Course Handbook: bpf North Foundation Course

The British Psychotherapy Foundation (bpf) was formed in April 2013 and is one of the largest psychotherapy membership and training organisations in Europe, as well as a registered charity. The bpf was founded by three associations: the British Jungian Analytic Association (BJAA), which trains individuals to work in Jungian analysis and psychotherapy; the Independent Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Association (IPCAPA), which delivers child psychotherapy training in the British independent tradition; and the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Association (PPA), which provides training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. There are several other trainings at the bpf, including those of bpf North, which are not affiliated with the founding associations — bpf North provides training in psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy.

The bpf’s aim is to make the benefits of psychoanalytic psychotherapy available to as many people who need it as possible and to introduce psychoanalytic thinking to as wide an audience as possible. The bpf’s vision revolves around four themes: excellence in clinical training and professional development; access, including the Clinical Service and Low Fee Service, and making training more accessible and reflective of the diverse demography of the UK; engagement with fellow professionals, policy makers and the public through courses and events; and being future-focused, training the next generation of psychotherapists and making use of technology to widen participation.

The bpf North’s Foundation Course is an introductory course, specifically designed for those who are either considering psychotherapy training and/or are curious about psychoanalytic thinking and how these ideas can be applied to the world in which we live. It is hoped that students will find their own way of using the thinking on the course to enrich their own lives and take themselves in whichever direction feels right for them.

The course will help students think about how psychotherapy can be a useful tool for exploring one’s own personal experience as well as a broad range of contemporary issues. In the earlier stages of the course, students are introduced to a range of theories and models of mind, starting with Freud through to the present day. The rest of the course takes a more applied approach, focusing on specific themes such as group dynamics, racism and sexuality, enabling students to develop their own associations and ideas in relation to the material covered.

All seminar leaders, discussion facilitators and tutors on the Foundation Course are psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapists, or psychoanalysts, working in private practice, the voluntary sector and the NHS. All course staff are skilled and experienced in managing and facilitating thinking and feelings in both group and individual contexts.

The Course Director, Martin Gill, oversees the day-to-day management of the course and is the first point of contact for any queries or concerns about the course content, structure or delivery.

Teaching Staff

The core team is made up of the Course Director, the Training and Events Coordinator, a Discussion Group Facilitator, a team of Seminar Leaders and a team of Tutors. The Discussion Group Facilitators are Dr Jana Pritchard and Martin Gill.

Course Components

The Foundation Course has four essential components of delivery: seminars, discussion groups, tutoring and primary readings. The programme is delivered across 10 monthly Saturday theory study days held in person, alongside fortnightly online clinical seminars during term time.

Progression to clinical training is not guaranteed; students who wish to progress must meet the entry requirements of their chosen programme.

Own Personal Therapy

Undertaking your own personal psychotherapy is not an essential requirement for this course, but students are strongly recommended to consider it as an additional means of support, and it is expected that students intending to pursue further clinical training will begin personal therapy during the Foundation Course.

Selection

Applicants are selected based on an interview and submitting a complete application, expressing their interest in joining the course and studying psychotherapy. Additionally, applicants must demonstrate, both in their application form and at interview, that they can critically engage with nuanced and complex literature, reflect thoughtfully, and possess the commitment required to attend and complete the programme. Successful applicants will be offered a place on the course by the Course Director, Martin Gill.

There are 10 in-person theory study days throughout the academic year. These are held once a month, October to July, on Saturdays from 9:30am to 3pm, at the Royal Station Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Adult clinical seminars are held online, fortnightly, on Wednesday evenings from 7:15pm to 8:45pm during term time.

Aims

The course aims to provide:

Objectives

By the end of the course, students will demonstrate:

Seminars, Discussion Groups & Tutoring

The Foundation Course has four essential components of delivery: seminars, discussion groups, tutoring and primary readings. Students who wish to apply for a professional training after finishing the Foundation Course are encouraged to begin their personal therapy and an infant observation at their earliest convenience.

• Saturday Theory Study Days (x10 per year, once a month) held in person at the Royal Station Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne, from 9:30am to 3pm.
• Clinical Seminars held online fortnightly on Wednesday evenings from 7:15pm to 8:45pm during term time.

All seminar leaders, discussion facilitators and tutors are psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapists, or psychoanalysts, working in private practice, the voluntary sector and the NHS. All course staff are skilled and experienced in managing and facilitating thinking and feelings in a group and individual context.

Seminars

Each monthly Saturday session is dedicated to a specific topic or theme, and two seminars are delivered on that theme. The seminars aim to facilitate thinking about the ways in which psychoanalytic thinking can be applied to both one’s personal experiences and to political and social issues. Throughout the year, students examine questions ranging from “What is a mind?” and “How do we become who we are?” to issues such as group dynamics, racism and homophobia.

Seminar presentations last for 90 minutes. The seminar leader introduces the papers for discussion and facilitates the monthly theme or topic, having already set an essential reading list which students are required to have read in advance. Seminar leaders have different teaching styles: some deliver a traditional lecture, presenting a paper they have prepared; others prefer a more informal presentation and discussion format, introduce experiential exercises and roleplays, or encourage group or paired activities.

Discussion Groups

In the afternoon, after the two theory seminars have been delivered, a group discussion takes place. The discussion group gives students the opportunity to reflect on any thoughts and feelings that have arisen from the seminars and/or from the required and optional readings.

