Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

We do not have application deadlines for any of our courses at SPCP. However, as places on each programme are limited and are offered on a first-come-first serve basis, early application is advisable to avoid disappointment. In is not uncommon for our Foundation courses to reach capacity two months or more before their start date, so if you want to check that places are still available before applying, please email us at spc@regents.ac.uk.

You should also be aware that all offers made at SPCP last for one full academic year. In other words, once you have been interviewed and made an offer, you are able to take this up on any of the intakes for that programme throughout the year. It can be the case, therefore, that places on upcoming intakes disappear as people accept offers they were made earlier on.

If you intend to become a practicing psychotherapist/counsellor and have no previous experience in the field, the road will be quite a long one, but if you have your heart set on it, it is entirely possible.

Basically it would depend on whether you have an undergraduate degree (in any discipline) or not as to how long it would take. If you do have an undergraduate degree, it would take about 5 years of study before registration is possible with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) or, in the near future, the Health Professions Council (HPC). Without a degree, this could take up to 7 years of study and voluntary work combined.

With or without a degree, your first step would be to enrol on one of our Foundation courses in Psychotherapy and Counselling; also an excellent "standalone" option which provides a full introductory-level course in basic theories of therapy as well as basic practical skills in listening and responding.. No previous experience is required, and we offer both a full 1 Year programme and various intensive options. After completing the Foundation course you fulfil �a substantial part of the requirements to qualify for entry onto our MA/PGDiploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling.

This is where the 'degree' issue would be most relevant. If you have already have a degree (in any discipline), you will need at least 6 months of professional or voluntary experience working with clients in an institutional setting, ideally applying counselling skills in a supportive and/or facilitative way. Without a degree you need to gather at least 2 years of such experience before you could apply to the MA/PGDip.

Once you have completed the taught component of the MA/PGDip (2 years) you are eligible to apply for further professional training at the Advanced Diploma level. We offer two Advanced Diploma courses � one in Integrative Psychotherapy and one in Existential Psychotherapy � and the completion of one of these courses (which are 2 years in length) leads to professional registration with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), and, in the near future, with the Health Professions Counsil (HPC). Registration requires a minimum of 450 hours of supervised clinical practice, all of which must be supervised clinically by an appropriate placement supervisor and by a series of SPCP training supervisors as part of your courses. Until full regulation by the Health Professions Council, SPCP will remain an accrediting organisation within both the humanistic/integrative and existential section of UKCP, and registers graduates from the advanced diplomas for the appropriate section.

Registration with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) can be undertaken independently after the end of the first year of advanced diploma study if 450 hours of appropriately supervised clinical practice hours have been achieved by then. In practice, this is rare and BACP registration can take as long as fulfilling the higher-level UKCP standard.

There are two main "sides" to the entry requirements for the MA/PGDip: the academic side, and the professional/voluntary side. To elaborate:

1. You must have completed our Foundation course in Psychotherapy and Counselling, or an equivalent amount of hours and training elsewhere. Our Foundation course includes 120 hours of practical, theoretical and "experiential" training, so in order to qualify for the MA/PGDip as an external applicant you will have to have completed at least 120 hours of similar training at another institution. It is usually the case that even students with an undergraduate degree in Psychology or the like must nonetheless begin on our Foundation course
   .
   
2. You must have 6 months � 2 years of professional or voluntary experience in an institutional setting working with clients, ideally applying counselling skills in a supportive and/or facilitative way. With an undergraduate degree (in any discipline), you will need at least 6 months of professional/voluntary experience, and without an undergraduate degree, you will need at least 2 years of professional/voluntary experience. We do consider professional experience from nurses, social workers, teachers, coaches, mentors, trained mediators and some HR professionals as roughly equivalent, but look at each case individually to make our assessments.

If you feel that you meet the above requirements, then we would welcome an application from you. If you are not sure where you stand or have some "grey areas" you need to discuss, please email us at spc@regents.ac.uk to be provided with the email address of the MA/PGDiploma course leader.

