module specification

This capstone module brings together the research and clinical strands of the programme through a final empirical dissertation and the completion of clinical training requirements. It supports you to design, conduct and write up an independent research project in counselling and psychotherapy, while also evidencing your clinical development through placement hours and a cumulative clinical portfolio that meets BACP requirements.

Teaching will help you develop a viable research topic grounded in your clinical experience and/interests, formulate research questions, and choose appropriate qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods designs. You will be guided through each stage of the research process: planning and project management; navigating ethics and governance; recruiting participants; gathering and analysing data; and drawing defensible conclusions that are relevant to practice. Particular emphasis is placed on issues of positionality, reflexivity and power in research and to ESJF relevant to counselling and psychotherapy practice, and on the responsible application of research knowledge into practice.

Alongside research-focused workshops, the module includes your ongoing clinical practice in placement. This involves tracking placement hours, supervision arrangements and clinical learning, and supporting the development and organisation of your clinical portfolio across the two years of training. By the end of the module, you will have produced a substantial written dissertation and a complete clinical portfolio, both of which demonstrate your capacity to integrate research and practice, to work ethically and relationally, and to contribute thoughtfully to the evidence base in counselling and psychotherapy.

PY7239

Available for Study Abroad? /NO

In this module, you will refine research topics and questions linked to your clinical experience and professional interests. You will develop an advanced understanding of research design in counselling and psychotherapy, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches.

You will explore ethics and governance in practitioner research, including working with organisations and ethics committees, and critically examine issues of positionality, reflexivity, and power within therapeutic research relationships. You will develop practical skills in data collection strategies such as interviews, focus groups, surveys, and outcome measures, alongside effective project management.

You will learn approaches to data analysis, including thematic analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), basic quantitative analysis, and mixed-methods integration. You will be supported to write a rigorous dissertation, focusing on structure, argument, critical discussion, and implications for practice.

The module will also support your development as a practitioner–researcher, integrating research evidence into clinical decision-making. You will monitor and evidence placement progress, including hours, supervision, range of clinical work, and BACP requirements, develop and curate your clinical portfolio, and learn how to disseminate research findings effectively.

The learning objectives will be achieved through a combination of interactive workshops and seminars,  problem-based learning, computer base exercises and mutual peer-support sessions, web-based online learning; group research supervision and self-managed independent study. You will be encouraged to manage and take responsibility for your own learning and professional development and to use feedback from multiple sources to enhance your practice. Teaching will be largely delivered in room with some synchronous online session inputs. You will be working in a placement to accrue and complete the 100 hours of supervised clinical practice requirement for this module.

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

1. Design and carry out an independent empirical research project in counselling and psychotherapy, from proposal through to final dissertation.
2. Critically justify methodological, ethical and analytical choices, including consideration of positionality, power and reflexivity in the research process.
3. Collect, analyse and interpret qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods data to address a clinically relevant research question.
4. Integrate research findings with clinical experience, articulating implications for practice, service provision and your own professional development.