• Year one
• FHEQ level 7
• 20 credits
• Compulsory module
• Module lead: Robert Fitzpatrick

Module aims
The aims of the module are to:

• provide an historical, developmental and cumulative introduction to psychoanalytic perspectives on the organisation, together with historical papers on the origins of systems thinking about organisations
• provide an overview of research methods, through the academic and professional skills seminars, and explore strategies of academic writing and presentation, as well as ethical issues in working with and within organisations

Module Assessment
You must submit a 3,000 word essay.

• Year one
• FHEQ level 7
• 20 credits
• Compulsory module
• Module lead: Alison Wragg

Module aims
The aims of the module are to:

• offer an introduction to applying psychoanalytic and systemic thinking to organisations
• provide you with a range of conceptual tools with which to study the leadership and management of organisations
• explore key ideas from systemic thinking, group relations and psychoanalysis.
• develop the capacity to think critically and systematically about an organisation, to formulate working hypotheses, and to design appropriate interventions
• encourage you to think creatively ‘across the boundary’ between the conscious and unconscious aspects of organisational life
• provide the opportunity for you– whether in a leadership role or in the role of consultant – to study and develop the necessary practical skills involved in taking up a ‘consultative stance’
• develop the ability to listen to others, whether clients, employees, or other organisational members to elicit and assess the meaning of communications in their various forms, to recognise conscious and unconscious processes and dynamics, to formulate and test hypotheses about what is going on, to communicate these appropriately and to enable oneself and others to understand more about their own organisational processes
• enable you to differentiate between a consultative stance and inappropriate psychotherapeutic engagement
• learn about the boundaries and limits of the approach

Module assessment
You will be assessed on your participation in seminars and a 2,000 word applications essay.

• Year one
• FHEQ level 7
• 20 credits
• Compulsory module
• Module lead: Phillip Birch

Module aims
The aims of the module are to:

• develop the capacity to learn from, and make use of, your own individual experiences towards understanding the dynamics of a group
• enable you to study and learn first-hand about the processes that influence individuals and groups when they work together
• develop the ability to observe a group while engaged in its usual activities, making meaning from the dynamics observed and also from the emotional experience of the observer
• allow students to take up the role of observer without having to ‘consult’ to an organisation, observing in the widest sense rather than researching by studying existing documentation or asking questions of those observed

Module assessment
You must submit a 3,000 word essay.

• Year one
• 0 credits
• Compulsory module
• Module lead: Gwen Hanrahan

Module aims
The aim of this module is to provide an immersive experience of group and institutional processes, allowing you to develop further the learning about leadership and followership provided through the first year of the course.

Module assessment
The module is not assessed. However, attendance at the conference is compulsory and you must attend in order to pass the module.

• Year two
• FHEQ level 7
• 20 credits
• Compulsory module
• Module lead: Robert Fitzpatrick

Module aims
This module continues to provide a historical, developmental and cumulative introduction to psychoanalytic and systemic perspectives on consulting and leading in organisations and introduces contemporary applications.

A number of leaders and consultants present their work using concepts taught on the course. Professional skills such as design of organisational interventions are developed.

Module assessment
You must submit a 3,000 word essay.

• Year two
• FHEQ level 7
• 20 credits
• Compulsory module
• Module lead: Alison Wragg

Module aim
The aim of this module is to develop and use consultative skills through negotiating and completing a consultation. This is conducted in person, outside of scheduled teaching time.

Module assessment
You will be assessed on your participation in seminars, and through a 2,000 word essay.

• Year two
• FHEQ level 7
• 20 credits
• Compulsory module
• Module lead: Phillip Birch

Module aim
The aim of this module is to explore the conscious and unconscious processes of the group in the context of students’ experience of the course.

Module assessment
You must submit a 3,000 word essay.

• Year two
• FHEQ level 7
• 60 credits
• Compulsory module
• Module lead: Gwen Hanrahan

Module aims
The aims of this module are to:

• provide an opportunity for you to integrate the learning from the theoretical and applied activities in the course, as well as demonstrating your own theoretical understanding from other sources, and capacity to appropriately utilise experiential learning as data – linking it to relevant psychoanalytic, systemic and other theory
• address questions of research methodology and support you to extend your exploration of ideas relevant to a systems psychodynamics approach
• develop multiple hypotheses arising out of the learning from the consultation undertaken in the earlier part of the course
• facilitate conducting literature searches and writing literature reviews
• support the writing of a well-structured dissertation
• foster the capacity for independent learning

Module assessment
You must complete a 14,000 word dissertation based on the action research consultancy project completed in year two of the programme