No. The Foundation course is only waived in exceptional circumstances (eg. for those with years of professional experience in psychotherapy/counselling behind them). However, you should not view the Foundation course as a "step backwards" or take it as a sign that your psychology degree "does not count". Your degree will hold you in good stead for your Masters application, but it is nonetheless the case that you need a formal academic background in psychotherapy and counselling before you could be considered for the MA.

Those who have studied psychology should be aware that although the "psy" disciplines frequently overlap, psychotherapy is a separate field to psychology. A solid academic foundation in the subject is therefore absolutely essential if you wish to progress to Masters level.

No. The Foundation course is a requirement for anyone intending to gain BPS chartered status through a Counselling Psychology programme. The MA is unsuitable for such applicants.

No. The Foundation course is only waived in exceptional circumstances (eg. for those with years of professional experience in psychotherapy/counselling behind them). However, you should not view the Foundation course as a "step backwards" or take it as a sign that your psychology degree "does not count". Your degree will hold you in good stead for your Masters application, but it is nonetheless the case that you need a formal academic background in psychotherapy and counselling before you could be considered for the MA.

Those who have studied psychology should be aware that although the "psy" disciplines frequently overlap, psychotherapy is a separate field to psychology. A solid academic foundation in the subject is therefore absolutely essential if you wish to progress to Masters level.

It is possible to work full-time on the Foundation course if you choose to undertake our one-year programme. The one-year programme consists of one four-hour session per week, which can be taken on a weekday evening (5:30-9:30pm) or on a weekend (10am-2pm on Saturdays for the October intake).

The date of the next informal advisory meeting will be updated on our website as it becomes available. We usually hold one informal advisory meeting per month, on a weekday evening (5:30-6:30pm). If you would like your email address added to a contact list so that you can be notified once the date has been announced, please send a request through to spc@regents.ac.uk.

No. As applicants to our postgraduate level courses come from such varied backgrounds, they are usually going to need more specific, personalised advice than could possibly be offered in an open evening format. If you have any questions about our postgraduate courses, please email spc@regents.ac.uk as a starting point. If our admissions staff cannot answer your queries, they will provide you with the email address of the relevant programme director to assist you. Our academic staff are more than happy to begin an email dialogue with prospective applicants.

No. Interviews are scheduled according to the interviewers' availabilities, which are almost always going to be during office hours on a weekday. Although it can be problematic trying to arrange time off work, we will endeavour in all cases to give you as much notice as possible of your interview date so that you can organise yourself.

You are able to reschedule if the time put to you will absolutely not work, but interview deferrals are always going to be at your own risk. There is no guarantee that places will be available the longer you put off your interview, so if it is at all possible for you to rearrange your plans, then you should do so. We will always try to ensure that those who applied first are offered the earliest interview timeslots, but sometimes deferrals mean that you can be "pipped to the post" by those who applied later than you.

Yes. If you live abroad or too far out of London to travel in, just let us know and we will try to set up a telephone interview for you with the relevant course leader. This can sometimes take some time to set up, so if you know that you may require a telephone interview, it is best to apply as early as possible.

Yes. Each year consists of three ten-week terms, and you will be invoiced for course fees approximately two weeks before the start of each term. You can organise paying your course fees in instalments with our Finance Department (usually three equal instalments per term).

All sources of funding will be external to SPCP. While the school constantly monitors developments that might provide funding assistance for its students and applicants, currently the Local Authorities are very unlikely to award any grants. However, some students have found alternative methods of funding and we hope the notes below are of assistance to you.

A Career Development Loan
Many students have been successful in applying for a career development loan. The Department for Education and Employment states: �A Career Development Loan can help you pay for almost any job-related training course. You can borrow between �200 and �8,000 to cover up to two years of training, or towards two years of a longer course. And repayment is deferred. You don"t have to pay anything back until up to a month after the course has finished, or six months in some cases.�

More about Career Development Loans can be found here

Employers
Many students have been able to gain funding for our programmes through their employers. It is therefore worth asking about staff training and staff development schemes even when you may have assumed that funding will not be available. We will be happy to assist you if your employer requests any letters or further information.

