Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling
Qualify as a professional counsellor with our NCPS-accredited Diploma.
About the Diploma
The Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling is a professional counselling qualification. You come out of it qualified to practise, accredited by the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) and on the Professional Standards Authority’s Accredited Register. It sits in Column A of the SCoPEd framework, the same standing as other counselling qualifications of its kind, and opens the route to BACP membership if you want it later.
We teach it through Transactional Analysis (TA), a relational and humanistic approach with its roots in psychoanalytic thinking. It looks at what happens between people as a way of understanding what happens within them, and it holds that people can revise conclusions they came to about themselves long before they had words for them. That gives you range: you can work at depth with the unconscious and with early developmental difficulties, with individuals, couples and groups, in private practice and in organisations.
- Length
- Three years, part-time, about 450 contact hours
- When
- Eleven weekends a year, September to July. Weekday option for the first year
- Where
- 5 The Drive, Hove
- Accredited by
- The NCPS, on the PSA Accredited Register
- Entry
- TA 101. No degree needed
Is it right for you?
This Diploma is for people who want to work professionally as a counsellor. You might be:
- beginning a new career in counselling or psychotherapy
- already working in a helping profession, and wanting a formal counselling qualification
- a qualified counsellor from another modality, looking to add TA to your practice
Where to start
You don’t apply to the Diploma itself. You join a stage, and the Diploma is what you come away with at the end. We welcome graduates and non-graduates alike, and assess each application on its own terms.
Start with TA 101
Two days, run monthly, and the way most people begin. A grounding in TA before you commit to anything longer.
Book onto TA 101 →Already done TA 101?
Stage One, the Foundation Year, begins each September, over 11 weekends or 22 weekdays.
Apply for Stage One →Trained somewhere else?
If you already practise, or have studied TA elsewhere, you may be able to join at Stage Two.
Ask us where to start →How you get there
One training, taken a stage at a time. Each stage carries its own award and counts towards the next, so nothing is repeated and nothing is wasted. Counselling skills are built in, so you need no extra courses to meet the criteria for accreditation.
Year 1
Stage One: Foundation in TA Theory
The core theory, applied to yourself and your work. Can be taken on its own.
View course →Year 2
Stage Two (a): Clinical Training
Your placement, first clients and supervision begin.
View course →Year 3
Stage Two (b): Clinical Training
Deeper clinical work, risk, group work and research in practice.
View course →Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling. Use the title Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and the post-nominal Dip Couns.
What you will achieve
- the title Psychotherapeutic Counsellor, with the post-nominal Dip Couns
- Accredited Registrant of the NCPS (MNCPS Accred)
- a place on the Professional Standards Authority Accredited Register
- the option to apply to the BACP and sit the Certificate of Proficiency
The Connexus Institute Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling has been given Accredited training recognition by the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) signifying that requirements set out by our Standards of Education and Training have been met and that SCoPEd Column A competencies have been fully mapped. Subject to our Terms & Conditions, this course is a route onto a national register of counsellors which is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
What comes next
Every hour you complete carries forward.
Advanced Diploma in Adult Psychotherapy →
One further year: our Master’s Level qualification, leading to UKCP registration as a psychotherapist.
Certified Transactional Analyst (CTA) →
The international qualification in TA, awarded by EATA after a written and an oral examination.
Study Support Courses →
Help with the Master’s Level case study and mental health familiarisation.
Not sure whether this is right for you?
Come and talk to us before you decide. We’d rather have that conversation early.