Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy

The Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy provides high-level training in the skills required to work effectively with a wide variety of clients. The program provides a deep immersion into the theory and practice of an integrative, humanistic, process-oriented, relational psychotherapy that incorporates contributions from the psychodynamic, cognitive and existential approaches. Students in the program are provided with a philosophically aligned and cohesive program which supports their ability to relate to themselves, their clients and their work with genuine caring presence and respectful engagement. There is a strong experiential focus to provide a hands-on, practice-oriented training and learning experience. The course adheres to solid evidence-informed principles of the common factors that characterise effective counselling and psychotherapeutic work, also providing a firm grounding in the professional, ethical, and legal issues associated with practice. Students in the program are trained in research methods and participate in a process-oriented research case study, to give them a unique opportunity to contribute to learning in the field. It is the only course of its kind to provide students with a fully supported placement experience, including sourcing placement opportunities through established industry partnerships and providing intensive in-house individual and group supervision, to fully prepare students for the workplace. Cairnmillar’s Counselling and Psychotherapy programs are taught exclusively by respected therapist-academics practicing in the field, who work as a team to support each student’s learning.