Counselling MSc Welcome Pack
Welcome to MSc Counselling – September 2026.
Welcome to MSc Counselling! As you know, this is a varied course leading to a counselling qualification. In your first year, you will cover a broad range of theory including professional and organisational issues, modalities of counselling and the presenting issues that clients bring to counselling. You will learn and practice counselling skills and work on your personal development throughout the year.
On your first day you will be introduced to the counselling team and meet your personal tutor. We will go through the timetable in more detail and outline what will be expected of you during the year. We will also put together the group agreement to enable us all to work together.
We will have met during your interview, but for some of you that was a while ago! I will be in touch in the run up to the start of the course, but if you have any questions in the meantime please do get in touch with me.
I look forward to seeing you in September! – Louise
Your Course Leader
Dr Louise Spiers
Senior Lecturer in Psychology & Counselling
Louise.Spiers@northampton.ac.uk
I can support you with anything to do with the course, your academic engagement and how you experience the professional and experiential elements of counselling and what we do at Northampton.
Additional staff
- Amy Brennan, Lecturer in Psychology & Counselling
- Marina Matuseva, Lecturer in Psychology & Counselling
- Rachel Evenden, Lecturer in Psychology & Counselling
- Mish Seabrook, Senior Lecturer in Psychology & Counselling
Welcome and Induction
The start of the course is the induction day on Tuesday 22 September 2026.
You’ll have a chance to meet your new peers, the teaching team, explore the library, hear from the Leadership Team, and also, we will review the year to come.
Tuesday 22 September
Induction Day
- Time: 10am – 4pm (BST)
- Location: TPOD-B, second floor, Learning Hub, Waterside campus
This includes:
- 2pm Library Welcome Week Induction, Library
- 2.45 – 3.15pm Deputy Vice Chancellor Welcome talk, Engine Shed
Reading lists
If you are eager, the core texts for the course, which we recommend you read early in the course, are listed below. You may want to wait until you enrol to access these from the library, but if you look to buy copies, please be aware that the Clarkson has been out of print for a long time, so you will need to purchase a second-hand copy.
- Faris, A. (2011). Integrative counselling & psychotherapy: A relational approach. SAGE. ISBN: 9780857021267
- Clarkson, P. (2003). The therapeutic relationship. 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons8l. ISBN:9781861563811
