Psychology - Distance Learning
MSc
Postgraduate
September 2025
Overview
| Please note: The majority of places on this course are funded via NHSE (Health Education England). To get a place you will need to be employed as a Trainee High Intensity Therapist in a local service, covering the cost of the training and paying your salary. There is also the option to apply direct as a self-funder. For more information about how to apply via either of these routes, please contact Mel Saunders. |
If you wish to qualify as a cognitive behavioural therapist this course offers an excellent programme of study. With an emphasis on self-practice and self-reflection, it will enhance your therapy skills and support you during an intensive but rewarding year of study.
Teaching is delivered across a mix of classroom and clinical practice-based learning, clinical supervision and intensive skills workshops. This training will provide you with the key competencies and skills to work effectively as a Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, providing interventions for a range of clinical presentations.
Our Postgraduate Diploma in Psychological Therapies: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy offers an excellent programme of study for those wishing to qualify as CBT therapists. It is immediately accreditable by the BABCP, the accrediting body for Cognitive Behavioural Therapists in the United Kingdom. On completion of the Diploma you will have met the minimum training standards for provisional accreditation with the BABCP.
Places on this programme are offered via application for a full-time paid trainee position in a service that is part of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Department of Health initiative. These posts may be advertised on the NHS jobs website or in other local press or provider literature. If you would like more information on the IAPT job roles and terms of employment (these may differ between services), we would recommend contacting local service providers direct. Contact details of these can be obtained from the programme administrator.
We do also accept self-funded applications on this course. For this, you will need to have access to relevant training cases and supervision by a BABCP accredited CBT therapist as part of the course, which you will need to find yourself. If you would like further details or information about self-funded places, please contact Mel Saunders.
Students of CBT have studied on this programme for over ten years, and we have a proven record of producing well-rounded and knowledgeable therapists. Teaching is delivered across a mix of classroom learning, clinical practice-based learning, clinical supervision and intensive skills workshops. In addition to the high-quality teaching, there is an emphasis on self-practice and self-reflection, both to enhance therapy skills and to support students in their journey through an intensive but rewarding year.
Who is the course for?
Individuals with a commitment to working in the sphere of adult mental health who would like to develop their skills in the delivery of CBT, in particular to people with moderate to severe mental health conditions.
As suggested by the entry criteria, participants of the programme will have already gained considerable experience in working with people with mental health problems, either as professionals from other related disciplines or through related work experience.
However, this training will provide participants with the key competencies and skills to work effectively as Cognitive Behaviour Therapists, providing interventions for a range of clinical presentations.
Our Graduate College provides a friendly, diverse and supportive environment for all our postgraduate students.Professor Susan Millns, Dean of the Graduate College
Entry requirements
Applicants should have a professional qualification recognised by the BABCP, or be able to demonstrate they have the acquired core training and competence for the delivery of a psychological therapy within an ethical framework.
This can be done by completing a Knowledge Skills and Attitudes (KSA) portfolio prior to interview (please read BABCP web pages for details of the KSA portfolio).
If English is not your first language you require a score of 7.0 for IELTS with no element below a score of 6.5, or 100 for internet-based TOEFL, 250 for computer-based TOEFL or 600 for paper-based TOEFL.
Please visit our English Language Requirements page for more information.
Further details of entry requirements are as follows:
- (a) A professional qualification recognised as a 'Core Profession' by BABCP such as Mental Health Nursing, Clinical Psychology, Social Work, Occupational Therapy, or an accredited Counselling qualification. A full list of recognised Core Professions is available on the BABCP website.
OR
- (b) Demonstrate, through the BABCP’s 'Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes (KSA)' application, that they have the required core training and competence for the delivery of a psychological therapy within an ethical framework.
WITH
- (c) A good honours degree in any subject OR Provide evidence of ability to study successfully at Postgraduate level.
PLUS
- (d) Work, or have negotiated a clinical placement, in an environment that enables them to offer high intensity interventions for depression and anxiety disorders using Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, with access to clinical supervision by a BABCP accredited CBT Therapist and evidence that they will conduct at least 200 hours of CBT practice during the programme.
- Please note that evidence of qualifications under (a) and (c) or a fully completed KSA Portfolio under (b), must be presented at interview. Evidence for degree equivalence under (c) must be presented in the form of a portfolio of written work completed in relevant employment settings or during previous training. Those wishing to qualify for interview via route (b) will need to have completed the KSA Portfolio by selection. Evidence for (d) should be provided by written support from two referees, one of whom is the current employer. Appropriate case selection criteria will be publicised in advance and candidates for the programme will be asked to provide evidence of appropriate access to such cases in their practice placement at selection.
Module information
Core/optional modules
*Modules subject to approval
How you’ll learn
Throughout the PG Diploma, you will be exposed to a variety of different learning and teaching methods. Apart from during the extended teaching blocks at the beginning of each term, you will receive two days of teaching per week; one of these will be online, the other will generally be in-person at the university base in Tunbridge Wells. These will principally involve clinical supervision, main lectures and clinical skills workshops.
