Program Overview

Our Cognitive Behaviour Therapy High Intensity Postgraduate Diploma provides a significant component of the current requirements for accreditation as a cognitive behavioural therapist by the BABCP. You will gain the knowledge and clinical skills to operate effectively as a psychological therapist.

This High Intensity Diploma is joint funded by Health Education England and local NHS Commissioners and is designed to provide a postgraduate training for Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) High Intensity Cognitive Behaviour Therapists.

[babcp-accreditation-logo] The Diploma aims to teach students to achieve the level of knowledge and clinical skills to operate effectively as psychological therapists, using evidence-based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy methods routinely in their work.

Following the success of the IAPT initiative in primary care mental health services, work is in progress to maintain existing IAPT services and to extend into other services whose users could benefit from psychological therapies. This may include a range of mental health services, addictions services, and physical health care services. For trainees to be successful, they will attend university two days per week and three days per week clinical placement, with supervision. Placements are most successful within an IAPT service, and funding is available only to those on placement within specified IAPT or IAPT-commissioned services.

Key Features

• To equip practitioners to offer ‘high intensity’ CBT for people with moderate and moderate to severe depression and anxiety at Step 3 within the primary care settings.
• To equip practitioners to function as skilled, and relatively independent cognitive behaviour therapists, in accordance with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) guidelines for good practice.
• To equip practitioners to reach the necessary standards required for provisional accreditation as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist with the BABCP on successful completion of the course.
• To facilitate the development of a critical knowledge of the theory and research relating to CBT.

Employabilty

The course provides students with all the experience they need to meet the requirements to become accredited as Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapists with the BABCP. As such, employment prospects are very good, since BABCP accreditation is a highly sought after standard among psychotherapists both within the NHS and in other services. Over 95% of students enter employment immediately upon successful completion of the programme, with the vast majority of these taking up posts within the NHS or third sector organisations. A smaller number sign up for locum posts with employment agencies or set up in private practice.