Latest Module Specifications
Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026
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Description Professional Practice Portfolio 2 (PPP2) builds on the foundations established in Year 1 of the MSc in Psychotherapy. This module is designed to deepen the student’s knowledge, skills, and self-awareness as an integrative psychotherapy trainee, supporting the integration of professional learning and personal development in a coherent and meaningful way. Delivered in a blended format—with six full days of in-person learning and two days of online teaching—the module offers the student direct experience of the opportunities, differences, and challenges involved in both face-to-face and online clinical work. This experiential element enables the student to reflect on the impact of each format on the therapeutic relationship, professional presence, and engagement with clients. Through a combination of teaching, discussion, and reflective practice, the student will explore professional issues, a range of clinical presentations, and factors that can enhance or constrain the therapeutic use of self. The module examines ethics, reflexivity, and the application of integrative psychotherapeutic theories and practices, encouraging critical thinking, theoretical evaluation, and the development of an individualised therapeutic style. In parallel with structured teaching, the student is expected to engage in personal therapy, group awareness sessions, direct clinical practice, and both individual and group clinical supervision. Class-based discussions, guided reading, and online directed learning activities will complement experiential work, ensuring a balanced and comprehensive approach to professional growth. The student’s ongoing reflections, evidence of learning, and record of development will be documented in the Professional Practice Portfolio, a line and dynamic record that tracks personal and professional progress throughout the course and into future practice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learning Outcomes 1. Develop and extend therapeutic uses and senses of self through varied clinical encounters, both in-person and online, within personal therapy, supervision, and clinical practice, reflecting on the specific opportunities, challenges, and adaptations each format requires. 2. Demonstrate proficiency in personal, professional, and group reflexivity and engagement, drawing on experiences from both face-to-face and online learning environments to inform self-awareness and relational presence. 3. Explore and engage with integrative psychotherapy theories and practices in relation to a range of personal and client-presenting issues, applying insights gained from working across different delivery formats to therapeutic decision-making and intervention. 4. Develop understanding and apply relevant core clinical competencies, as outlined in the European Association for Psychotherapy Core Competencies guide (2013), recognising how these competencies manifest and may need to be adapted in in-person and online contexts. 5. Appropriately utilise individual and group supervision for professional and personal development, making use of blended learning settings to examine how supervisory processes can address the distinct relational and technical aspects of different modes of clinical work. 6. Evidence active reciprocity and learning from both personal therapy and Personal Awareness group engagement, using these experiences to enhance professional formation and demonstrate the capacity to hold the three therapeutic spaces of speaker, listener, and active observer, whether in-person or online. 7. Model the psychotherapeutic dynamic by being open, mindful, respectful, and responsible in dyadic and group interactions with both staff and peers, maintaining a balance between internal responses and external responsibilities, and applying this to the varied interpersonal demands of online and in-person work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml |
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Indicative Content and Learning Activities
Professional & Personal Development Through personal and interpersonal experiential enquiry, individually, in groups, within class, and through supervision, the student will develop reflexive awareness of self–other relationships in both in-person and online contexts. The blended delivery format enables the student to experience, compare, and adapt to the opportunities and constraints of each mode of interaction, deepening their understanding of how personal values, presence, and communication style affect the therapeutic process. The student will also develop an appreciation of balancing self-care with shared responsibilities to peers and staff in group and classroom settings, whether face-to-face or virtual. They will be supported to understand a range of integrative and generic psychotherapy competencies (EAP 2013) and to actively reflect on their progress, developmental challenges, and professional identity formation. Indicative learning activities include discussion and exploration of common client presentations such as bereavement, grief/loss, suicidality, and working with diversity, with attention to how these may be addressed differently in in-person and online work. Clinical Practice The student will engage in direct work with clients presenting with a range of emotional and psychological issues in at least one practice setting. This work will involve critically applying integrative psychotherapeutic models to meet client needs and adapting these approaches to the different relational and environmental dynamics of in-person and online therapy. Approved clinical placement contexts will be student-focused and fully supported through clinical supervision. The blended learning experience will enable the student to explore how therapeutic presence, attunement, and process may shift between formats, building the flexibility required for contemporary psychotherapy practice. Clinical Supervision The student will participate in formal supervision of clinical practice in both individual and group formats, across in-person and online settings. This will include presentation of case work and integration of theory and practice through retrospective reflection, written notes, and, where appropriate, audio or video recordings. Working with accredited supervisors who are clinically competent in relevant areas, the student will have the opportunity to examine how supervisory relationships and learning processes may vary between online and face-to-face formats, and how these insights can inform both current client work and ongoing professional development. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Indicative Reading List Books:
Articles:
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Other Resources
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