You will be assigned a tutor to support you through the whole training experience, all of whom have extensive experience as CBT therapists and trainers on this course and can provide expert advice on all elements of it. They will be at least at senior lecturer level.
You will have weekly supervision from practising, accredited CBT therapists who have been approved by the Course team. This will generally be in groups of three over the year and will constitute the equivalent of at least 30 hours individual CBT supervision. For each trainee, this supervision will include the regular review of recorded therapy material and one formal full session review per term. The workshops have an emphasis on experiential learning involving facilitated role-plays, giving and receiving feedback and subsequent self-reflection.
The programme has a strong emphasis on self-directed learning and there is an expectation that you will participate in guided reading and make use of library and electronic CBT resources. In addition to this you will have time in the programme for self-practice of CBT techniques.
For three days per week (generally Wednesday to Friday), you will be learning through supervised clinical work in the primary care mental health service where you will either be employed, or working on a voluntary basis. Supervision of practice in your place of work will be by BABCP accredited practitioners and will generally be one-to-one.
Teaching and Supervision will generally be delivered on a Monday and Tuesday each week.
We are a friendly and experienced team, committed to helping you grow and develop your cognitive behavioural therapy skills towards professional accreditation. Each trainee will be assigned a Personal & Academic Tutor as their main support person throughout the year and their first point of contact with the course team. Tutorials, both group and individual, are scheduled through the year, but trainees are encouraged to approach their tutor as and when they need to.Dr Daniel SalterCourse Director
How you’ll be assessed
Students will be assessed via formative and summative assessments over the duration of the programme. The summative assessments are detailed below:
Case studies
You are required to write four Case Reports, which must relate to four separate clients, invariably with a different primary disorder for each client. The disorder of the first report you write (Module 1) will not be specified but for the subsequent reports one will be an anxiety disorder (Module 3), one will be a depressive disorder (Module 5) and one will involve comorbidity (Module 6).
In reports for Modules 3, 5 & 6, you will describe the work you have done with the client, including assessment, formulation, action plan, intervention and outcomes. The first report (Module 1) will be of an assessment, and so will not include the actual intervention you might have carried out, nor the client outcomes. However the subsequent three reports will include these details.
It is necessary to underpin clinical decisions with research support, however you may also offer some critical review of the existing research literature and expert opinion on the topic of your reports. You will be expected to critically reflect on the clinical work you carried out for each of the reports.
These case reports will be no more than 4,000 words in length.
Videos
Together with each of these later case reports, you will be expected to submit a digital video recording of a session with the client who was the subject of that report. Similar to the formative video assessment above, these will be 50-60 minutes in duration and are rated by both trainee and examiners using the Cognitive Therapy Scale - Revised (Blackburn et al. 2001).
In addition, you will be specifically required to submit a video recording of one of your sessions with a client whose main presenting condition is Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. This may be up to 90 minutes in duration, but is rated using the same scale as the other videos.
Literature review
During the programme, you will produce one stand-alone Literature Review (Module 2) relating to the fundamentals of CBT application. This will involve carrying out a literature search on a subject chosen by you from a list of topics. Having read the research you identified, you will describe, critically analyse and then synthesise it with reference to your review subject. Effectively you will set yourself a question and then answer it by reference to the literature. This review will be no more than 4,000 words in length.
Clinical portfolio
The portfolio will consist of the evidence you will have collated to meet the eligibility requirements for British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) accreditation. This will include several forms of evidence of the clinical work and supervision you will have received during the programme, in addition to your case reports, presentations and reflective accounts (see below). The Portfolio submission is pass/fail and is not graded.
Reflective accounts
At the end of each term you will be expected to write a brief (1-2 pages) reflective account of your experience of certain assignments, e.g. working on the Self Practice/Self-Reflection module. These Reflective Accounts provide an opportunity for you to review and describe the key features of your professional learning and development through your involvement in the assignments. All reflective accounts should be included in the clinical portfolio at the end of the programme.
Your future career
As an accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist, you will be able to practise within public (NHS) or private mental health services, or as in independent practitioner.
Related courses
Fees
If you are successful in gaining a training position at one of the aforementioned Primary Care Mental Health Services in the region, all tuition fees will be paid for by Health Education England. You will be required to pay for books you decide to purchase, though all recommended books are available for loan through the library.
We occasionally accept self-funded applications on this course, you will need to have access to relevant training cases and supervision as part of the course which you will need to find and pay for yourself. If you would like further details or information about self-funded places then please contact Mel Saunders.
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 have not yet been finalised. These course web pages will be updated with Tuition Fee information once they have been agreed.
- Read advice about funding your degree
- See information about the financial support available for postgraduate studies
- If you would like information about paying your fees, please contact accounts.receivable@canterbury.ac.uk
- For specific fee queries, please contact fees@canterbury.ac.uk
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Duration:
1 yearLocation(s):
Tunbridge WellsPostgraduate student links
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