Our courses
The Department of Psychosocial Studies is committed to delivering high-quality research led teaching that centres on the question of the perpetuation and renewal of critical modes of thought in the human and social sciences.
We are delighted to continue our relationship with Judith Butler (Berkeley), who is Visiting Professor for the MA Psychosocial Studies. This year renowned philosopher and cultural critic, Slavoj Zizek (Birkbeck), will be teaching our MA students on our Summer Programme. In addition we are joined by Dr. David Bell, Training and Supervising psychoanalyst at the Institute of Psychoanalysis and until recently, its President. We will also host a range of prominent visiting speakers as part of the Race Forum.
Academic programmes
Our academic programmes introduce students to contemporary theoretical debates drawn from a range of disciplines to critically question what we mean by identity, subjectivity, individual and self, and their relation to social, political and collective formations.
What courses do we offer?
- BSc Social Science (part-time) / BSc Social Science (full-time): This aims to enable students to become competent, critical and responsible researchers of the social world. You can graduate with either a general BSc Social Science degree or with our new specialism in Psychosocial Studies
- GradCert Psychosocial Studies: This course introduces you to key social and psychoanalytic theory, and acts as a bridge into Master's level study
- MA Psychosocial Studies: this course aims to connect discussions of our precarious and increasingly interconnected collective fates with our most intimate personal and psychic life.
- MA Culture, Diaspora, Ethnicity: this degree explores debates on ‘race’ and ethnicity, multiculture and postcoloniality.
- MA Psychoanalysis, History, Culture: this explores the historical contexts, cultural ramifications and contemporary applications of psychoanalysis.
- MSc Education, Power and Social Change: This programme explores links between education and social and political movements, within a globalised and post-colonial context.
- MSc Psychodynamics of Human Development: this explores human development through the theoretical and clinical issues raised by infant observation, work study seminars and psychoanalytic and Jungian analytic theories.
- MPhil/PhD Psychosocial Studies: this research degree offers an exciting research environment in which to pursue psychosocial research, as well as supervisory expertise across a number of disciplines, including social and critical psychology, sociology, philosophy, literature, postcolonial studies, gender and sexuality studies, and media and cultural studies.
Who are these courses for?
- We welcome students from varied backgrounds, who are open to unsettling their own assumptions and prior understandings of individual and social life, and are willing to engage in this interdisciplinary psychosocial venture.
How are these courses structured?
- The BSc Social Sciences can be taken part-time over four years. You will study core social science subjects such as social theory, social policy and research methods, and you will pick option modules from a wide range of fields in the social sciences, including two new modules in Psychoanalytic Theory and Social Theory.
- Graduate Certificates are taken part-time over one year, and comprise two modules.
- Master's-level courses can be taken either full-time, over one academic year, or part-time over two. Each Master's-level course has two core modules, and a wide choice of optional modules, as well as an opportunity for students to pursue their own ideas and interests through a piece of independent research or scholarship.
- Research degrees usually take three years full-time or six years part-time. You work independently, with one-to-one supervision, as well as attending regular research meetings, workshops and other training events.
Why should you study these courses at Birkbeck?
- Each course is taught by leading figures in Psychosocial Studies, including:
- We also have additional Visiting Professorial Staff, including:
- Judith Butler (Berkeley)
- a range of speakers who contribute to the Race Forum
- staff from the British Association of Psychotherapists, Institute of Group Analysis and the Institute of Psychoanalysis
Clinical training programmes
Do you want to train as a counsellor, psychotherapist, group analyst or child psychotherapist?
Background information
Our full list of clinical training programmes
- Introduction to Counselling (1 year)
- Counselling and Counselling Skills (CertHE) (2 years)
- Psychodynamic Counselling and Organisational Dynamics (CertHE) (1 year)
- Psychodynamic Counselling and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Foundation Degree)
- Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy (MSc)
- Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents (MSc)
- Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy (DPsychotherapy)
Training route 1: Psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy
- If you are interested in this area of study, this is the pathway we recommend for you:
Training route 2: Child and adolescent psychotherapy
- If you are interested in this area of study, we advise you to follow this route:
Accrediting organisations
- Several of our programmes are taught collaboratively with major psychotherapy training institutions:
- Institute of Group Analysis: Group Analytic Studies (PgCert); Group Analysis (MSc)
- British Association of Psychotherapists: Psychodynamics of Human Development (GradDip / MSc); Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy (DPsychotherapy)
- Institute of Psychoanalysis: Psychoanalysis, History, Culture (MA)
- The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy also accredits the following: Psychodynamics of Human Development (GradDip / MSc); Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy (GradCert / MSc); Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents (GradDip / MSc)