Publications
The British Association for Counselling publish a leaflet entitled "Funding for Courses in Counselling and Psychotherapy". Copies can be obtained from:

The British Association for Counselling
1 Regent Place
Rugby
Warwickshire CV21 2JP

Tel: 0870 4435 252

No. However, SPCP may develop scholarship opportunities in the future.

Yes. All fees are the same for UK/EU and non-UK/EU applicants.

At present International students are not able to apply for our one-year Foundation course, but student visas are possible for all of our other courses, including our intensive Foundation options.

To find out if you need a student visa, you will need to contact the British Mission (Embassy, Consulate or High Commission) in your home country.

Details of all British representations abroad can be found at http://www.fco.gov.uk/

For further information about immigration and visas, the following sites may be useful

• UKCISA, the UK Council for International Student Affairs
• UK Border Agency

Remember that it is your responsibility to check whether you need a visa and if so to ensure that you have the correct type. Rules and regulations in this area have become increasingly strict over the past few years and it is in your own interests to have everything in order.

The general course structure from our Foundation courses onwards is as follows:

Foundation Course
1 x four-hour session per week
Held over three 10-week terms

Intensive Foundation Course
Summer Intensive: 5 weeks full time (10am-5pm Monday to Friday)
Autumn, Winter, Spring Intensives: 3 months average (Week/weekend modules, 10am-5pm)

MA/PGDiploma
Taught Component = 2 years
1 day per week, 9am-5pm
In the second year you begin your clinical placements, which are usually 1 extra day per week off campus
Dissertation = 2 years maximum (usually completed while studying the ADEP/ADIP)

Advanced Diploma Courses (Integrative or Existential Psychotherapy)
2 years
1 day per week, 10am-5pm
Clinical placements continue over another day per week (minimum) off campus

No. All of our courses involve on-campus study. Our MPhil/PhD in Psychotherapy and Counselling Studies allows international students to remain based in their home countries, but even these students must be able to commit to a certain amount of campus visits per year.

Yes. Please ask referees to direct their emails to spc@regents.ac.uk. Ask them to ensure they have included your full name on your reference so that we can match it with your application.

Referees can email references in for our postgraduate programmes as a starting point, but we must receive official copies of these on signed, letterhead paper before you can be fully accepted onto a programme. These must be sent in under separate cover by your referees themselves; those posted in by you on their behalf are not acceptable..

For applicants to our Foundation course, we accept references from previous/current employers or previous/current tutors. We also accept references from therapists, or professionals of your long-standing acquaintance (eg. doctors, lawyers, social workers, nurses, teachers).

For internal applicants to our MA/PGDiploma programme (i.e., those who have completed a Foundation course at SPCP), you will need to organise having an external reference sent in from the pool listed above. Your internal reference is requested from your Foundation lead tutor on your behalf by our Admissions Officer. Please note all references to our MA/PGDiploma programme must be posted in to us on signed, letterhead paper before you can be fully accepted onto the programme.

For external applicants to our MA/PGDiploma programme (i.e., those who have not completed a Foundation course at SPCP), you will need to organise having two references sent in. One of these must be from your Foundation course leader or equivalent, and the other can come from the pool listed above. Please note all references to our MA/PGDiploma programme must be posted in to us on signed, letterhead paper before you can be fully accepted onto the programme.

There is no form for referees to fill out. Your referee should simply write a brief reference indicating the nature and duration of their relationship to you, and include a comment on your academic/professional capabilities. They should also explain why they think you would make a suitable candidate for the course you are applying for.

No. You are welcome to approach the same referee you used for your Foundation application to provide your reference, but as the MA/PGDiploma is a separate programme with a separate admission process, your references must reflect the programme you are currently applying for.

