Module Directory

This module aims to enhance and further strengthen students’ theoretical and practice-based understanding of psychodynamic observation, to further support students in developing employability skills required in therapeutic sector and to continue developing a psychodynamic approach to reflective practice.

Students will learn to apply their growing grasp of psychodynamic theory to everyday professional encounters with clients and to develop their appreciation of the role of unconscious and emotional communication in working life. 

Students will be asked to undertake their own observations in their placement, to write these up and present them in seminars. They will hone their perception and receptivity in terms of detail and develop their sensitivity to what they observe and the importance of noticing their own emotional responses. It will enable them to reflect on their own process in observations and in groups and to become more self-aware. They will become increasingly alert to the conscious and unconscious ways in which their capacity to observe and participate in learning is influenced by their experiences, and the way their own self-awareness affects their capacity to provide therapeutic support to others.

In the Autumn Term students will be locating and applying for their placements and preparing to take up their roles.  Placements commence in the Spring term.  Students will have 70hrs of placement experience, attending their placement for a 7hr day a week over 10 weeks, or the hours worked over 2 weeks in a service such as a holiday club during the Christmas or Spring breaks. Building upon their relationships with and experiences in their organisation over the first year they now take up a full 9 – 5 working day experience.

Students will apply their learning at the placement.  Here, as an auxiliary member of the organisation, abiding by the policy framework within which it operate, students will have the opportunity to experience the role of a professional within their chosen sector. The agency will define the students’ duties, and their expectation of their working day.  Their placement supervisor will make arrangements for their work, and will review various aspects of their overall work experience.

As in year 1, students will continue developing a psychodynamic approach to reflective practice. These activities encourage and support the conscious use of self (self-awareness) in social and professional relationships, the experience of ‘learning from action’ and a recognition of oneself as a ‘participant observer’ in different contexts.  The reflective components bring the theoretical learning into contact with the personhood of the student and thus more effectively into actual practice.

Note: At the end of the 10 weeks the placement supervisor will write a brief report summarising each students’ progress and contribution to the organisation.  This is for feedback purposes only, but again this may aid students in writing their end of year reflective report.

The aims of this module are to:

• To deepen their capacity to use psychodynamic observation as a key skill in therapeutic care practice


• To develop employability skills required in psychodynamic work, and in the social care, education and health sectors


• To enable students to undertake a work placement within their chosen field of interest


• To enable students to apply learning from their programme directly into the workplace


• To continually reflect upon their abilities and performance in this role


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

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Demonstrate a deeper understanding of psychodynamic observation in work with clients and reflective Practice theory


2. Demonstrate a greater ability to observe detail and to perceive subtle indications of emotional and unconscious dynamics and the application to this of psychodynamic thinking


3. Have gained a deeper knowledge and experience about their chosen sector


4. Have gainedd a further opportunity to apply their learning within a work setting


5. Have sustained collaborative relationships with colleagues and clients on placement


6. Use their reflective journal to process their experiences


7. Further develop a conscious use of self (self-awareness) in professional relationships


8. Become increasingly reflexive and recognise the relationship between self-awareness and therapeutic practice

Key Skills 

• Observation skills


• Research skills


• Emotional sensitivity

Employability Skills

• Reflective practice skills


• CV and letter writing skills


• Interviewing


• Communicating with clients


• Communicating with colleagues

The module will be delivered via:

• Seminars lasting 2hrs per week

Seminars will concentrate on the discussion of observation presentations. Students will be asked to undertake their own observations in the workplace, to write these up and present them in seminars.  Later in the term, to support and underpin this practice, there will be a series of three Theory Seminars.

• Assignment support, reviews and reflective groups.

The reflective groups are facilitated by teaching staff but they will be in a distinct role within the groups as facilitators and not as tutors. They will introduce the purpose of the group, their own role and they will keep time.  Each Reflective Group will occur within the teaching day.  It will last for 50 mins.  Afterwards there will be 10 minutes to consider the experience.