Counselling and Psychotherapy MSc

Keele University

Make a difference to the lives of others by gaining the knowledge skills and experience to practice as a professional counsellor. Our British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) accredited MSc combines academic study with counselling skills practice, facilitating your personal and professional development as well as offering you a grounding in research methodology.Our MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy incorporates three strands of counselling training - namely counselling theory, counselling practice and personal development and positionality.The philosophy of the programme is humanistic with a focus on person-centred practice. The core theoretical model of the course is derived from an acceptance of Carl Rogers’ belief in the self-therapeutic capacity and wisdom of clients (1967). The philosophical traditions of existentialism and phenomenology are used to illuminate understanding of humanistic practice through lectures and small group work.You will be encouraged to examine and question your own beliefs, assumptions, and lived experiences to develop a personal, integrated theory of human development. This process is rooted in humanistic and phenomenological principles and supports a deepening awareness of how identity, power, and privilege shape therapeutic presence and practice. Positionality is a major strand of the programme, threaded throughout all aspects of training. You will be invited to reflect on your social location, including dimensions such as race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, and culture, and consider how these intersect with power and privilege in therapeutic relationships. This includes engaging with difference, marginalisation, and the ethical implications of working across diverse contexts. We view this reflective work as essential to developing relational depth, cultural humility, and ethical integrity.To enable you to build and maintain strong therapeutic alliances, we aim to facilitate your ability to co-create relationships at depth, including an understanding of the barriers that may prevent or impact such relationships. Concepts such as presence, empathic understanding, resonance, acceptance, and challenge will underpin your personal way of being and professional practice, supporting your capacity to meet clients with authenticity and depth. Knowledge and skillsThis programme supports the development of a therapeutic way of being, grounded in person-centred values such as presence, empathic understanding, acceptance, and congruence. Rather than learning techniques, students are invited to engage deeply with their own processes in order to meet clients in what Carl Rogers described as a real relationship — one that is authentic, mutual, and emotionally resonant. Through experiential, academic, and reflective learning, you will: Apply contemporary theory and research to therapeutic practice in ways that are responsive to the lived realities of clients. Develop the capacity to make thoughtful, ethically grounded decisions in complex and uncertain situations. Engage critically with current scholarship in counselling, including the evaluation of research methodologies and their relevance to practice. Undertake independent research that reflects your interests and contributes meaningfully to the field. Expand your relationality — your capacity to engage with clients across diverse experiences, identities, and emotional landscapes, with authenticity and depth.