Psychoanalytic Studies

Entry requirements

A 1st, 2:1 or good 2:2 degree.

Months of entry

October

Course content

How has the notion of 'Freudian unconscious' shaped Western culture and been transmitted around the world? How does the unconscious affect us individually and socially? How can an individual and their culture be viewed from a psychoanalytic perspective? Our MA Psychoanalytic Studies will give you a unique and fascinating way of exploring how the unconscious affects both individuals and societies and cultures.

Our course provides you with a thorough grounding in psychoanalytic theory through which to explore its application both to the clinical setting and to culture and society. Starting with the cultural milieu from which psychoanalysis emerged, you begin with Freud and follow on through the development of object relations, focusing on the ‘British School’, including theorists such as Klein, Winnicott, Bion and others.

By encouraging your critical attitude, we foster an engagement with psychoanalysis - both historically and comparatively - always keeping in mind its methodological link to the clinical experiences from which psychoanalysis itself was developed. Applications of psychoanalysis are considered in the clinic, the group, and wider settings. You will also write a dissertation.

Our course will interest you if you work in the mental health field or have an interest in psychoanalysis. You will graduate from our internationally recognised Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies having been taught by world-leading scholars and highly experienced practitioners.

Our course is offered one year full-time, two years part-time or modular (up to five years). Attendance of our short pre-sessional course on Freud is compulsory (except under special circumstances). This is a specially designed intensive course in the most important of Freud’s writings, which will give you an introductory historical and theoretical overview of the development of his thinking. Our Freud pre-sessional option allows you to start our MA course in a working cohort of students, with a firm foundation in Freudian concepts.