A range of learning and teaching strategies, meeting the needs of the diverse learner, will help you engage with the most current Art Psychotherapy theory and practice to develop your own Art Psychotherapy identity.

You will benefit from the use of the bespoke facilities on campus to support your learning and further develop your creative skills and art form in the context of art psychotherapy practice.

A fundamental part of the course is infant or child observation, providing you with a strong grounding in human development and observational skills that will inform the rest of your studies.

Experiential group, peer practice, supervision groups, seminars and lectures, external talks, classroom discussions are underpinned by the most recent pedagogical advances in higher education and will provide a further insight into the principles, practices and application of Art Psychotherapy.

Each year students will complete 60 credits.

Please note it is a course requirement that you attend 1 hour of personal therapy on a weekly basis (except for breaks during the year such as holidays or annual leave). Read our Guide to Studying Art Psychotherapy(Opens in a new tab) for more information.

Year One: Art Psychotherapy 

Module 1: Theory and Practice of Art Psychotherapy, incorporating:

• Infant or child observation
• Seminars and workshops with highly experiential and participatory content relating to study of theories and concepts relevant to Art Psychotherapy practice and the arts therapies in general
• Study of a range of client groups and the service user voice in the Art Psychotherapy practice
• Modality specific experiential groups
• Group supervision
• Placement in a University approved setting in the second half of the year.

Module 2: Art Psychotherapy Skills 1, incorporating:

• Highly experiential role plays and video recording of peer practice
• Study of generic and specialist Art Psychotherapy skills and their application in a range of settings

Year Two: Art Psychotherapy

You will begin to explore collaborative, evidence-based Art Psychotherapy practice and therapeutic approaches to meet the needs of diverse populations, client groups and settings.

You will further develop your specialist Art Psychotherapy skills and continue to learn through experiential group, supervision groups, workshops, lectures, show cases and peer presentations.

Module 1: Therapeutic Approaches and Evidence Based Practice, incorporating:

• Lectures, seminars and workshops pertaining to specialist Art Psychotherapy practice
• Group supervision
• Modality specific experiential groups
• Introduction to research methods
• One-day placement in a University-approved clinical setting

Module 2: Art Psychotherapy Skills 2, incorporating:

• Simulated practice and peer experimentation with Art Psychotherapy tools and approaches, feedback facilitation and video recording of peer practice
• Study of advanced and specialist Art Psychotherapy skills and related theoretical concepts

Year Three: Art Psychotherapy

You will continue to learn and increasingly facilitate peer learning, through group supervision, experiential groups and practice-based research. You will undertake an independent in-depth study of a specialist subject relevant to the Art Psychotherapy practice and complete a research project of your choice.

Support is provided through dissertation and research supervision, tutorials, peer discussion and presentations.

Module 1: Art Psychotherapy Research and Practice

• Research methods and student led research project supported by dissertation supervision
• Seminars, lectures and workshops with focus on specialist Art Psychotherapy practice (including working in multidisciplinary, innovative and non-traditional settings) and current research underpinning such practice
• Group supervision
• Student-led experiential groups
• One or two-day placement in a University-approved clinical setting

The course is designed with the most current Art Psychotherapy pedagogical advances in mind. You will study through classroom teaching, staff and student led presentations, clinical placement, professional development, exhibitions, dissertation, self-directed and independent study and formative and summative assessments.

• Year One: One day per week at university, on a Monday; in the second semester (end of January), this will change to one day at university and one day at placement
• Year Two: One day at university, a Tuesday, and one day at placement
• Year Three: One or two days at placement (depending on the requirements of individual placements) and one day on campus, a Wednesday

Summative assessment will take the form of course assignments, presentations, examinations, projects, and dissertation. These assessments will make use of, for example, case studies, workplace investigations, experiential learning in university and placements, personal therapy, literature searches and the outputs to be assessed will include written reports, verbal presentations, essays and portfolios of evidence/work.

Formative assessment will be collated from placement providers via placement report and student self-assessment, course staff and group leaders in form of group supervision report, accumulative feedback from classroom and peer feedback. Informal formative feedback is available throughout your studies from peer facilitation and observation, experiential learning and reflection, personal tutorials and group discussions.