Diploma Information & Application Form
Introduction
This is an Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (AFT) intermediate level course*. It is designed to meet AFT’s requirements for the training of family therapists and systemic practitioners, and is informed by their guidelines. The course is one academic year in duration and offers a pathway for progression to a 4 year qualifying course for students wishing to embark on a career in couples and family therapy. *The course will be applying for AFT accreditation.
Rationale for the Course
Practitioners working in the fields of health education and social care - in a society diverse in culture, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation - necessarily have to interact in a range of relationships with others who might have different beliefs and value systems from their own. In their professional roles as social worker, nurse, youth worker, psychologist, nursery nurse, teacher’s assistant etc, they will be expected to intervene as advocates, decision-makers or treatment providers in cases where there are allegations of physical, sexual, emotional and racial abuse, domestic violence, self-harm, family relationship breakdown, divorce, separation, issues pertaining to fostering and adoption, safe guarding, multi-agency working and other related and critical concerns to be addressed.
Systemic thinking and many of the techniques and skills taught within this approach offer practitioners the tools and resources that can provide them with ways of acting in the many complex situations involving people in communication with one another.
Linking theory with practice, the development of self-reflexivity and the fostering of a sense of professional identity are key aspects of the training on this course which aims to provide students with opportunities to connect their learning with their own work situation.
Aims of the Course
The aims of the course are:
1. To enable the student to consolidate learning from their foundation year.
2. To enable students to further develop their knowledge and abilities to apply systemic skills and techniques in a range of contexts.
3. To provide a base from which the student can proceed to the clinical years ie the 2 years Masters course.
Length and Structure of the Course
The course is taught on Wednesday evenings and runs over 3 terms from September 2016 to July 2017. Students will be expected to attend between 6.00pm – 9.00pm fortnightly and for a full day (11.00am – 5.00pm) at the end of each term. In addition students will be expected to attend a half-day plenary event held on a Saturday.
The course offers 66 hours of face-to-face teaching which will be in small and large groups. During the course year student must complete 60 hours of clinical therapeutic practice which can be undertaken in their place of work or in a separately arranged placement. Students should allow themselves a further 240 hours independent study time in order to produce the assignments required to successfully complete the course.
Entry Requirements
Students wishing to undertake this course should have:
1. a qualification or training and experience in social work, nursing, youth work, teaching, psychology or other health- related care profession;
2. completed an AFT accredited foundation level course;
3. arranged a placement where they will be able to complete 60 hours of therapeutic work with families and be supervised. Ideally, this will be with a qualified systemic psychotherapist. This can be in their place of work or in a separate placement
4. current clearance from the Disclosure and Debarring Service (DBS) to work with vulnerable groups and children;
5. an appropriate level of insurance;
6. be able to provide two references; one of which should be written by a qualified UKCP registered Family & Systemic Psychotherapist able to comment on the applicant’s current practice.
Fees
The course fee is: £2600. Arrangements can be made for this to be paid in instalments, please see details on the application form. This can be downloaded by clicking the application form icon below.
Application Form
Your fully completed application form should be accompanied by a non-refundable deposit of £50 and the two references mentioned above. There is an additional page attached to the application form for you to give to each of your referees. You can type the form on screen by clicking on the application form icon to open it and placing the cursor in the different fields to type.
You can download a copy of the information on this page by clicking the information sheet icon below the application form.
Diploma Application Form
Diploma Information Sheet