This course has now closed for booking for this year. Please register your interest to join the list to be notified of future opportunities to take this course.

The course comprises an early evening online seminar once a month for ten months – October to July.

The next course will run on the following dates:

This course will be delivered remotely using Zoom.

You will need a device with a microphone and camera together with a suitably fast internet connection. Although mobile devices and tablets can be used, we recommend the use of a laptop or desktop PC for the best experience. Some devices provided by employers may have restrictions in place. Please use this Zoom test link to check your set up before booking.

You will be sent the necessary login link about a week before the course start date. Should you have any concerns about the accessibility of remote delivery please contact us to discuss how we can best help you.

The lecture series will be chaired by the Course Lead, Ms Gabrielle Brown, Adult Psychotherapist at the Portman Clinic. Each month, she will invite leading experts in the field of forensic psychotherapy to give a lecture and engage in a discussion with her and attendees. After each lecture, you will have an opportunity to discuss the issues raised and to bring up related interests and experience from your own work.

The focus of the lectures and discussion will be on those clients/patients who are often referred to as complex, difficult or antisocial: they act out in criminal and/or violent ways or their sexual behaviour damages themselves or other people. Having ways of thinking about and understanding something of this behaviour often helps the people who work with them to manage the challenges they present.

Whilst the course comprises a series of individual lectures, it is intended to be followed in its entirety. The programme has been designed holistically such that later lectures build on ideas from earlier in the series and discussion becomes increasingly integrated as understanding is consolidated.

Programme (provisional)

Each lecture will be supplemented with a selection of relevant supporting readings accessible online. Links will be provided to access the materials directly via the library subscription included with the course

During the course, participants are expected to be in a private space, where they can engage with other participants and live course learning, without interruption for the duration of the session and with access to a device with a webcam that is turned on. There is an expectation that participants will set aside sufficient time to read the designated course reading, approximately two papers per seminar.

Library membership

Included in your course fee, you will receive online membership to the Tavistock’s internationally-renowned library for the duration of your course.

Our friendly and knowledgeable library team will help to support you through your specialist CPD course, whatever your level of professional or academic experience. You will have access to an extensive range of eBooks, online journals, all the relevant key databases and our specialist audio-visual collection, plus reference access to all our print books.

Our information skills trainer has made lots of material available on Moodle to help you navigate our comprehensive electronic collections. PCs and photocopiers are available for your use (charges apply for printing and copying), as well as various online resources including audio/video playlists.