Complex Trauma: the Tavistock Model (D19)
A clinical, post-qualification training for psychotherapists, developed and delivered by our award-winning Trauma Service.
This two-year, postgraduate course has been developed to support qualified psychodynamic and psychoanalytic psychotherapists who wish to specialise in trauma work.
Combining a clinical placement with a rigorous academic programme, the training offers a unique opportunity to develop both the theoretical framework and clinical skills needed to work with traumatised individuals – drawing on the expertise of the renowned Tavistock Trauma Service, and the wider Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.
We anticipate that this course will be recognised by the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) with the award of a ‘kite mark’ following their accreditation process.
Please note: you may see the D19 course also referred to as PCTCTP010 in communications from our application system.
Applications for this course are now closed for September 2025 entry. Please register your interest to be notified when applications open for 2026 entry.
About this course
This two-year course comprises a clinical placement, weekly experiential and supervision groups, and suite of academic modules
The clinical placement
The clinical placement offers you the opportunity to work within the award-winning Tavistock Trauma Service. You will see two patients within the service, each for 18 months, and your work will be supervised by senior clinicians. You will also have access to unit meetings and other CPD activities within the service.
Weekly experiential group
A weekly experiential group will provide time and space to explore the powerful countertransference experiences that are inevitable in trauma work – ensuring that you have regular opportunities to reflect on your work and to support each other throughout your training.
Weekly supervision group
Weekly supervision groups will be run by senior members of the Tavistock Trauma Service. With a maximum of three students per group, these sessions will support you in consolidating your clinical understanding and skills
Academic modules
Spanning a wide range of modalities, populations, perspectives and ways of working, our five core modules will support you in developing a deeper understanding of trauma – drawing on expertise from within the Tavistock and Portman and beyond.
Module 1: Complex Trauma
Year one
The aims of the module are to:
- introduce you to the Tavistock model for understanding and treating complex trauma
- explore the phase-based approach, the impact of trauma on mind and body, and the roles of dissociation, transgenerational trauma, and suicide
- critically examine diagnostic models, highlighting how they can pathologise survivors and cause further harm and the importance of trauma-informed care and survivor engagement
- explore intersectional perspectives as a foundation for trauma-informed clinical practice
Module 2: Child Sexual Abuse
Year one
The aims of the module are to:
- address the impact of child sexual abuse across the life span and its implications for clinical practice
- explore core themes including disclosure, shame, neglect, grooming, sibling sexual abuse, and the complexities of working with victim-perpetrators
- consider psychotherapy with survivors and the dynamics of transference and countertransference in treatment
- use insights from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) to inform your reflection on both practice and policy
Module 3: Different Populations
Year one
The aims of the module are to:
- explore trauma in the context of diversity, identity, and social experience
- examine the impact of trauma on refugees and asylum seekers, racial trauma, and the intersection of trauma with sexuality and other aspects of difference
- explore topics including neurodiversity, functional neurological disorder (FND), eating disorders, addiction, organizational trauma, and parenting
- reflect on how psychoanalytic and trauma-informed approaches can be adapted sensitively to meet the needs of different populations
Module 4: Multimodal Approach
Year two
The aims of the module are to:
- introduce you to a range of therapeutic approaches within a psychoanalytic, trauma-informed frame
- explore topics including peer support, group work, routes to living well despite trauma and endings
- engage with modalities such as trauma-focused MBT, compassion-focused therapy, art therapy, EMDR, somatic and body-based therapies, trauma yoga, ISTDP, and psychedelic-assisted therapy
- hear from a trauma service in South Africa and reflect on different ways of working
Module 5: Deepening our Understanding
Year two
The aims of the module are to:
- consolidate and extend your learning focusing on complex presentations and systemic perspectives
- learn about the four different areas including dissociative disorders and DID; children who have experienced trauma; systemic approaches; and the dynamics of victims and perpetrators
- explore topics including attachment and dissociation, fostering and adoption, embodied states, narrative approaches, violence, and enactment
- reflect on the course as a whole and its application in practice
Who is this course for?
