Intro

The Psychotherapy MSc allows graduates of our postgraduate diplomas in psychotherapeutic counselling to further their professional and academic training.

The MSc involves two further years of study in which you build on your chosen theoretical base and develop ways of working with complex presentations of human distress. You also develop skills in research design and implementation specific to the profession of psychotherapy.

The course is a unique opportunity to undertake a more general psychotherapy training, building on the cross-modality philosophy and approach of the practitioners in the counselling and psychotherapy division at Brighton.

Find out about postgraduate events

Key facts

Location Brighton: Moulsecoomb

Part-time 2 years

Accredited by the Universities Training College of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy.

The application deadline for this course is 15 January. Check the entry criteria below for info on the application process.

Thinking about applying?

Our Psychotherapy MSc runs every two years and your next opportunity to start this course is September 2026 – online applications will open in October 2025.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Degree and experience
Applicants will have a postgraduate diploma in psychotherapeutic counselling (equivalent to 120 masters-level credits).

Although the MSc is a continuation of our postgraduate diplomas in Humanistic Counselling and Psychotherapy PGDip and in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy PGDip, applications are welcomed from those who have been awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy from other universities.

English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall, with 6.0 in writing and a minimum of 5.5 in the other elements.

Application process

This course runs every two years. Your next opportunity to apply is October 2025 to start in September 2026.

We expect to offer 15 places for this course and hold a reserve list of three.

Step 1

  • Submit your completed application by 15 January, this includes completed references.  
  • Ensure that you accurately record all relevant completed or pending qualifications – scan and attach your certificates.  
  • If you are a graduate of the PGDip from the Ογ½ΆΦ±²₯ then you need only provide one reference from your supervisor. If you are an external applicant, you will need to provide a further reference.
  • Alert your referee/s that they should receive an email request and to check all email folders. Please note that is up to you to follow up with your referee/s to ensure this is submitted before the deadline of 15 January. 

Your application may be rejected if you do not provide the correct information or references by the deadline.

Step 2

  • Our admissions office reviews all applications.  
  • Complete applications meeting the entry criteria are submitted to the course leader for review and selection.
  • All fully completed applications received by 15 January will receive equal consideration.
  • Candidates will be selected for interview based on the strength of their application.
  • Applications received after this date may still be considered, if we have vacancies on the course or for a place on the reserve list.

Step 3

  • Selected applicants will be invited for interview from early February.
  • You will be interviewed by two course tutors.

Step 4

  • Successful applicants will be made an offer of a place on the course in May once all applicants have been interviewed.  
  • You will be advised if this is a reserve list place – reserve places may become available if a candidate needs to decline their accepted offer.

Step 5

  • Meet any conditions of your offer. This may include submitting evidence of the qualification you are studying.
  • Pay the non-refundable £250 deposit to confirm your place on the course. This is required within one month of your offer being made or we may offer your place to another candidate.

Course content

Syllabus

You are required to regularly undertake supervised clinical practice under a supervisor in an approved setting. You must also take weekly psychotherapy yourself with an UKCP psychotherapist. Membership to the UPCA is required from the start of the course.

Modules

  • Psychotherapy Practice and Models of Change
  • Systemic Interventions: Theory and Practice
  • Complex Presentations in Psychotherapy
  • Implications of Neuroscience for Psychotherapy: Body, Mind and Brain
  • Psychotherapeutic Practice and Supervision
  • Dissertation
Psychotherapy student

Lab facilities

Mithras House is home to all our School of Humanities and Social Science courses. It has a series of ‘labs’, which may be used for teaching on your course or in your independent research work.

Life lab
A comfortable space with lounge furniture intended for qualitative research with larger groups. Due to its relaxed layout and naturalistic environment, the space is suited to research using focus groups, research using observation-based methods and child research.

The space is also used for teaching on some social science courses, as well as for dissertation research for projects.
 
City lab
A space designed for collaborative student learning. It is used by students and staff involved in the university’s Global Challenges programme, our collective mission to contribute towards solutions to tackling the pressing issues facing our world.

Design lab
A space housing our extensive collection of historic dress and textiles, which are used in some teaching on our History of Art and Design courses. It has the space and equipment to work on textile projects. Displays created by students on these programmes are on view in the social spaces of the building.

Stats lab
A specialist workspace with computing equipment for statistical analysis and projects involving video and audio editing software. The lab is accessible as a study space to students on psychology courses.

It is also available to students studying courses involving video and audio recording and editing, such as politics degrees and our creative writing programmes. The stats lab contains eight soundproof booths for recording or transcribing interviews undertaken as part of dissertation research.

VR and eye tracking lab
This lab is used for psychological research, specifically eye-tracking research and virtual reality research. Equipment includes an electroencephalography (EEG) headset and Electrodermal Activity (EDA) equipment.

More about this subject at Brighton

Careers

The MSc will qualify you to work as a psychotherapist in either humanistic or psychodynamic counselling, depending on your chosen specialism.

To facilitate your career progression, we recommend that you join the main local counselling organisation, Sussex Counselling, which provides a professional network as well as regular seminars and workshops.

