ECPS Post-Qualifying Certificate in Psychodynamic Couple Counselling

Course Overview

This course provides a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of psychodynamic counselling as it applies to working with couples. It is designed for qualified psychodynamic counsellors and psychotherapists who wish to extend their clinical thinking and practical skills to encompass the particular dynamics of couple work.

Applicants do not need prior experience of working with couples. While client contact is neither mandatory nor guaranteed, participants who work with couples during the course, whether referred by ECPS or seen through their own private practice (subject to approval)—will receive supervision as part of the course.

Key Details at a Glance

Course Structure & Monthly Schedule

Sessions take place classroom-based in Enfield Town on one Thursday per month for ten months. Applications are considered on a rolling basis, and the start date may be adjusted to ensure a viable cohort.

Each monthly session follows a three-part format:

1. Theoretical Seminar (10:15 am – 11:45 am) — Structured around participant presentations of assigned reading materials (all provided by ECPS).
2. Clinical Seminar (12:00 pm – 1:30 pm) — Focused on experiential and clinical skills work using roleplay.
3. Supervision Group (Online) — Led by Richard White, where practising couple therapists present clinical work and participants discuss or bring their own couple cases. Participants select one group option:

• Option A: 3:15 pm – 4:45 pm (on the Thursday of the course)
• Option B: 5:15 pm – 6:45 pm (a fortnight later)

Course Content & Module Breakdown

The 10 monthly modules cover discrete clinical and theoretical themes:

1. The Couple Relationship: Psychoanalytic understanding of partner choice and the couple as a unit of mind.
2. Assessment: Approaches to assessment and the concept of “good enough” in couple therapy.
3. Establishing the Treatment: Engaging the couple, setting up the analytic frame, and early technique.
4. Unconscious Processes: Unconscious communication, container/contained dynamics, and case material.
5. Projective Processes: Projection, introjection, projective identification, and hate/aggression in the couple.
6. Transference & Countertransference: Approaches to individual and joint transference, and the Oedipal dimension in the counselling room.
7. Narcissism: Narcissistic object relating, psychic space, and transitional phenomena in the couple.
8. Sexuality: Dynamics of sexual desire, sexual disorder, and addressing sexual issues clinically within the relationship.
9. Specific Clinical Challenges: Affairs, divorce, and the therapist’s self.
10. Endings: Aims of couple therapy, working through, and termination.

Clinical Work & Placements

• No Mandatory Placement: The course does not include a clinical placement, and taking on a couple is not a requirement to complete the training.
• ECPS Referrals: Where suitable couples are available through ECPS, participants may be offered the opportunity to work with them, though this cannot be guaranteed.
• Supervision: Clinical material from cases seen during the course (via ECPS or private practice) may be brought to the course supervision groups.

Admission Requirements & Application Process

Entry Requirements

• Qualification or registration as a psychodynamic counsellor or psychotherapist with an established psychodynamic training centre.
• Active practice with an established caseload of individual patients.
• Prior experience with couples is not required.

Interview

Acceptance onto the course is subject to an interview assessing:

• Psychological mindedness.
• Understanding of what couple work involves.
• Motivation for undertaking the course.

Assessment & Certification

Course Completion Requirements

• Full attendance and active participation.
• Completion of all assignments.
• Passing a final 3,500-word essay (includes a individual meeting with a tutor to discuss the essay as part of the assessment).

The Award

Successful completion leads to the ECPS Post-Qualifying Certificate in Psychodynamic Couple Counselling, recording one year of advanced study and clinical seminar work.

• CPD Status: This is a continuing professional development (CPD) qualification, not a full professional training. It is not accredited by the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) and does not automatically qualify participants as couple therapists.
• Independent Practice: Whether a graduate offers couple work in their practice remains