Psychotherapy (and counselling) seems to be a career that people turn to most successfully as "second career" or "later life" options. The average age range for SPCP applicants is 30 and 50, with a few aged under 30 and over 60. An entry requirement for the MA/PGDip (and advanced diplomas) is a significant amount of "life experience" gained after the end of full-time education, along with a mature attitude and capacity for introspection. Training in psychotherapy and counselling can be quite emotionally challenging, as you are encouraged to share aspects of your own life, to hear the experiences of others, and to assist others with personal dilemmas. Finding work as a psychotherapist is quite difficult for younger graduates.

We welcome younger applicants to our Foundation courses. The knowledge and skills base that you will gain there will enhance any career pathway involving "people" skills and/or public contact as well as giving you a close look at a profession that may be suitable for a second career. Those younger international applicants who seek knowledge and skills currently unavailable in their home countries also may be considered but you will need to demonstrate that you are mature and experienced enough to be able to handle the course.

There are usually more women than men on each of our courses, but we do have a decently sized male student body.

The school has not lost its accreditation. However, our Professional Doctorate course in Counselling Psychology lost its accreditation with the British Psychological Society (BPS) in late 2008. For further details on DCounsPsy accreditation issues, please contact us at spc@regents.ac.uk

In any case, the loss of accreditation on this one course has absolutely no bearing on the MA/PGDiploma course. The MA/PGDip is still recognised by the UKCP and the BACP, and validated by the University of Wales. If your final intent is to become a practising psychotherapist, you should therefore be confident of taking the first step towards this through studying on the MA/PGDip.

More information on Validation

Yes. Both our MA/PGDip course and the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology are validated by The University of Wales. After completion of the first year of one of our two-year Advanced Diploma courses, trainees will have accumulated contact hours that may be counted towards meeting criterion 1.i of the BACP Accreditation Criteria.

Candidates must note that they will also have to meet criteria 2 - 6 of the BACP Scheme. Full completion of the Advanced Diploma course leads to eligibility to apply for registration as a psychotherapist with UKCP.

The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) has stipulated that training leading to registration with them as a psychotherapist should take at least four years, in addition to a Foundation training.

Our courses have been constructed with that in mind. You may find courses that will give you a qualification in less time, but you may then find that you have to do further training, that is not available in the institution you trained with, to gain extra elements required by the UKCP. If you do not decide to complete a full psychotherapy training with us, other qualifications are achievable en route..

We understand that it may be tempting to opt for a training that is at the less expensive end of the market. However, you must ask yourself whether you are gaining a widely recognised and respected counselling or psychotherapy training that enables you to apply for registration with the relevant bodies. At SPCP you will receive professional training that is second to none, backed by the vast experience> and professionalism of our permanent and part-time faculty (and in a magnificent location).

Yes we do offer you that opportunity.

At many institutions you must choose your theoretical orientation at the commencement of training. What frequently happens is that people are some way through their training, and then discover that the theoretical framework they are concentrating upon is not what they are looking for. They then have to switch direction, which often means changing institutions, or even starting again.

At SPCP, you will be exposed to many different thoughts and ideas in the pre-professional phase, and following this phase, you may adjust your route through your training to suit your needs.

We have a body of permanent faculty, who are available at times other than when they teach. This availability of permanent faculty permits ongoing meetings and discussions designed to continue the development and enrichment of our courses. All our faculty members have published widely, as you can see from the list of their recent book and journal publications included in this prospectus..

Yes we do. You will have access to a well-stocked psychotherapy, counselling and psychology library. You will have access to the web, e-mail, word processing and other IT facilities. Some students will also have access to the library at City University. Our PhD candidates have full borrowing rights with Senate House library at London University

More information on IT facilities and library.

No. Although SPCP is among the largest psychotherapy training institutions in the UK, our courses take place in small and medium sized classes which allows attention to individuals and class discussion. Groups are intended to generate an atmosphere of support and co-operation which enhances the learning process.

The School is ten minutes walk away from Baker Street tube station in Central London.

We are situated in the heart of Regent's Park, and student life is considerably enhanced by the aesthetic qualities of the site, which we believe are without equal. See how to find us page here.