Psychodynamic psychotherapy training
Training in psychodynamic psychotherapy enables you to become a member of SIP and register with the BPC. You can work in private practice or in an agency setting offering up to twice weekly psychodynamic psychotherapy, either short or long term.
As a member of SIP you will be part of a community of psychotherapists and will have access to events and CPD. Our members are vital to the running of the organisation, there are many ways to get involved.
How does it work?
We have a 3 year rolling curriculum, during which time all trainees attend Theory and Clinical Concepts seminars together.
Post curricular training - during the post-curricular period, trainees complete all written work, including any training patient work and their Final Clinical Paper. They continue to attend Clinical Seminars (where they are joined by curricular trainees), they also continue to work with both supervisors and their training therapist until graduation. The length of this period varies from trainee to trainee.
Graduation is on passing the Final Clinical Paper
Trainees have the support of a personal tutor throughout their training.
Eligibility for clinical training
Pre-clinical Training, Personal Therapy, Clinical Experience, Experience Working In a Psychiatric Setting
How much does it cost?
2025-26: Training Application Fee £179, payable upon submission of application (non-refundable)
2025-26: Curricular £4,365 per annum
2025-26: Post-Curricular £669 per term
Components of psychodynamic psychotherapy training
The training is comprised of five elements, and you’ll need to complete each one in order to qualify.
Personal training therapy
Your training therapy must be at least twice per week, and begin at least 12 months before the start of clinical training, and will continue until graduation.
The personal therapy is integral to the training; enabling the trainee to develop a deeper understanding and insight of their own unconscious and internal processes. This personal experience of being a patient alongside the other training components offers a unique opportunity to evolve personally and as a practitioner
SIP’s training therapists are carefully chosen for their skills and experience to hold you through the rigours of this training.
If you are already in therapy with a BPC registered psychoanalytic psychotherapist, they may be able and willing to apply to become a SIP-approved training therapist. However, you should be prepared for the possibility of needing to change therapist and should therefore allow sufficient time to end with your existing therapist and begin with a new one.
If you are already enrolled in SIPs pre-clinical courses, you can ask your tutor for advice.
Supervised clinical work
The supervised clinical work is where you learn to apply theory and hone your skills in the practice room. You will produce clinical reports that you work through with your supervisor.
The minimum requirement for qualifying is 200 hours of supervised clinical work and a minimum of five training patients. Two of the five training patients will be once or twice weekly for a minimum of one year.
SIP can help trainees to find suitable training patients through our Consultation and Referral Service.
Clinical seminars
You will attend both Theory and Clinical Concepts seminars each week during term time.
The SIP theory curriculum is a core part of trainees’ progression towards being psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapists who are able to practise independently, ethically, and responsibly. It teaches the British clinical tradition, which is based on the theories of Freud and the contemporary Freudians, Klein and the post-Kleinians, Winnicott and the British Independents and Jung and the post-Jungians. The curriculum is designed to instill a thorough understanding of psychoanalytic theory and its application in practice. Secondary to this lived appreciation the training fosters independent thinking in trainees, enabling them to begin to situate themselves within the psychoanalytic orientations.
Seminars
The theoretical component of the curriculum aims to develop a good understanding of core concepts within each paradigm. The structure of the curriculum demonstrates the development of these concepts, and the broader theoretical frame within which they sit, over time.
Trainees are learning to practise, and the curriculum is designed to develop the skills and knowledge that this requires by blending theory with clinical concepts, clinical seminars, taking on training patients and receiving intensive training supervision and of course, personal training therapy.
Trainees have access to PEP-web, IJP, and our extensive library
Written work
Over the course of the training you will produce three essays, at least four clinical reports and, a final clinical paper.
Training venue
All training takes place at our headquarters in central Bristol:
11 Orchard Street
Bristol
BS1 5EH
Because we’re the training institute for the South West, trainees come from across the region, and training therapy and supervision is available in Bristol and beyond.
If you have particular access needs please let us know as soon as possible so that we can discuss how best to meet these.