Foundation Course in Psychotherapy, Counselling & Coaching
About the Course
- Course Duration
- 1 Years
- Available Study Modes
Course Description
Introducing the Foundation Course at the Existential Academy – your gateway to a world of academic excellence and limitless possibilities. Designed to lay a strong educational foundation, this comprehensive program paves the way for further academic degrees and propels your career aspirations to new heights.
At the Existential Academy, we understand the importance of a solid groundwork for success. Our Foundation Course encompasses a diverse range of subjects, carefully curated to equip you with essential knowledge and skills across various disciplines of psychotherapy and counselling. Our tutors will guide you through an immersive learning experience, fostering critical thinking, analytical prowess, and effective communication.
The Foundation course at the Existential Academy can be taken as a standalone course or can serve as a pathway to further academic degrees provided by the Existential Academy and the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC).
The Foundation course is designed to provide students with the necessary skills and knowledge to pursue higher education in psychotherapy, counselling, counselling psychology or coaching. Upon completing a Foundation course, students may be eligible to apply to a PGCert, PGDip, Masters, or Doctorate programme, such as those offered at NSPC or to embark on the Existential Academy’s Existential Psychotherapy Training (EPT) through the Diploma in Existential Psychotherapy in combination with a relevant Master’s degree such as the MSc in Psychotherapy Studies. https://nspc.org.uk/course-directory/
Upon completing the Foundation Course, you will be empowered to embark on a journey towards your dream academic degree at NSPC and the Existential Academy. Our personalized guidance and support system will assist you in navigating the intricacies of university admissions, helping you secure a coveted spot in your chosen degree programme.
Course Information
This course introduces the student to the major psychotherapeutic, counselling and coaching approaches. While the entire breadth of the field is covered this is done within a challenging philosophical framework.
The programme provides an excellent academic background for the development of students’ practical skills and all students will be encouraged to find their own path and explore those concerns, which are immediate and meaningful to them.
The course covers existential, humanistic and psychoanalytic theory and practice, whilst using the philosophically based existential approach to allow for a critical stance to the study and practice of psychotherapy, counselling and coaching.
Upon completion, students will be awarded a certificate from the Existential Academy.
Programme of Study
Year 1
- Existential & Humanistic Approaches
- Issues in Psychotherapy
- Key Theories in Counselling, Psychotherapy & Coaching
Modules
Module 1: Key Theories in Psychotherapy, Counselling and Coaching
This module introduces the major theoretical frameworks that have shaped psychotherapy, counselling, and coaching, with particular attention to psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, and cognitive-behavioural traditions.
Students explore the historical development and central concepts of these approaches, examining how different schools of thought understand the mind, emotional distress, human development, and therapeutic change. In doing so, the module establishes a broad comparative framework through which theories can be critically examined and situated within contemporary practice. The teaching integrates conceptual understanding with practical application.
Students engage with themes such as the unconscious, attachment, cognition, behaviour, and narrative, while also considering developments in body-oriented, trauma-informed, and neuropsychological approaches. Alongside developing core therapeutic capacities - including listening, questioning, and reflective communication - students begin to consider how different theoretical orientations shape clinical understanding and practice.
Module 2: Existential and Humanistic Approaches
Through engagement with existential and humanistic thought, students examine existential and humanistic traditions in psychotherapy, counselling, and coaching, tracing their philosophical origins and psychological developments. Students engage with the work of key humanistic thinkers such as Rogers, Maslow, Perls, and Kelly, alongside existential philosophers including Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre, considering how these perspectives illuminate questions of personhood, freedom, meaning, anxiety, and relationality.
Particular emphasis is placed on the relationship between theory and lived experience. Students are introduced to phenomenological inquiry as a way of attending closely to human experience, while applied approaches such as person-centred, Gestalt, and existential therapies are explored in relation to their underlying assumptions, methods, and relational stance. The module also supports the development of core relational capacities, including presence, attunement, and reflective dialogue, providing a foundation for further therapeutic and philosophical exploration.
Module 3: Issues in Psychotherapy
This module examines a range of human concerns encountered in psychotherapy, counselling, and coaching, situating these within their relational, cultural, and ethical contexts. Students explore themes such as power and its negotiation within relationships, emotional experience and meaning making, constructions of mental health and illness, as well as issues relating to sexuality, diversity, and loss. Attention is also given to professional ethics and codes of practice within the UK, supporting an informed understanding of responsibility, boundaries, and the complexities inherent in therapeutic work.
The module combines conceptual study with experiential engagement, encouraging students to reflect on how individuals understand and organise their experience, and how patterns of suffering may emerge or become sustained. Consideration is also given to different modes of practice, including time-limited and open-ended approaches, enabling students to critically reflect on their implications for both practitioner and client. Through this process, students continue to develop the relational, reflective, and ethical capacities central to therapeutic practice.
Fees 2026-27
Year of course | Modules to be completed in year | Fee payable per year (if no modules need to be repeated) |
1 | 3* | £2574 (£715 +VAT =£858 per module) £2394 (£665 + VAT = £798 per module if paying for 3 modules in advance) |
| May be studied as three modules spread over a year | ||
Counselling and Psychotherapy Training Additional Charges
Application Fee | £50 |
Acceptance Deposit | £100 which will be deducted from the initial invoice when you start the course. Non-refundable if you withdraw |
APEL – (EPT) | £200 per submission |
Instalment Plan | £20 per module |
Late changes to Course Plan | £50 |
Professional Registration | At your own cost |
How you Study
The Foundation Course is delivered entirely online and takes place once a week on Wednesdays from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm (UK time). Each module runs over 10 weeks
Dates
Course date: 20th January - 30th March 2027
Application deadline: 30th November 2026
Apply here:
To apply, fill in our application form located here. We will be in touch asap once we have reviewed your application.