The Certificate course in Bristol provides an understanding of psychoanalytic theory and technique as they relate to the adult couple relationship and provides students with an opportunity to think about how to apply this to their own clinical material.
Because we were taught by experienced staff we were able to build on our interests and existing abilities. I’m glad I did it!. - Previous Student
Qualified individual adult, child and family therapists who want to develop their knowledge of couple relationships and theory, and explore the possibility of further training in psychodynamic couple
counselling and psychotherapy or couple psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
What the course covers:
Course components:
If you are looking to train as a psychotherapist, one of the things that you will undoubtedly want to know is what our students think. We understand that, and understand that you will want to know more than just a few anecdotes, or positive quotes from a few students.
Each year nearly 1,000 people participate in our training one way or another. This ranges from those starting their journey as a couple counsellor by taking our Foundation course, to trainees outside of London, practitioners coming for a day of CPD, right up to those undertaking a full professional training, which include psychodynamic, psychosexual and psychoanalytic pathways.
As well as a rich variety of positive comments and rewarding interactions with our students that tell us that we are an institution greatly respected by our students, we also fully evaluate our trainings – with anonymous evaluations forms which collect both qualitative and quantitative data. We aim for, and mostly achieve, 100% completion rates – and we are extremely proud of our results.
Below are the results of our evaluations from 2019 of our Foundation course, and our Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytic trainings.
Ranking the ‘Foundation Certificate in Couple Counselling and Psychotherapy, in 2019, all of our students, 100% rated the experience either satisfying or very satisfying, with two thirds declaring that they were ‘very satisfied’.
Foundation Certificate in Couple Counselling and Psychotherapy - Total of 47 students on the course in 2019, 45 students completed evaluation forms
Q How satisfied are you with the course (Student Respondents 2019)
|
Very satisfied |
71% |
|
Satisfied |
29% |
|
Somewhat satisfied |
0% |
|
Dissatisfied |
0% |
|
Very dissatisfied |
0% |
Across the years of our most well attended training, MA Couple and Individual Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy results were similar.
Our 2019 third year students were 100% satisfied, with over half very satisfied with their study experience.
MA Couple and Individual Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy – Total of 35 students on the course 2018-19 and all students completed evaluation forms
Q How satisfied are you with the course (Student Respondents 2019, years 1,2 and 3 combined)
|
Very satisfied |
60% |
|
Satisfied |
35% |
|
Somewhat satisfied |
5% |
|
Dissatisfied |
0% |
|
Very dissatisfied |
0% |
The cohort that completed our MA Couple Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy also recorded 100% satisfaction.
MA Couple Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy - Total of 11 students on the course 2018-19 and all students completed evaluation forms
|
Very satisfied |
36% |
|
Satisfied |
64% |
|
Somewhat satisfied |
0% |
|
Dissatisfied |
0% |
|
Very dissatisfied |
0% |
This has been newly launched in London (having been delivered in two regions of the UK with plans for more) also proved incredibly popular.
The most recent Bristol course students responded that they were:
Very Satisfied – 88%
Satisfied – 12%
Why do students evaluate our psychotherapy training so favourably?
Our programmes have been developed and evolved based on the needs of trainees. Over 70 years of experience have been poured into designing the best possible experience for the practitioners of tomorrow.
It may well be the detail and challenging nature of the study are the very thing that students are most impressed by.
Several common themes come up about what is good about studying with us – that give us a clear idea of their importance and value:
The teaching
At Tavistock Relationships, unlike many other institutions, the experts, practitioners and course leaders ARE actually the people that trainees see teaching them in the classroom. They are not just figureheads. This access to senior staff makes our students excel.
What our students said
In our surveys we also found a 100% satisfaction rating for teaching
Our supervision
Working clinically requires supportive supervision, which develops the student’s clinical practice. Our supervision is of the highest standard, again due to the seniority and experience of our training supervisors.
What our students said
Self-Reflective Groups
The self-reflective practice group provide a safe space in which to develop your capacity to understand your own interaction both in the consulting room and in your relationships with others in your colleague group.
What our students said
Tutors
The tutor’s role is a complex one which includes elements of guidance, pastoral care, monitoring, assessment and facilitating integration into the programme and into Tavistock Relationships.
What our students said
Co-therapy
Co-therapy is undertaken by senior staff at Tavistock Relationships.
What our students said
What happens after graduation?
Due to the advanced level of our qualifications all of our students go on to set up their own practices, or work with us. Many of course, do both. There are a number of opportunities post qualification to develop a career as a couple therapist at Tavistock Relationships. There are opportunities to work in specialised services such as Parenting, or our Divorce and Separation unit; there are opportunities to undertake paid clinical work – both ongoing cases and Assessments; and depending on what projects we are involved in there are opportunities there too – for example, working with couples in conflict, or couples who have adopted. Tavistock Relationships offers a unique opportunity to train and then work in the same place.
A graduates experience…
“Being on the training in Couple and Individual Counselling and Psychotherapy at Tavistock Relationships is an extremely rich experience both academically and personally. The teaching staff are incredibly skilled and as a student one always feels contained by the whole organisation which is so important when one is learning,
Since qualification I have had the opportunity to work in a number of different spheres: working on projects at Tavistock Relationships, running groups for parental couples, setting up a private practice and working in a CAMHS setting. It was when I started working professionally, that I realised that through this training I now had an extremely robust framework from which to advance my practice. The longer I have worked clinically the more I have been aware of how invaluable a strong framework is, that it is the key to being an effective clinician.
One of the things I also appreciate about training at Tavistock Relationships is that the work is always taken seriously and the ethical standards are high and at the same time the organisation is very creative, in that it is continually developing its programmes, projects and client offers to response to client need and looking to open up couple therapy to everyone who would like to access it. Through the training and my subsequent work with the organisation I have been able to develop hugely as a clinician and to go on develop a very interesting and satisfying career.” Martha Nyman
Martha Nyman was a student on the Post Graduate Diploma from 2010 - 2013.
To apply for any of our courses visit our courses main page.
