Aims of the programme
The overall aim of the postgraduate programme in cognitive behavioural therapy is to:
- Promote excellence in cognitive behavioural therapy by offering opportunities to develop personally, professionally and collaboratively.
To achieve this, the programme aims to:
- develop knowledge and skills of health care professionals who are already familiar with individual case work, history taking and caseload management; in particular to enable students to effectively undertake formulation and application of Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy skills.
- enable the acquisition of skills to such a level that participants can practise CBT in clinical settings and use CBT based supervision.
- provide all elements for fulfilment of accreditation by the BABCP as a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist.
The Postgraduate Diploma in CBT
- The Pg Diploma is part-time, day release over 24 months. The Pg Certificate is part-time, day release over 12 months.
- The course begins with a five-day block introducing the cognitive model and practising basic techniques.
- The course then runs on a three-day block in the first week of every month. The course is taught in Edinburgh.
- Accredited group supervision is offered as part of the course. In addition, trainees identify a suitable individual CBT qualified supervisor.
- Coursework required to attain the PG Certificate – 1 x audio recording of a clinic CBT session with reflective essay (4,000 words), additional audio recording of a clinic CBT session, 1 x case study (4,000 words).
- Coursework required to attain the PG Diploma – 2 x audio recordings of clinic CBT session 2 x case studies (4,000 words each), data management exercise assessment and critique of selected research study (presentation).
After completing the 24 month Diploma, clinicians will be competent to deliver high intensity CBT intervention to a wide range of conditions and complexities. If, however, the trainees exit after 12 months having completed modules 1 – 3 and attained a PG Certificate, they will only be competent to deliver high intensity interventions for mild to moderate anxiety and depression cases.
The Postgraduate Masters in CBT
To be eligible to apply for the Masters in CBT, applicants will have obtained the Postgraduate Diploma in CBT (or its equivalent).
Dissertation of the research project which is an investigation of a topic within the chosen specialist area of CBT (13,000 words). The project will involve an exploratory piece of research which would include designing and undertaking a research project including choosing appropriate research questions, epistemology, methodology, collecting data, analysing data and drawing appropriate conclusions from your study. Due consideration should be given to ethical requirements of the study and appropriate Research and Development procedures should be observed. This could be in the form of a small scale, service related audit, service based evaluation, a single N or case series design. A range of research approaches or project methodology may be adopted, drawing for example from phenomenological, case study, implementation science or action research paradigms and using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods of data collection and analysis.
The components of the dissertation include:
- A research proposal (2,000 words). This would detail the title and rationale of the chosen research project, and then appraise the relevant research methodologies, epistemology and comprehensive consideration of ethical issues.
- A literature review (6,000 words). This would be a comprehensive literature review focusing on a topic related to a specific aspect of the research proposal which critically appraises and synthesises the evidence pertaining to a specific area explored in the proposal.
- Paper for publication (5,000 words), in journal article format. The student should identify an appropriate journal in which they wish to publish and follow appropriate style. The paper would summarise the above literature review and detail the actual project undertaken and present ready to be submitted for publication, with some discussion of a potential route of dissemination such as work based report, publication, poster, etc.
The duration of the MSc. is eighteen months and regular supervision is arranged by negotiation with the trainee.
