This two-year MSc in Psychosexual Therapy programme, which leads to qualification as a Psychosexual Therapist, provides several key areas of training:
- A Comprehensive and Robust Approach to Psychosexual Therapy: It integrates both psychosexual (including medical and anatomical information), psychodynamic theories, and sociological perspectives, providing a deeper understanding of sexual dysfunctions and relationships, while emphasising how partner relationships and their unconscious dynamics influence sexual function. It also highlights how the intersectionality of cultural, religious, neurodivergent, and gender-diverse backgrounds, including working with trans and non-binary individuals and relationships, influences sexual functioning, ensuring therapists can engage with a broad spectrum of patients who might experience a range of sexual and relational difficulties.
- An Extensive Practical Training: Provide trainees with sufficient practice through Clinical Group Discussions that put theoretical understanding into practice, ensuring they are well prepared to address real-world challenges when they begin their 200 hours of supervised clinical practice to gain hands-on experience when working directly with patients in a placement or private practice.
- An Emphasis on Ethical and Professional Standards: The course places a strong emphasis on ethical considerations, legal implications, and the application of COSRT standards. This ensures that trainees not only develop strong therapeutic skills but also understand the ethical responsibilities and guidelines for professional practice. As the subjects of sex are complex and personal, an ethical element that all past trainees have experienced during their training is a sense of being contained, which is an important part of learning and development that TR provides.
- Research and Critical Thinking: The course fosters critical thinking by encouraging trainees to understand how to research key topics of interest, complete literature reviews, present their findings, and write an in-depth clinical case study for their qualifying paper, which helps build strong analytical and academic skills that can be used in their own practice and career path.
The MSc in Psychosexual Therapy is open to experienced therapists and counsellors who hold a clinical qualification in psychotherapy, counselling, or counselling psychology from a nationally accredited training (e.g., BACP/BPC/UKCP). All teaching modules are in person once a month, on Fridays and Saturdays in the first year and on Saturdays in the second year, from October to July.
As trainees will be registered with Birkbeck, University of London, and Tavistock Relationships, they will have access to extensive academic and practical support.
| Provider | Birkbeck, University of London, and Tavistock Relationships |
| Course Director | Andrew Davidson and Mala Rudki |
| COSRT Level | Seven |
| Guided Learning | 251 hours |
| Total Qualification Time | 1549 hours |
| Clinical Placement | 200 hours |
Tavistock Relationships (TR) significantly contributes to the development and support of services that assist couples and families through teaching, research, and publications about its work. TR strives to provide services that enhance the quality of adult sexual relationships, prevent family breakdowns, and improve children’s lives. TR’s approach is guided by psychoanalytic thinking, fostering an understanding of interactive processes in couple relationships, service delivery, and organisational relationships. Additionally, TR offers consultation and professional development to a broad range of practitioners from related fields and engages in policy and practice debates at the public and professional levels. TR is recognised as a centre of excellence in advanced practice and study, both nationally and internationally. Its authority stems from integrating academic study and training expertise with clinical practice. Core staff are experienced relationship and psychosexual therapists who practice at TR as Visiting Clinicians or are involved in private practice, work within the NHS, or other clinical institutions.
TR is an operational unit of the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology, founded in 1920. It is a registered charity (No. 211058) and a company limited by guarantee (No. 241618). TR is developing its services to ensure they are accessible to all who wish to use them. It adheres to professional and research codes of ethics and promotes high ethical standards in all its work. The work is supported by central government funding, project grants, fees paid for services and donations.
Birkbeck was established over 200 years ago to provide access to education for anyone with the ability and drive to succeed, regardless of their circumstances or background. Today, Birkbeck has one of the most diverse student bodies of any university in the country and prides itself on the value this brings to the learning community.