Tutoring

All students are allocated a tutor. The tutor plays a key role in supporting student development during the year, discussing the student’s experience and providing guidance for future plans. The tutor’s main tasks are to:

• Support the student in their studies.
• Discuss any planned progression to further training.
• Ensure, if applicable, that the student is fully informed about both the opportunities and the pre-requisites for the next stages within the bpf.
• Maintain contact with the Course Director.

Tutors are welcoming, supportive and informed about different ways of training at the bpf, and are impartial, assisting students to explore and pursue whichever course or direction feels right for them. The Course Director is responsible for matching students with an appropriate tutor; a tutor-tutee matching procedure is currently being developed, and while every effort is made to find a suitable match, this may not always be possible given the small pool of tutors available. Depending on geography and other considerations, the tutoring relationship may be delivered face-to-face, over the phone or online.

The minimum meeting is 90 minutes per group of four, once per term, though tutor and student can meet up to twice per term if both feel able to:

• Autumn Term: A meeting to help the tutor get to know the student and decide how to manage the tutoring relationship going forward. Students are encouraged to settle in and attend a few Saturday study dates before taking up the tutoring.
• Spring Term: An opportunity for tutors to hear their tutee’s comments on their experience of the course so far, including thinking on how to access further training at the bpf, how to fulfil training entry requirements, or how to prepare an application.
• Summer Term: The content of the final term’s tutorial is likely to be specific to each tutor and student, who may want to reflect together on the student’s journey throughout the course.

Curriculum & Content

Across the year, the theory seminar programme introduces a range of theories and models of mind, beginning with Freud and continuing through to present-day developments, before moving on to a more applied approach examining specific clinical and social themes. Course content includes:

Clinical Module

Held fortnightly for 90 minutes, the online psychodynamic clinical discussion group comprises a psychodynamically-orientated discussion, facilitated by an experienced clinician. The following themes are considered during the Foundation Course, with a view to helping students think about next steps and potential clinical training:

Introductions and why we are here; Setting the Frame; Warmth and Neutrality: The Therapeutic Alliance; Awareness of Difference; Reflecting back and Interpreting; The subjective self; Trust and Dependency; Resistance and Defences; Memory and Narrative; Breaks and Separations; Transference; Countertransference; Unconscious Communication; Ethics and Responsibilities; Ending.

Primary Reading

Students are expected to contribute to the seminars and discussion groups by reading the required texts each month (and, time permitting, any recommended or optional papers), and by being prepared to participate in discussion of the material. The readings are set by the seminar leaders to develop and encourage thinking before they deliver their seminar. Primary readings for the course will be made available to students.

A range of papers is set, including theoretical, clinical and research material. Students may initially find some of the reading difficult to follow or obscure — psychoanalytic writing and ideas can be complex and challenging, and often describe mental processes that can only be fully appreciated through experiencing them in actual psychotherapy. Students are not expected to fully grasp the content of these papers, but are encouraged to follow the “gist”, perhaps highlighting any passages they find interesting, meaningful, disturbing or difficult to understand, and bringing these highlighted passages to seminars and discussion groups.

Optional Reflective Paper

There is no formal assessment on this course. However, at the end of the course, students are invited to submit an optional 1,500 to 2,000-word paper on the significance of the course to them. This should take the form of a personal reflection on the experience of the course in general, or focusing on a specific area of interest, and may help the student consolidate their learning.

This is not an academic paper, and students are not required to reference the content of the curriculum. However, the paper should present a clear, thoughtful and coherent account of the experience of participating in the course, including the impact it has had on the student’s thinking and capacity for reflection. In addition — particularly for students who may be thinking of taking a clinical training in the future — there should be some reference to the core subject matter of the course, namely the role and impact of unconscious thought and behaviour.

The paper will carry weight if students wish to go on to further training, but there is currently no recognised academic or professional certificate attached to the course (although this is being explored). The reflective paper will be read by the Course Director, who will provide written feedback.

The paper may be submitted during the last few weeks of the course, or over the summer after the course has been completed. It should be sent to the Course Director by email (Word doc) to [email protected], and cc’d to the Training and Events Coordinator at [email protected]. Students are also welcome to send it to their tutor.

Own Personal Therapy

It is inevitable that, during an introductory course of this nature, difficult or disturbing emotions and anxieties may be aroused. While the structured seminars and discussion groups, and students’ personal tutors, offer support, students are also strongly encouraged to consider undertaking personal psychoanalytic psychotherapy as an additional means of support.

Undertaking personal psychotherapy is not an essential requirement for this course, but it may be something students wish to consider as an additional source of support, and it is an important part of preparation for any further clinical training.

To be awarded a certificate for the course, students will be expected to achieve an attendance rate of 80%. Students will be required to sign an attendance register.

Monitoring, Feedback & Evaluation

The bpf North is committed to ensuring that this course is fit for purpose and meets the needs and expectations of its students. As such, a formal evaluation and audit of the course is undertaken every year, led by the Course Lead/Course Coordinator. The aim of monitoring, feedback and evaluation is to identify which aspects of the course work well, which aspects work less well, and which aspects might need improvement and/or further development.

There is a system of open communication. Students will be asked for written feedback at the end of each term, and informal feedback can be given verbally or in writing to the Course Director throughout the course.