MA Integrative Arts Psychotherapy

Course start/end dates

September 2027 – July 2030

Time commitment

• Training sessions: One day a week (Monday) and occasional weekends. The teaching day is 9.30am to 5.30pm. In the third year, training is only approximately 16 teaching days.
• Weekly psychotherapy: No less than 40 sessions per academic year.
• Clinical placement: First year trainees are assigned a six-month placement (running from Jan-July), usually seeing two individual clients a week and with fortnightly supervision.
• Second/third year trainees require a minimum of between two and four client contact hours per week.
• Supervision: With an IATE approved supervisor at a ratio of 1:4 in Year one, 1:6 in Year two/three, but a minimum of 126 hours of supervision must have been completed at the time of UKCP registration.

What qualification will I obtain on completion?

• MA in Integrative Arts Psychotherapy.

What affiliated organisations will I be registered with?

On successful completion of the MA, graduates will automatically become accredited with the government’s statutory professional body- Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). This enables them to work in the NHS as a registered Art Therapist/Art Psychotherapist. Additionally with 450 hours of clinical practice, 126 hours of supervision and an interview with a UKCP examiner, graduates will be registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).

Who is the Awarding Body?

University of East London.

Entry requirements

• An undergraduate degree from a British university, or its equivalent, a qualification in a helping profession or in education, or a minimum of five years’ professional experience in therapy or a related field with the proven academic ability to work at master’s level standard.
• The Postgraduate Certificate in the Therapeutic Arts or Diploma in The Therapeutic and Educational Application of the Arts (IATE course), or an equivalent qualification from an alternative, recognised psychotherapy training college. If the latter, submission of clinical log detailing all clinical hours signed by supervisor (who must be UKCP registered) and second interview.
• At least one year of weekly in-depth personal psychotherapy.
• Counselling Skills qualification (can be completed whilst undertaking training). If you do not have a Level Two or Level three counselling  qualification (it cannot be simply a certificate of attendance) to fulfil this requirement you will  need to attend on our  internal counselling trainings. You have a choice:
  a) Live : Certificate in Counselling Skills (teenagers and adults) this is 4 days over two weekends.
  b) On-line Certificate in Child and Adolescent Counselling Skills ( 6 days over weekends)
  These both run twice a year, please enquire info@iate.uk

Expected prior knowledge

The ability to demonstrate:

• A sound grasp of fundamental psychotherapy theory and skills.
• Ability to work with competence, empathic attunement and depth with a full range of affect states.
• An awareness of their own feelings and personal process.
• Ability to support themselves when working with a client’s negative transference.
• Ability to maintain or quickly regain thinking function when working with a client.
• To qualify, students with no previous counselling or therapy training must have completed a 30-hour course in counselling (available at IATE).

Admission criteria for direct entry in Year 1

• A Bachelor’s degree.
• Qualification from a recognised psychotherapy or counselling college. Please send copy of the award and evidence that the training was at least 300 hours tutor time.
• Evidence of having passed all assessments.
• Accrued clinical psychotherapy or counselling hours under appropriate clinical supervision (log of clinical hours signed by supervisor). The supervisor must be UKCP reg or BACP accredited (not registered). We will need their email address and registration number.
• At least one year (minimum 40 sessions) of personal psychotherapy (not counselling).
• In addition please send in 1000 words written verbatim account of sections of a therapy session with a client (therapist said, client said etc) Candidates will be required to discuss their therapeutic interventions in the 1000 words, focusing on psychotherapeutic theory and practice that informed their interventions. Please additionally supply short pen picture of the client: age, presenting problems, history of trauma and loss. Ensure anonymity.
• Highly developed capacity for empathy.
• Warmth, capacity to play and to work fluently with images.
• A second interview is compulsory for applications for direct entry onto the Masters course (no fee will be charged for this) after the criteria above are met.

Fees

Year 1: £9,900.00
Year 2: £9,900.00
Year 3: (Qualifying Year) £5,200.00
(but you can pay termly or monthly direct debit)

Additional costs

• IATE registration fee (years one, two, three). £805 from September 2026
• Personal therapy (years one, two, three).
• Clinical supervision (years one, two, three).
• Insurance (years one, two, three).
• DBS (year one).
• Travel expenses (years one, two, three).
• Dissertation marking fee (year three).
• Practicum marking fee (year three).
• Counselling Skills qualification

Please note: IATE courses do not qualify for government education funding. As such, students cannot fund our courses via the Student or Advanced Learner Loans.

As we are not able to sponsor international students, you must have the right to live, work and/or study in the UK to join one of our on-site training programmes. We do not give advice on visas or visa requirements to live, work and/or study in the UK.

Is this course eligible for the Bursary?

This course is not currently eligible to receive bursary funding.

Employment opportunities and typical employment pathways

Art Therapist/Art Psychotherapist (charity/community, NHS, private practice). It is also possible to apply for public sector jobs as a generic Psychotherapist.