PGCert/GradCert Psychological Therapies Practice
(Mental Health and Wellbeing in Specialist Adult Mental Health)
Please note: This page is for 2027 entry. Click here for 2026 entry.
| UCAS code | 1234 |
|---|---|
| Duration | Part time, 1 year, PG Cert Part time, 1 year, Grad Cert |
| Entry year | 2026 |
| Campus | Streatham Campus |
| Typical offer | |
|---|---|
Why study PGCert/GradCert Psychological Therapies Practice
(Mental Health and Wellbeing in Specialist Adult Mental Health) at Exeter?
- An innovative programme designed to enable trainees to work as Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioners, delivering low intensity psychologically informed interventions for service-users with moderate to severe mental health problems.
- Trainees are employed by a NHS service partner and are funded to attend the training as part of their contract.
- Training will be delivered via a hybrid format with the majority of teaching taking place remotely, alongside a number of in person teaching days.
- Set within a UK centre of excellence for psychological professions training, including low intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) training.
- Successful completion of the programme will enable trainees to work as qualified Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioners.
Clinical Education Development and Research (CEDAR)
This programme is delivered by Clinical Education, Development and Research (CEDAR): an applied psychological practice centre of excellence, focussed on training the new psychological therapies workforce of the future.
Competency-based training, delivered according to the latest evidence-informed clinical pedagogic approaches
Dedicated training facilities equipped with video and audio recording
A strong emphasis throughout the programme is placed upon your personal and professional development
CEDAR is 1st in the sector for student satisfaction in three out of seven themes
National Student Survey 2025
Entry requirements
This programme is offered at both final year undergraduate degree level 6 (GradCert) for those who can demonstrate having studied at least at the second year of a degree or equivalent, or at postgraduate level 7 (PGCert) for those already holding a degree. The topics you will study are the same for both levels. For further information, please contact the Administrative Team: MHWP@exeter.ac.uk
Applicants do not need to possess previous clinical or professional expertise in mental health but should be able to demonstrate interpersonal skills and values consistent with providing person-centred care.
Course content
This programme will provide you with the opportunity to develop the competencies and knowledge associated with practice as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner.
The programme aims to:
- Provide you with a thorough grounding in the curriculum for Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioners.
- Develop your understanding and clinical competency in care planning and in delivering a range of psychological interventions for people with severe mental health problems.
- Enable you to adapt your practice to work effectively with service-users with diverse needs.
- Develop skills in using clinical and caseload supervision. As interventions delivered by Mental Health Wellbeing Practitioners are based on cognitive-behavioural principles, clinical skills supervision should be provided by a psychological professional with significant training and experience in delivering CBT-based interventions for severe mental health problems, and who has attended specific supervision training linked to the training programme. Provide you with a high quality and stimulating learning experience in a supportive environment.
Please note that the module information displayed here is subject to change.
60 credits of compulsory and non-condonable modules.
Compulsory modules
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory 1 | ||
| Engagement and Assessment with People with Severe Mental Health Problems | 20 | |
| Care Planning in Partnership | 20 | |
| Low Intensity Psychological Interventions for Severe Mental Health Problems | 20 | |
PYCM120: Engagement and Assessment with People with Severe Mental Health Problems
This component introduces you, as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner (MHWP) to severe mental health problems and teaches you how to engage and form collaborative alliances with service users, carers and families. It teaches you how to conduct a biopsychosocial assessment and arrive at a collaborative, simple formulation which can guide the planning of care and/or psychologically informed interventions to be delivered. It will cover how to conduct a person-centred risk and safety assessment, safety formulation and management, including safety planning. This module will highlight the value of successful engagement as an end in its own right. There is a significant focus on core clinical skills.
The aim of this module is to develop your core 'common factors' competencies in communication skills and collaborative working and, along with a good understanding of severe mental health problems and evidence-based treatment choices, enabling you to apply these skills to engage service users, carers and families. Through collaborative alliances you will undertake an effective low intensity CBT-based assessment, including management of risk through person-centred risk and safety assessment and safety-planning conversations in the context of severe mental health problems, develop a shared understanding of the problems using simple formulations and plan a collaborative treatment programme.
PYCM121: Care Planning in Partnership
This component enables you as a Mental Health Wellbeing Practitioner (MHWP) to mobilise resources in collaboration with service users, carers and families - including information, resources within the multi-disciplinary team and beyond in the wider community. It also enables you to make effective use of clinical supervision and to look after your own wellbeing.
You will develop the skills to draw on local resources, work with multi-disciplinary teams and ensure appropriate information can be given to service users to support recovery. Sound clinical and theoretical principles will underpin hypothesis and you will be able to share decision making with service users. Professional standards will facilitate safe care for those forming the MHWP's caseload. You will be able use supervision within your service to support your own wellbeing and develop reflective practice.
PYCM122: Low Intensity Psychological Interventions for Severe Mental Health Problems
This component enables you, as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner (MHWP) to deliver wellbeing-focused psychologically-informed interventions that support connectedness, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment (CHIME). You will learn to set collaborative goals with people with severe mental health problems and to deliver six psychological interventions as set out in the MHWP Guide to Practice. The interventions will be applied with appropriate flexibility within the context of a positive collaborative working relationship, whilst maintaining fidelity to the interventions. It will also embed the routine use of patient-reported outcome measures to support collaborative evaluation of progress.
