DBS vs OU??

ellefolk

Hello everybody,

This is my first post in this forum

I was looking at few options to go back and study again psychology.
My aim is to become a therapists that treats and guides kids and young people who are coming from disadvantaged backgrounds ie families, areas or that had suffered any type of trauma and help them to get back on track.
Due to my current situation i can only do it part time or through a long distance learning programme... I know this last one can be very tedious and difficult as there is noone but yourself to encourage you and push you.
I have looked at both universities and their programmes (not that they give much info away in their prospectus ) but i am quiet uncertain in terms of which one would be better ( dbs is recognised by psi, ou by the association in uk)
Also, i read in other posts that people do not recommend to study psychology to work in certain areas.. obviously psychology is the first step and then you have to further your studies and do an mba... Would it be better to study psychology or counselling for what i am looking to do?
Thanks a mill to all in advance!

Odysseus

Well it depends. You could start with counselling/psychotherapy and be able to see clients within a couple of years, actually even less. However, I would suggest taking a longer road, getting a degree in psychology only qualifies you to study it at post-grad and that is what I suggest to most people.

However, if you go down the psychotherapy route I would suggest that once you qualify you continue with your studies to post-grad level. Personally I won't refer to another therapist is they are not at Masters standard.

ellefolk

Hi Odysseus,

Thanks very much for your valuable advice

Would anybody have any opinions about ou and dbs? Which one has the best study program?

Thanks again

Musiconomist

I am studying Coun and Psychotherapy in DBS, and I must say it is an absolutely amazing course, though I do worry about what prospects will be available once I'm finished.

I cant stress enough that Psychotherapy and Psychology are extremely different subjects. As part of the BACAP course, we must undergo personal therapy for years, which I dont believe is a requirement on most psychology courses.

In my opinion, you cannot study Psychotherapy without really examining yourself and honestly engaging in the therapeutic process. Until I saw what it felt like for a client, I could not have understood the role of therapist.

Hope that helps.

ellefolk

Thanks Musiconomist,

That really helps!

I gotta say that I am not completely new to this field as I studied 2 years of psychology before back in Spain but I had to drop it out.
Back there there is no such degree as counselling or psychotherapy, you can specialised in this field once you finish psychology.
I might be wrong, but to me it seems that the counselling degree is an intensive training in that discipline whereas psychology looks at all the disciplines. In any case I agree with Odysseus in that either degree needs to be complemented with masters.
My concern is that DBS doesnt seem to have a good reputation when it comes to certain degrees and I was afraid that this would be the case with psychology/counselling

Musiconomist

ellefolk wrote: »

Thanks Musiconomist,

That really helps!

I gotta say that I am not completely new to this field as I studied 2 years of psychology before back in Spain but I had to drop it out.
Back there there is no such degree as counselling or psychotherapy, you can specialised in this field once you finish psychology.
I might be wrong, but to me it seems that the counselling degree is an intensive training in that discipline whereas psychology looks at all the disciplines. In any case I agree with Odysseus in that either degree needs to be complemented with masters.
My concern is that DBS doesnt seem to have a good reputation when it comes to certain degrees and I was afraid that this would be the case with psychology/counselling

Hmmmmm, thats interesting.

As far as we're concerned, the lecturers and course material have all been to a really high standard. One of our facilitators also lectures in Trinity, I believe.

Regardless, the seriousness with which they take this course has been imprinted onto us. One of our lecturers told us that she doesnt let anyone past second year if she wouldnt like that person to practice therapy with one of her family members.

I believe that the BACAP is very experientally oriented, particularly for the first 2 years, whereas I believe that most psychology courses would focus more specifically on the academic side. The Theory & Practice and Stress Response modules aim to give you the tools to sit in a therapeutic relationship with someone, though to be honest, a lot of what I needed to do in this respect was gained moreso through personal therapy and my process group.

Odysseus

ellefolk wrote: »

Thanks Musiconomist,

That really helps!

I gotta say that I am not completely new to this field as I studied 2 years of psychology before back in Spain but I had to drop it out.
Back there there is no such degree as counselling or psychotherapy, you can specialised in this field once you finish psychology.
I might be wrong, but to me it seems that the counselling degree is an intensive training in that discipline whereas psychology looks at all the disciplines. In any case I agree with Odysseus in that either degree needs to be complemented with masters.
My concern is that DBS doesnt seem to have a good reputation when it comes to certain degrees and I was afraid that this would be the case with psychology/counselling

My degree and masters are in Psychoanalysis, I studied at DBS, well it was LSB in 1998 when I started and DBS when I finished. I used to share a lot of my lectures with those studing psychology, lot of them when on to various other colleges for their post-grad and are working in variious areas now.

I'm have also been working clinically within the HSE for a long and have encountered many students of the counselling/psychotherapy course. So to the best of my knowledge I am not aware of any issues as to the standard of those programmes run by DBS.

Hope that helps.

appiuscrispus

As a recent graduate of DBS I can tell you that their psychological degree is of a very high standard. With a lot of skills that you could apply to other fields, if psychology is not the road you want to continue on. It is also accredited by the PSI for the next five years.

You will do a lot of psychoanalysis within the degree and no disrespect to anyone, I couldn't stand it. You can say that's my repression, but I call it aversion.