Professional Doctorate DCounsPsych Counselling Psychology

The Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology (DCounsPsych) at The University of Manchester is the only Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and British Psychological Society (BPS)-approved doctoral programme in counselling psychology offered by a Russell Group university.

The programme has four major components: the development of appropriate theoretical knowledge; the development of research skills; the development of therapeutic practice skills; and an emphasis upon personal development.

Throughout the programme, you will be introduced in detail to a pluralistic approach of therapy, with a focus on humanistic counselling during the first year and cognitive behavioural therapy in the second.

Alongside assessed units, you will complete a minimum of 450 hours' supervised therapeutic practice and 40 hours' personal therapy.

All members of staff are psychologists who are active in the fields of both research and clinical practice in counselling psychology.

In terms of clinical practice, their work is ongoing within NHS, private healthcare and third-sector settings. Their training backgrounds include skills in humanistic therapies, cognitive-behaviour therapy, and group analytic approaches.

Staff members publish their research and write widely in the fields of counselling, counselling psychology, psychotherapy, applied psychology, and education, including exploring critical and methodological innovations between psychotherapy and education.

In recent years they have been successful in receiving research funding to conduct work looking at topics such as how wellbeing is supported in educational settings, online therapeutic approaches, and the impact of austerity measures on the wellbeing and education of children and families.

Dr Terry Hanley and Dr Laura Winter have recently edited the fourth edition of the well-known SAGE Handbook of Counselling and Psychotherapy .

The team also have excellent connections within the community of counselling psychology in the UK, as well as strong local links with voluntary sector organisations working around mental health provision for disadvantaged and minority populations.

For example, Dr Terry Hanley was Research Lead for the Division of Counselling Psychology and Editor of Counselling Psychology Review and Dr Laura Winter previously established the division's Social Justice Networking and Special Interest Group, which she led until 2018.

Dr Jo Shuttleworth is an HCPC registered and Charted Counselling Psychology, specialising in the field of trauma.   In the wider therapeutic fields, Professor Erica Burman is registered with the United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapists (UKCP), via the Institute of Group Analysis, as a Group Analyst.