This course is for accredited psychodynamic and psychoanalytic psychotherapists and psychoanalysts who wish to gain expertise in working with traumatised adults. It is also suitable if you’re an art therapist, group analyst or integrative therapist where part of your training has been psychodynamic.
Course details
To be eligible, you must be:
- a psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapist or psychoanalyst, and are currently registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC); or
- a psychodynamic psychotherapist, and are currently registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP); or
- a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, and are currently a registered member of the UKCP’s Council for Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis College (CPJA);
- an art therapist, group analyst or integrative therapist where part of your training is psychodynamic.
Please note: all applicants to this course should expect to complete the clinical governance passport prior to starting this course, and are requested to bear this in mind if they apply close to the application deadline.
Tuition fees
Home
£4,090 per year (2025/26)
International
£8,180 per year (2025/26)
Tuition fees are charged for each year of your course. If your course is longer than one year, the fees may be subject to annual inflationary increases. For more information on tuition fee changes, including paying for tuition fees, please refer to our tuition fee guidance.
Funding
Funding for current students
We offer several funding options to support current students who need financial assistance during their studies. Please refer to our financial support guidance for more information.
Assessment
To be awarded a Professional Certificate, you must complete all five core modules and attend a minimum of 80% of all lectures, experiential and supervision groups, plus at least one team meeting per month, as well as complete a short, twice-yearly report for both of your patients.
Your progress will be reviewed at twice-yearly progression boards, by a panel made up of the course lead and supervisors, with input from the experiential group leader and the academic module lecturers.
Attendance
This course is intended to be undertaken on a part-time basis, with approximately six hours of face-to-face activity taking place in the Tavistock Centre each week. This includes the weekly experiential group and clinical sessions in the Trauma Service. Where possible, we hope to be able to offer some flexibility in terms of these timings, and in the timings of weekly supervision groups, recognizing that these will need to fit into therapists’ already busy working week.
Our intention is for this course to be delivered in a blended mode. Some elements of the training will delivered be face to face, including the clinical placement and experiential group.
Lectures will be delivered either in-person at the Tavistock Centre or in a hybrid format, with the lecturer online and students at the Tavistock Centre. This will depend on the lecturer’s availability to attend in person. Students will always attend the lectures at the Tavistock Centre.
For the academic year 2026/27, the lectures and experiential group will take place in the Tavistock Centre on Tuesday afternoons at 2pm and 3.30pm respectively. Clinical sessions can be arranged to take place on the same day, or on another day. Supervision groups will take place online, and there will be three sessions to choose between, spread throughout the week. Trauma Service team meetings take place on Mondays at 2pm, and course participants will be required to attend a minimum of one meeting per month – presenting a patient in a team meeting once over the course of the two years.
There is growing evidence of the need for therapists to be able to adapt their traditional psychoanalytic stance to work with traumatised patients. Many traditional trainings cannot give sufficient emphasis to trauma, considering its ubiquity in clinical work.
This course offers a sound clinical training to work as a trauma therapist within a psychoanalytic frame. It will support you in your current practice, while also introducing new possibilities for working in the trauma field.
Why study with us?
While many psychotherapy trainings include some discussion of trauma within their academic programme, coverage is often limited – leaving many therapists feeling that they lack the expertise or skills needed to work with traumatised individuals. As our recognition of the ubiquity of trauma (including childhood, adult, collective and cultural trauma) grows, so too does our awareness of the need for more in-depth training in this area.
This unique course offers participants the opportunity to train in an award-winning Trauma Service – developing relevant clinical experience, together with a robust theoretical framework. Drawing on the service’s distinctive, multi-modal approach, the course will consider intersectionality as an essential aspect of the training at all levels.
Testimonials
Course facilitators
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Joanne Stubley
Consultant Medical Psychotherapist and Psychoanalyst
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Emily Mercer
Social Worker and Psychodynamic Psychotherapist
Register your interest
Applications for this course are now closed for September 2025 entry. Please register your interest to be notified when applications open for 2026 entry.