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Designed for qualified psychosexual and relationship therapists, this one-year advanced programme develops clinical confidence, critical thinking and research capability for complex practice.
The diploma is delivered entirely through live online teaching, enabling experienced practitioners to study from wherever they are based while learning collaboratively with tutors and peers.
This part-time, one-year programme combines advanced clinical practice, critical enquiry and an in-depth research project. It is delivered entirely online through live, interactive teaching, supported by regular academic and research supervision. Applications are open for the January 2027 intake.
The diploma is intended for qualified psychosexual and relationship therapists who want to extend their clinical and research practice. It may support progression towards relevant professional recognition or membership, subject to each professional body’s current eligibility and application requirements. Applicants should confirm those requirements directly with the relevant body.
Students are supported to develop an independent enquiry that is clinically useful, ethically sound and grounded in psychosexual and relationship psychotherapy.
Turn an area of clinical interest into a focused and workable research question.
Select and justify a methodology suited to the question and the available evidence.
Appraise research across psychotherapy and clinical sexology, recognising both strengths and limitations.
Build a coherent review of relevant literature and use it to shape the study.
Plan ethical recruitment, information gathering and responsible management of research material.
Work confidently with qualitative, quantitative or combined approaches where appropriate.
Interpret findings carefully and communicate their relevance to therapeutic practice.
Produce a clearly argued, accurately referenced 10,000-word dissertation.
Maintain a reflective position throughout the design, delivery and evaluation of the project.
Regular group sessions and individual guidance help each student move from the initial idea to the completed dissertation.
Teaching and case discussion help experienced therapists refine how they formulate, intervene and reflect when the work becomes more demanding.
Making accountable, anti-oppressive decisions in psychosexual and relationship psychotherapy.
Formulating multifaceted presentations where relational, psychological, social and sexual factors interact.
Providing affirming therapy across diverse genders, sexualities and relationship structures.
Responding to focused sexological concerns, including compulsive sexual behaviour, shame and attachment-related difficulties.
Integrating trauma-informed thinking without losing sight of sexuality, intimacy and the therapeutic relationship.
Working constructively with conflict, rupture and competing needs in partner therapy.
Using facilitated case consultation to test clinical thinking and identify realistic next steps.
Assessment is designed to show how students connect research literacy, reflective thinking and advanced clinical judgement. The assessed work comprises:
A research project proposal setting out the question, rationale and chosen approach.
Documentation demonstrating that ethical responsibilities have been considered and addressed.
A 10,000-word case-based research dissertation.
A critical analysis of complex clinical work.
The diploma is awarded when the student has:
Participated in at least 90% of scheduled teaching.
Passed every assessed element of the programme.
Recorded a further 300 hours of psychosexual and relationship psychotherapy practice beyond the 150 hours completed during qualifying training, producing a total of 450 clinical hours.
Maintained clinical supervision at no less than one supervision hour for each six hours of client work.
Completed a further 30 hours of personal therapy, producing an overall total of 80 hours.
Therapists do not need to have completed three years of post-qualification practice before joining or completing this diploma. Practitioners with less experience are welcome to apply if they otherwise meet the entry requirements.
The diploma does not itself confer COSRT Accredited Membership or UKCP registration. For IoPP’s intended progression route, graduates must separately meet the professional bodies’ current requirements. At the time of writing, COSRT Accredited Membership requires at least three years of post-qualification practice and 450 hours of supervised psychosexual and relationship psychotherapy practice. The 300 additional clinical hours required by this diploma build on the 150 qualifying hours to reach that 450-hour total. Applicants seeking UKCP registration through this route must obtain the required COSRT status and satisfy UKCP’s separate application requirements.
Professional-body rules can change, so students should check the latest criteria directly with COSRT and UKCP.
This is post-qualifying training for practitioners who already hold a recognised qualification in psychosexual and relationship therapy. It is suited to therapists with an established caseload who are ready to undertake research and reflect critically on complex clinical work.
The programme costs £1,850 in total. Payment may be made with a £150 deposit followed by ten monthly instalments of £170.
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