UPCA logoUKCP logo

Fees and costs

Course fees

UK (part-time, 1 year) 5,350 GBP

International (part-time, 1 year)5,350 GBP

Non-refundable deposit

To secure your offer or a place a £250 non-refundable deposit is required within one month of notification for payment. If your offer is received after 15 August, it may be possible to negotiate a date with the course leader. Please note this payment is required before the course begins.

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more about postgraduate fees and funding.

Fee information for this course for 2025 entry will be updated here no later than December 2024.

The fees listed here are for the first year of study if you start your course in the academic year 2024–25.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year. UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (depending on which is higher).

If you have specific queries about the course fee, our fees team will be happy to help. Email them at fees@brighton.ac.uk.

Find out more

What's included

Here you’ll find details of specific resources and services that are included in the tuition fee for our counselling and psychotherapy students. To help you to budget for your studies, there is also information on any additional costs that you may have to pay or can choose to pay in addition to your tuition fee.

Find out how tuition fees enable us to support all of our students with important services, facilities and resources across the university and check out our finance pages for info about fees, funding and scholarships along with advice on international and island fee-paying status.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more information.

What's included in your tuition fee

  • Course books, magazines and journals are available in the university libraries. You do not need to have your own copies. See the for an up-to-date list of key subject journals and databases.
  • You will have access to computers and necessary software on campus – and can borrow a laptop from us if yours is broken or you don’t have a computer at home. Specialist equipment is provided to cover essential learning.

Additional costs

  • Humanistic Counselling and Psychotherapy PGDip, and Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy PGDip students undertake face-to-face therapy through their course. The cost of this is not included in the tuition fee. You can expect to pay £3000–£4200 over the course. Estimated based on £55-£60 per hour.
  • Psychotherapy MSc students are required to undertake supervised clinical practice throughout the course. The cost is not included in the fee. You'll need to budget for supervision fees of around £1,300 for each full year. Estimated based on £50 per hour with fortnightly meetings. In some agencies, supervision will be provided at no cost. Where students have to pay, the cost will only begin when supervision begins.
  • Most coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £100 for printing.
  • The courses are accredited by the BACP (PGDip) and UKCP (MSc) and provide a route for accreditation and registration respectively with these bodies. Fees for memberships of BACP and UKCP are not included in the fees for the course.
  • For some assessments you may be required to print large format posters for presentations at a cost of £5–£10 per poster.
  • Most coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £100 for printing.
  • Some courses include an optional placement module for which students will need to cover the costs of travel to and from the placement and DBS checks as required.
  • For a number of courses you will have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits. These are optional and are not required to pass your course but under normal circumstances we would expect a budget of approximately £150 per year will cover the costs of particular trips. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.
  • You’ll need to budget for printing and stationery for personal study, and books if you decide to buy your own. Budget £200 if you decide to buy your own copies of textbooks. Many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices, but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

Moulsecoomb campus

Two miles north of Brighton seafront, Moulsecoomb is our largest campus and student village. Moulsecoomb has been transformed by a recent development of our estate. On campus you'll find new Students' Union, events venue, and sports and fitness facilities, alongside the library and student centre.

Over 900 students live here in our halls, Moulsecoomb Place and the new Mithras halls – Brunswick, Goldstone, Hanover, Preston and Regency.

Moulsecoomb has easy access to buses and trains and to all the exciting things happening in our home city.

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Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students. So if you applied for halls by the deadline you are guaranteed a room in our halls of residence.

Brighton: Moulsecoomb

Halls of residence
We have self-catered halls on all our campuses, within minutes of your classes, and other options that are very nearby.

You can apply for any of our halls, but the options closest to your study location are:

  • Mithras Halls are stylish new high-rises in the heart of the student village at our revitalised Moulsecoomb campus with ensuite rooms for more than 800 students.
  • Varley Park is a popular dedicated halls site, offering a mix of rooms and bathroom options at different prices. It is around two miles from Moulsecoomb campus and four miles from the city centre, and is easy to get to by bus.

Want to live independently?
We can help – find out more about private renting.

Relaxing in halls

Modern accommodation at Moulsecoomb

Mithras halls room with a view

Relaxing in halls near the campus

Student Union social space

Student Union social space at Moulsecoomb

Local area

About Brighton

The city of Brighton & Hove is a forward-thinking place which leads the way in the arts, technology, sustainability and creativity. You'll find living here plays a key role in your learning experience.

Brighton is a leading centre for creative media technology, recently named the startup capital of the UK.

The city is home to a national 5G testbed and over 1,000 tech businesses. The digital sector is worth over £1bn a year to the local economy - as much as tourism.

All of our full-time undergraduate courses involve work-based learning - this could be through placements, live briefs and guest lectures. Many of these opportunities are provided by local businesses and organisations.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and there are daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton
Brighton Beach sunset

Maps

Moulsecoomb campus map

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Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You'll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness, managing stress or accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our Brighton Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you'll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You'll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more about how we support your wellbeing.

Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

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Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

Students playing frisbee

Stay in touch

Find out about postgraduate events

Ask a question about this course

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

01273 644644

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