Psychodynamic Practice (Including Foundation Year) BA (Hons)

University of Essex

This four-year course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three years of study. During your Year Zero, you study three academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory academic skills module, with additional English language for non-English speakers.

You are an Essex student from day one, a member of our global community based at the most internationally diverse campus university in the UK.

After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department, you progress to complete your course with our Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies.

Are you fascinated by relationships and personality development, or intrigued by people’s behaviour, what causes you to act as you do and what can lead to emotional or psychological difficulties? Do you want to learn about and develop ways of helping those who are in need? Laying the foundations for a career in a caring profession, whether education, health or social care our course will give you a solid basis in psychodynamic thinking, child and adult development, and the dynamics of therapeutic interventions in organisations.

Whether you want to work with troubled infants in the nursery, children with emotional and behavioural difficulties in schools or children’s homes, adults in social care and mental health settings, the elderly or those with learning difficulties our degree leaves you fully prepared to make a difference. We equip you with what you need to take up a post in a range of education, health and social care settings. Includes a Placement in each year of study. There are no exams in this course.

Topics include:

• Child, adolescent and adult development
• Attachment theory
• Working with groups
• Psychodynamic counselling
• Anxiety and depression
• Trauma and violence
• Psychosis
• Looked after children
• Eating disorders
• Creating effective learning environments
• Organisational dynamics and systems theory
• Therapeutic communities
• Psychodynamic interventions in non-clinical settings

Through the inclusion of an observational and work placement, giving you invaluable experience within your chosen sector, this course enables you to put theory and practice together as well as a gradual entry into the world of employment. We help you to explore and understand the kind of role you are preparing for so you graduate with a valuable balance of theoretical understanding and useful practical experience – rare qualities giving you the edge needed for to successfully gain employment upon graduation.