Psychotherapy (Taught)

Advance your therapeutic practice through expert relational training and pathways to higher professional recognition.

The Postgraduate Certificate in Psychotherapy provides you with advanced training in intersubjective psychotherapy. It’s designed for qualified counsellors and psychotherapists seeking to deepen their clinical practice and progress within recognised professional pathways.

Delivered fully online and grounded in real-world mental health service contexts, the course offers an integrated blend of advanced theory, supervised clinical practice, portfolio development, and professional reflection. All this combines to give you portfolio evidence of higher-level competency and help ensure you can work confidently with complex and enduring mental health presentations.

Train alongside other mental health professionals and learn within a supportive online community. You’ll also benefit from structured placements and supervision arrangements that strengthen your therapeutic identity and prepare you for roles in NHS, statutory, and specialist mental health settings.

Why study at Leeds

• Professional progression pathways: Clear pathways toward advanced professional recognition, including routes aligned with UPCA and UKAHPP.

• Integrated placement experience: Work within mental health services, gaining supervised practice in real clinical environments.

• Advanced relational and intersubjective training: Designed for work with complex and enduring mental health presentations.

• Blended theory‑to‑practice learning: Combining advanced academic content with structured supervision and portfolio development.

• Flexible online delivery: Built for working practitioners, blending asynchronous study with live experiential teaching.

• Accreditation‑ready development: Helping you gain the evidence required for UKCP‑aligned pathways and broader professional advancement.

Clear pathways toward advanced professional practice
The University of Leeds offers a flexible, professionally aligned set of pathways that allow you to progress toward UKCP registration based on your prior training and career goals.

Pathway 1 - If you previously completed the MA in Psychotherapy and Counselling (post-2022) at Leeds, you could choose to complete the Advanced Practice Portfolio Part 1 Module alongside the PGCert.

This lets you build the full evidential pathway required for UKCP accreditation via the UPCA pathway, so you can register as a UKCP Psychotherapist once all training components are met.

This unique option supports your professional development and ensures your training aligns with SCoPEd Column C competencies.

Pathway 2 – If you’re new to Leeds and have an MA/MSc in Counselling & Psychotherapy from another institution, with an equivalent core therapeutic modality (humanistic, relational common factors), you may choose to complete the PGCert in Psychotherapy to support progression toward UKCP accreditation via UKAHPP.

This route is suited to experienced practitioners who already hold a Level 7 professional training but need:

• A recognised pathway to UKCP

• Advanced relational/intersubjective training

• Structured evidence of practice, supervision, and personal therapy

• A clinical portfolio aligned with SCoPEd Column C requirements.

External applicants may need to complete additional portfolio elements depending on their prior training structure and professional gaps – see the entry requirements section for more information.