Anthroposophic Psychotherapy

A three-year, post-graduate course in psychotherapy, psychopathology and psychosomatics.

This course is based on the principle that the human being today has great potential based on the power of our eternal spirit. Our spiritual self can withstand the most difficult life circumstances, but all manner of problems can prevent its healthy unfolding.

It provides an integrative, holistic training that addresses psychological and complex psychosomatic problems from an anthroposophic perspective.

This training is for practising, and qualified psychological therapists and so applicants will already have embarked on the journey of unfolding both their own and their clients’ potential.

The course also has an optional fourth year. Students who already have a core training (i.e. a basic training in counselling) and complete all four years will be able to apply for UKCP (United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy) registration since the course meets the training requirements of UKCP registration.

The course in Anthroposophic Psychotherapy is for professionals working in clinical practice who have already completed a basic training in:

• Psychotherapy
• Counselling
• Clinical psychology
• Counselling psychology
• Psychiatry

Applicants should either:

• Be registered with the UKCP, HCPC or BMC, or
• Be accredited with the BACP (for counsellors), or
• Be working towards registration or accreditation, or
• Hold the equivalent in other countries

Applicants must also be involved in clinical practice.

Enquirers whose training and experience is predominantly in education, art therapy, social care or social work will generally not be eligible unless they can demonstrate substantial additional training and experience in a talking therapy such as psychotherapy and counselling under clinical supervision and working to a code of ethics (UKCP, BACP, BPS, etc.).

The course provides a deep understanding of:

• Psychological, psychosomatic and psychiatric problems
• Holistic approaches integrating body, soul and spirit
• Methods of anthroposophic psychotherapy
• Ways of supporting clients through serious human crises
• Human developmental laws and pathogenesis
• The relationship between individual healing and social healing

The training integrates with each participant’s previous counselling or psychotherapy background, whatever its theoretical orientation.

The course comprises interactive seminars which include lectures, group tutorials, discussions and workshop exercises developed for training in Anthroposophic Psychotherapy, as described in A Psychology of Human Dignity by Ad Dekkers*.

Each seminar incorporates a unique methodology that includes: 

• Presenting cases in the evening
• Taking the case "into the night"
• Concluding the case the following day

This method enables participants to identify with clients’ suffering and their experience of difficult and complex psychological problems.

Short interim seminars enable participants to link the learning with their ongoing clinical practice in a way which resembles clinical supervision.

The course comprises a series of modules taken over three years.

The first module may be taken as a standalone introductory training for qualifying applicants seeking to explore the subject further before committing to the course.

Year 1:

• The anthroposophic understanding of human development
• The basic principles of anthroposophic psychotherapy interventions
• Difficulties with embodiment and attaching to life
• Anthroposophic psychotherapy’s holistic body, soul, spirit principles

Year 2:

• The power and vulnerability of the client’s individuality (self, I)
• Pathogenesis and pathology in childhood and adulthood
• Trauma and anthroposophic psychotherapy interventions
• The broader historical and evolutionary context of anthroposophic psychotherapy
• Transgenerationality

Year 3:

• Interdisciplinarity and collaborative approaches
• Working with anthroposophic medicine and therapies to address imbalances in the body and the soul
• Neurosis
• Psychosis
• Personality disorders

Course Director
John Lees

Course Teachers and Lecturers
Ad Dekkers, Henriette Dekkers-Appel, Marah Evans

Applicants must:

• Have completed an accredited basic training in psychotherapy, counselling, clinical psychology, counselling psychology or psychiatry
• Be registered or working towards registration with: UKCP HCPC BMC BACP (for counsellors) or an equivalent body internationally
• Be involved in clinical practice

Applicants with backgrounds primarily in education, art therapy, social care or social work are generally not eligible unless they can demonstrate substantial experience and training in a supervised talking therapy.

Full training fee

£1633.33 per annum x three years.

£500 deposit

Total: £5400

Upfront payment option:

£5100 if paid in full at enrolment

This course is currently in progress and not accepting new applications.

To express interest in a future cohort, please contact: registrar@emerson.org.uk

Professional Certification

Certificates are awarded by the Medical Section of the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum.

Three-Year Certificate

States that the participant has trained on a postgraduate course in anthroposophic psychotherapy, psychopathology and psychosomatics based on the anthroposophic understanding of the human being.

Four-Year Certificate

States that the graduate is qualified as an anthroposophic psychotherapist and has trained on a postgraduate course in anthroposophic psychotherapy, psychopathology and psychosomatics.

Professional Membership

All graduates must become members of Mercury, the UK association of counsellors and psychotherapists working out of Anthroposophy (nominal charge).

Mercury is a member of the International Federation of Anthroposophic Psychotherapy Associations (IFAPA), enabling graduates to join the international community and attend IFAPA events.

Graduates may progress toward:

• Professional practice as an Anthroposophic Psychotherapist
• UKCP registration (for those completing the optional fourth year)
• Membership in Mercury and IFAPA
• Further postgraduate and professional training in psychotherapy and anthroposophy