Postgraduate Prospectus

Psychoanalytic Studies | www.essex.ac.uk/centres/psycho
Why study
psychoanalytic studies
at Essex?
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Research (submitted with
Department of Sociology) ranked
top in the UK in the last Research
Assessment Exercise (RAE, 2008)
Part of the University’s accredited
Doctoral Training Centre of the
Economic and Social Research
Council (ESRC), with a number of
ESRC studentships available for
new postgraduates
Full programme in both
psychoanalytic (British Object
Relations) and Jungian thought,
as well as interdisciplinary
opportunities
Professional applications, including
work in refugee care and
management studies, available
Strong links with our academic
departments, with the National
Health Service, and with clinical
training organisations
Career prospects
Our graduates go on to a number
of different destinations, including
further study and training in
psychoanalysis, Jungian analysis,
or psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
Many of our students are already
professionals, clinical and
non-clinical, so return to their
existing fields, either in jobs or
further training, and use our
courses to deepen their
understanding of their work.
About our Centre
We are internationally recognised as
one of the leading centres for work that
focuses on the role of the unconscious
mind in mental health, as well as in culture
and society generally.
Our research and teaching is deeply
grounded in knowledge deriving from
clinical practice, to which we then aim to
apply our highest standards of academic
thinking. We enjoy an outstanding
reputation for research and have
consistently achieved the highest rating in
the UK's Research Assessment Exercise
(RAE), most recently in December 2008.
We are located within the UK’s leading
university for the study of social sciences,
so our students are surrounded by strong
departments that fully support and enhance
our work. This means you gain the
opportunity to work with, and be taught by,
senior clinicians and world-class scholars
in their fields.
In addition, we are distinctive in our
provision of a pluralistic and non-sectarian
environment in which various depth
psychological models of the unconscious
(especially Freudian, Jungian, and
British Object Relations) are critically
examined. Our taught courses make
use of experiential components and
clinically-oriented teaching, as many
members of our staff are clinicians as
well as scholars. We maintain strong links
with the local NHS and other services,
institutions, and centres of excellence.
We form part of Essex’s interdisciplinary
Doctoral Training Centre, recently
designated by the UK’s Economic and
Social Research Council (ESRC) and
one of only 21 in the UK. This means
some of our courses have ESRC Doctoral
Training Centre accreditation and, through
the psychoanalytic studies pathway, a
number of ESRC studentships are available
for new students to begin an MA, followed
by a PhD, with us (1+3).
Taught courses
We have a good reputation for the quality
of our MA courses, which typically comprise
a number of taught modules and a
dissertation. Assessment is by your
written work, based on both reading and
projects, normally totalling about 5,000
words per module, plus your dissertation
of 12,000 words.
MA Psychoanalytic Studies•†
Open to clinicians and non-clinicians alike,
who have an interest in psychoanalysis,
our course allows you to deepen your
understanding of psychoanalytic theory and
its application to both 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 both
clinical, group, and wider settings.
MA Psychoanalytic Studies can serve
as your pre-requisite for a PhD, as a
stand-alone MA if you have an interest
in this area, or as a theoretical foundation
for your clinical training.
MA Jungian and Post-Jungian Studies
The unique and internationally acclaimed
course is suitable if you are coming from
a clinical or a non-clinical background.
We take an informative, critical and
reflective stance in relation to the key
texts of Jung, the diverse contexts from
which analytical psychology emerged,
and the core concepts developed by
Jung, post-Jungians and scholars.
Our course provides a deep academic
grounding if you are a psychotherapist or
researcher, or if you wish to enrich your
work, training or study with insights from
this important body of thought.
184 | Postgraduate Prospectus 2012