The aim of this module is to deliver goal focused, evidenced based interventions. You should gain competency to use these interventions with skill, utilising the collaborative skills of earlier modules. You should be able to enable the widest range of service users to benefit, including those who experience motivation barriers. Recovery and clinical gain will be measured with recognised psychometric questionnaires. The advances made through treatment will be preserved through effective relapse prevention.
Please note that the module information displayed here is subject to change.
60 credits of compulsory and non-condonable modules.
Compulsory modules
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory 1 | ||
| Engagement and Assessment with People with Severe Mental Health Problems | 20 | |
| Care Planning in Partnership | 20 | |
| Low Intensity Psychological Interventions for Severe Mental Health Problems | 20 | |
PYC3031: Engagement and Assessment with People with Severe Mental Health Problems
This component introduces you, as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner (MHWP) to severe mental health problems and teaches you how to engage and form collaborative alliances with service users, carers and families. It teaches you how to conduct a biopsychosocial assessment, (including person-centred risk assessment and safety-planning conversations in the context of severe mental health problems), and arrive at a collaborative, simple formulation which can guide the planning of care and/or psychologically informed interventions to be delivered. It will cover how to conduct a person-centred risk and safety assessment, safety formulation and management, including safety planning. This module will highlight the value of successful engagement as an end in its own right. There is a significant focus on core clinical skills.
PYC3032: Care Planning in Partnership
This component enables you as an MHWP to mobilise resources in collaboration with service users, carers and families - including information, resources within the multi-disciplinary team and beyond in the wider community. It also enables you to make effective use of clinical supervision and to look after your own wellbeing.
As an MWHP, you will develop the skills to draw on local resources, work with multi-disciplinary teams and ensure appropriate information can be given to service users to support recovery. Sound clinical and theoretical principles will underpin hypothesis and you will share decision making with service users. Professional standards will facilitate safe care for those forming your caseload. You will be able to use supervision with your services to support your own wellbeing and develop reflective practice.
PYC3033: Low Intensity Psychological Interventions for Severe Mental Health Problems
This component enables MHWPs to deliver wellbeing-focused psychologically-informed interventions that support connectedness, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment (CHIME). MHWPs will learn to set collaborative goals with people with severe mental health problems and to deliver six psychological interventions as set out in the MHWP Guide to Practice. The interventions will be applied with appropriate flexibility within the context of a positive collaborative working relationship, whilst maintaining fidelity to the interventions. It will also embed the routine use of patient-reported outcome measures to support collaborative evaluation of progress.
The aim of this module is to deliver goal focused treatment focused around evidenced based interventions. MHWPs should gain competency to use these interventions with skill, utilising the collaborative skills of earlier modules. Practitioners should be able to enable the widest range of service users, to benefit, including those who experience motivation barriers. Recovery and clinical gain will be measured with recognised psychometric questionnaires. The advances made through treatment will be preserved through effective relapse prevention.
How to apply
Applications to this programme may only be made through NHS services recruiting trainees and not directly through the University of Exeter. Posts are typically advertised on the NHS Jobs website or equivalent.
Interviews will take place with the employing service and successful candidates will be sent details for registering on the MHWP programme with Exeter University.
The programme is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across all aspects of the course.
We welcome applicants from diverse cultural and personal contexts, mature applicants with extensive life experience, and applicants with disabilities. Candidates with disabilities are welcome to contact us to discuss the programme's capacity to meet their training needs. Please contact the Programme Administrator or the University AccessAbility department for further details.
Fees
This course is funded by NHS England, so fees are not typically payable by candidates. If you work for a non-NHS employer and are interested in a self-funded place, please contact our Programme Administrator for more information.
Scholarships
The University of Exeter offers a wide range of scholarships to support your education, with £7 million available for international students applying to study with us in the 2026/27 academic year, including our prestigious Exeter Excellence Scholarships. We also provide awards for sport, music and other achievements, as well as regional and partner scholarships with organisations such as Chevening, The Beacon Trust and the British Council. For more information on scholarships and other financial support, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.
University of Exeter Alumni Scholarship
We are pleased to offer the University of Exeter Alumni Scholarship, a scholarship for University of Exeter alumni beginning a standalone postgraduate programme in 2026/27 with us a scholarship worth 20% of the cost of your first year tuition fees.
Terms and conditions, including deadlines, apply.
Teaching and research
Teaching will consist of a mixture of lectures and group work on taught days and self-directed learning activities on practice based learning days. Assessments will include, but are not limited to, an essay, assessment of clinical competencies in assessment and engagement skills, submission of a recording of an intervention session with a service-user, a portfolio of care plans, a a case presentation and a Clinical Portfolio including evidence of practice hours and supervision. Full details of assessment criteria for each module can be found in the module descriptors of the programme.
The specific interventions that every Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner will be taught during the programme are:
- Behavioural Activation
- Graded Exposure
- Teaching problem-solving skills
- Improving sleep
- Recognising and managing emotions
- Working with worry
- Building confidence
Your future
This programme will provide you with an outstanding opportunity to develop your competencies and knowledge associated with practice as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner.
A strong emphasis throughout the programme is placed upon your personal and professional development.
Advantages of the programme are that:
- You will study within a vibrant, stimulating and internationally recognised research environment, where members of your teaching team have first-hand experience within the clinical setting.
- Your learning experience will be enriched by nationally recognised, innovative, clinical teaching approaches, designed to develop you on your terms
