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Advanced Diploma in Existential Psychotherapy

Module Descriptions

1.1 Heidegger and Psychotherapy

The aim of this module is to enable trainees to explore Heidegger’s Being and Time in a way which brings the therapeutic nature of the text to the fore, and to examine the text’s relevance to psychotherapeutic practice. By the end of the course the trainees will be able to attempt an understanding of Heidegger’s Being and Time, offer a coherent account of Heidegger's philosophical method and aims, demonstrate an understanding of their own relationship to the text and consider the impact of reading the text on psychotherapeutic practice.

1.2 Existence and Therapy

The aim of this module is to enable trainees to engage with a series of philosophical texts which addresses a number of concerns and interests related to the practice of existential psychotherapy rather than a settled body of doctrine. Trainees are encouraged to explore how a merely finite being can express or understand the idea of the infinite, the eternal, the ‘spirit’, which seems to haunt mankind. The theme of how in being true to oneself one expresses the ‘spirit’ will be explored in the work of various philosophers. Trainees will have the opportunity to explore how language as a means of expression is essential to the practice of psychotherapy, given that psychotherapy has been called ‘the talking cure’.

1.3 Existential Phenomenology and Psychotherapy: The Body and Sexuality

The aim of this module is to extend the student’s knowledge of linguistic theory, to recognise how the concept ‘language’ can involve embodiment and non-verbal communication as well as speech. The course will draw on ideas ranging from ancient Greek writings to current thinking, and will also focus on the manner in which various philosophers have approached the concept of the spiritual.

2.1 (Under Review)

2.2 Communication: Language and Spirituality

The aim of this module is to extend the student’s knowledge of linguistic theory, to recognise how the concept ‘language’ can involve embodiment and non-verbal communication as well as speech. The course will draw on ideas ranging from ancient Greek writings to current thinking, and will also focus on the manner in which various philosophers have approached the concept of the spiritual.

2.3 Student-led Seminars

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Page last updated 6/28/2011