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Stage Two (b): Clinical Training

Exploring different TA Schools and approaches and their applications to different client groups

Introduction

Building on your Certificate in TA Theory foundation year, you continue into clinical training, which runs over 2 consecutive years.

Stage Two (b) focuses on working with particular client groups and areas of clinical specialisation.

At the end of the 2 years, you have the option to qualify with a Connexus Institute Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling. This qualification is fully accredited by NCPS. You then have the option to progress to Stage Three, completing your final year in preparation to become a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist and/or an EATA internationally accredited Certified Transactional Analyst.

What does the Stage Two (b) cover?

We designed this year to deepen and develop your clinical knowledge and skills and introduce you to some of the main specialist areas within counselling and psychotherapy, and to extend and expand your clinical skills further.

Examples of course content

  • Ethical Responsibility: Addressing Safety, Risk Assessment, and Safeguarding
  • Navigating Heartache: Understanding Loss, Grief, and Bereavement
  • Healing Invisible Wounds: Working with Trauma and Dissociation
  • Calming the Storm: Approaches to Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and Fear
  • Intimacy and Connection: Exploring Sex and Psychosexual Issues
  • Breaking free:  working therapeutically with the emotional, psychological and biochemical turmoil of addiction
  • Lifting the Veil: Insight into Working with Depression
  • Embracing Emotions: Understanding Feeling, Emotion, Affect, and Shame
  • Sensitivity: Embracing Diversity and Cultural Scripting
  • Togetherness: Approaches to Working with Couples and Groups
  • Professional Excellence: Thriving in Private Practice

During this year, you will need to complete 1 x 2500 word essay, 1 x Supervised Practice Report, present a research poster in small groups and have a reflective discussion with your tutor, continue with your journal, and at the end of the year, hand in your clinical supervisor’s report.

What outcomes can I expect from Stage Two?

At the end of Stage Two, you will have an understanding of theories of the mind, mental conflict, distress and deficit across wide ranging and specialised clinical contexts. You will also have been taught and have practised more complex clinical skills.

We have designed our course for maximum flexibility, giving you three options to choose from at this point:

  • Successfully complete the final assessment stages necessary to qualify with a NCPS accredited Connexus Institute Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling and end your training.

  • Take your accredited Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling and then carry on to ‘Stage 3’, the final year of your formal TA training, in preparation to become a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist and/ or an internationally accredited Certified Transactional Analyst.

  • Continue to Stage 3 of your Psychotherapy studies without taking the optional Diploma and complete your final year in preparation to becoming a psychotherapist and CTA.

Why attend?

This course is designed for those wishing to become a professionally accredited Counsellor, a UKCP registered Psychotherapist and/or an EATA accredited Certified Transactional Analyst.  At Connexus we welcome applications from both graduates and non-graduates who have completed a Foundation year in TA. Apply today or contact us if you want to talk with us about your individual application.

Discover more about 'Learning at Connexus'

Now Taking Applications for Sep 2025 Start

 

Length: 11 weekends over one academic year

Times: Sat 9:30 to 17:00 & Sun 9:30 to 16:00

Mode: Face-to-Face

Dates for this course are:

  • 13 & 14 Sep 2025
  • 18 & 19 Oct
  • 15 & 16 Nov
  • 13 & 14 Dec
  • 17 & 18 Jan 2026
  • 14 & 15 Feb
  • 14 & 15 Mar
  • 25 & 26 Apr
  • 16 & 17 May
  • 13 & 14 Jun
  • 11 & 12 Jul

Cost: £3,100 per year (inclusive of VAT)

Instalment payment plans available

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Meet the tutors

Pippa Fairhead

CTA (P), PTSTA (P), Dip Sup, PGCert HE, FHEA, UKCP registered psychotherapist and supervisor Pippa Fairhead is an accomplished psychotherapist, psychotherapeutic counsellor, Supervisor and Core Tutor at Connexus Institute, based in Brighton and Hove. She offers a straightforward yet profound approach to self-awareness, relationship dynamics, and transformative change in psychotherapy. Pippa works independently in private practice and collaborates with Employment Assistance Programs and insurance companies, offering a diverse clientele short-term and long-term counselling and psychotherapy. Additionally, she is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is passionate about counselling skills being transferrable across many disciplines.

Liz Bingham

Liz has a passion for supporting students to build a bridge between the theoretical world of TA and clinical practice. She has particularly enjoyed involvement with the Theory into Practice (TIP) groups and being part of the exam and assessment team. She is a UKCP-registered psychotherapist and CTA (P) and runs a private practice based in Hove and Burgess Hill.

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