MSc Adolescent Psychotherapy

In partnership with the University of Northampton

The aim of this two-year in-depth training programme is to understand and appreciate the complexity of adolescent process and to support counsellors/therapists in developing deeper levels of competency in their work with adolescents who are experiencing psychological and developmental difficulties. The training will address adolescent development and psychotherapy from a Gestalt Relational perspective, understanding adolescent development as creative adjustment in context, tracking the interactive evolution of the adolescent’s contact repertoire and the relational field of which the adolescent is a part. Themes for the training will include:

• The nature of adolescent development, including transformation of the adolescent’s relationship with him/herself, the social world & parents.
• Understanding clinical symptoms as developmental field phenomena.
• Utilising a field approach for designing clinical interventions
• The critical role of shame in the clinical situation
• The pragmatics of engaging the adolescent and parents in therapy

The Programme Director is Bronagh Starrs. Bronagh is an adolescent development specialist and has considerable experience as a trainer in adolescent development and therapy throughout Ireland. She also teaches and presents internationally on the developmental implication of trauma on the adolescent journey.