conferences, as well as in their placements and other community settings.

Most counselling psychologists have a portfolio career. Career prospects are very promising and varied, and include work in settings such as:

• The NHS - primary, secondary, tertiary, clinical health and specialist services (Entry at Level 7 and in some circumstances at Level 8a)
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
• Private practice and consultancy work
• The third (charity) sector
• School, college and university counselling services
• Teaching and research posts in higher education
• Forensic and prison settings
• Employee assistance programmes (EAPs)
• Occupational health settings and services
• Expert witness services 

Upon successful completion of the programme, the vast majority of our graduates are already working in the NHS, the third sector, private practice, or in educational or organisational contexts. 

Of our Year 3 trainees who finished the taught programme in September 2019 and September 2020, 100% have already been offered and/or accepted paid practitioner and/or managerial roles.

Congratulations to Dr Natalie Stechler, HCPC registered Counselling Psychologist and DPsych alumna, who recently secured a position with an NHS hospital in London, working with a wellbeing service for staff responding to COVID-19.