Module Directory

‘Psychosocial Observation’ supports students in developing a capacity to listen, observe, and empathise, strengthening their affective attunement to everyday situations, in preparation for future clinical practice. The module examines key psychosocial, feminist, cultural and social theories of looking, seeing, and being seen, and considers the role of the gaze in psychic and social life.

Students will develop an understanding of the role of unconscious communication in everyday life. This will enable them to become more perceptive to detail and grasp subtle meanings of what they observe, as well as what they themselves bring to their social interactions and learning experience. Students will be supported to reflect on their own internal processes in interpersonal and social settings, and to become more self-aware about the ways in which the social world is structured across gender, race, class, age, ability and disability, and other characteristics. Students will also explore how their own self- awareness affects their capacity to offer therapeutic attention to others.

This module is comprised of lectures and observation seminars. Activities are designed to encourage and support the conscious use of the self (self-awareness) in social settings. The module offers ‘learning from experience’ and supports students in recognising themselves as ‘participant observers’ in different contexts. The reflective components bring the theoretical learning to life in order to enhance future capacity to work with vulnerable individuals and communities.

The aims of this module are:

• To develop a keener eye for the detail of human behaviour and interaction.


• To increase awareness of the role of emotional communication and the unconscious in everyday events and encounters.


• To understand the application of psychoanalytic and psychosocial concepts and insights to all aspects of human experience.


• To lay the foundations for psychosocial observation as a key skill in clinical practice.


• To develop employability skills related to case presentation and reflective practice.


• To establish a reflective space for acknowledging and processing the emotional and psychological implications of the material studied on this module.


• To develop the capacity for self-reflection and an awareness of the influence of one's own processes and personal experiences.

By the end of the module, students should have:

1. Familiarity with the application of key psychosocial and psychoanalytic concepts on seeing and being seen.


2. An introductory knowledge of key ideas and aims of reflective practice.


3. Greater ability to observe detail and to perceive subtle indications of emotional and unconscious dynamics.


4. Familiarity with the role of conscious and unconscious mechanisms in relationships.


5. Awareness of the use of psychosocial and psychoanalytic observation in the community.


6. The capacity to apply psychoanalytic thinking to everyday situations.


7. The capacity to reflect on one's own process in the observing and in the learning contexts.


8. To be increasingly reflexive and recognise the relationship between of self-awareness and practice.

Key Skills

• Theoretical knowledge of psychosocial and psychoanalytic observation


• Practice-based understanding of psychosocial observation


• Professional skills involved incase presentation 

Employability Skills

• Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic observation


• Reflective Practice


• Case Presentation 

This module will be delivered via:

• Seminars lasting 2hrs per week will focus on the discussion of observation presentations. Students will be required to undertake their own community-based observations, write these up, and present them in seminars.
• Observation Placement
  Students will be asked to conduct observations in the community or in their workplace or placement and write weekly, detailed accounts of these observations. Students will take turns presenting their observations in seminars for discussion and peer-feedback. Students are encouraged to carry out their observations in the following sites (though not exclusively): gyms, cafes, parks, local libraries, GP waiting areas, hospital and A&E waiting areas etc.