Consulting and leading in organisations: psychodynamic and systemic approaches (D10)
Course overview
Validated by the University of Essex this course will develop you as a leader, consultant or manager by giving you a fuller understanding of the human dimensions of organisational systems and helping you to develop a ‘consultative stance’ to organisational dilemmas and opportunities. You will be helped to see the bigger picture, from different perspectives, and acquire the skills to work more effectively.
Please note: This course is now full for September 2020 entry. Applications for 2021 entry will open towards the end of this year.
The course combines experiential learning with the study of psychoanalytic and systemic theory in relation to organisations.
Theory seminars and webinars will introduce you to key concepts such as the individual unconscious, the group unconscious and the institutional unconscious. Contemporary papers and case studies will bring theory to life, exploring issues such as authority and power, organisational change and the politics of difference. A range of conceptual tools will develop your capacity to think critically and systemically about organisations.
You will learn to map organisational systems and understand the effects of organisational structure on organisational dynamics and vice versa. You will be encouraged to think creatively ‘across the boundary’ between the conscious and unconscious aspects of organisational life.
In the first year of the course, you will observe an organisation which will provide you with an invaluable opportunity to watch a group functioning when it is engaged in its usual task.
In your second year, you will undertake a supervised consultancy in small supervision groups. You will also be expected to organise yourselves to plan and staff a consultancy intervention for year one students. The focus is not only on the success or failure of the intervention but on the opportunity provided for learning about group processes that emerge when engaging with a client group.
Over the two years you will participate in experiential groups, the aim of which is to learn how to observe the functioning of a group and attempt to understand the dynamics which influence it, while also participating in the group. Experiential groups allow for the study of issues such as leadership, followership, rivalry, boundaries, group defences and cultural and role differences.
Between years one and two all students take part in a Group Relations Conference which is an intensive and immersive experience of group and institutional processes. The conference is, in effect, a temporary organisation created to enable you to study relatedness and relationships between groups, boundary dynamics and issues of delegated authority.
This course will give you a better understanding of yourself in a working context and a greater capacity to understand group processes that create functioning or dysfunctional organisations and teams. It will enhance your capacity for appropriate task related leadership and develop your ability to act effectively as a consultant on organisational issues.
What our students say
"This MA has enabled me to think about organisations in a completely different way. It has not only developed me as a consultant, but has changed me as a leader."
"This programme taught me how to think in a crisis, and get my team to think too."
"The course allowed me to reflect on how I might come across to people. The experiential blocks are very useful; and the Group Relations Conference has been a mirror which you can't get in everyday life."
"The course opens one's eyes to a whole new world by accessing the unconscious through one's emotions, which has to be experienced. There is a richness gained by having people on the course from different backgrounds."
This course is for you if you are a manager, leader, consultant or coach who wants to gain insight into the unconscious processes that affect organisational systems.
- have a minimum of three years’ experience in your chosen profession
- have experience of direct involvement in the management, training or development of other professional workers, or engagement in consultative work for specific organisations
- have a first degree or equivalent, and/or professional experience commensurate with that qualification.
Attendance
11 Friday and Saturday blocks per annum.
Assessment
Is through six 3000 word essays plus a dissertation of 14000 words completed during the summer following year two. There is also an element of continuous assessment provided by tutors and supervisors in the Consulting and Leading in Practice module of the course.
Kay Trainor
Dr Kay Trainor is a Principal Consultant at Tavistock Consulting, where she directs the Masters programme in ‘Consulting and Leading in Organisations: Psychodynamic and Systemic Approaches’. She works as an executive coach and organisational consultant in a range of organisations spanning corporate, media, health and third sectors. She has a passion for Group Relations work and has directed conferences nationally and internationally.
Block 1
4 and 5 October 2019
Evening Webinar (Year 1 and Year 2)
16 October 2019
Block 2
25 and 26 October 2019
Evening Webinar (Year 1 and Year 2)
13 November 2019
Block 3
22 and 23 November 2019
Evening Webinar (Year 1 and Year 2)
4 December 2019
Block 4
13 and 14 December 2019
Block 5
17 and 18 January 2020
Evening Webinar (Year 1 and Year 2)
29 January 2020
Block 6
14 and 15 February 2020
Evening Webinar (Year 1)
26 February 2020
Block 7
6 and 7 March 2020
Block 8
3 and 4 April 2020
Evening Webinar (Year 1)
29 April 2020
Block 9
8 and 9 May 2020
Block 10
5 and 6 June 2020
Block 11
26 and 27 June 2020
Group Relations Conference for October 2019 entry:
September 7–10 2020
Block 1
2 and 3 October 2020
Evening
Webinar (Year 1 and Year 2)
14 October 2020
Block 2
23 and 24 October 2020
Evening
Webinar (Year 1 and Year 2)
11 November 2020
Block 3
20 and 21 November 2020
Evening
Webinar (Year 1 and Year 2)
2 December 2020
Block 4
11 and 12 December 2020
Block 5
15 and 16 January 2021
Evening
Webinar (Year 1 and Year 2)
27 January 2021
Block 6
12 and 13 February 2021
Evening
Webinar (Year 1)
24 February 2021
Block 7
12 and 13 March 2021
Block 8
16 and 17 April 2021
Evening
Webinar (Year 1)
28 April 2021
Block 9
14 and 15 May 2021
Block 10
4 and 5 June 2021
Block 11
25 and 26 June 2021
Group Relations Conference
September 6–9 2021
Please note: these dates may be subject to change.
Home/EU
£7000 per annum
International
£14000 per annum
Please note that course fees are subject to a 3% or CPI uplift each year, whichever is greater.
We are happy offer a range of ways to pay your fees, as well as some funding for specific courses.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
Enquire about this course
Make an enquiryThis MA course now qualifies for a Government postgraduate loan
Next steps
This course will provide you with an advanced and sophisticated education in organisational consultancy in a stimulating learning community. It is...
Find out more