One Year Attachment Based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Supervision Training (ABPPS): Online

This course is for:
• Any therapist at The Bowlby Centre who is considering applying to become a Training Supervisor and/or Training Therapist or join the UKCP Supervisor’s Directory
• Any non-Bowlby therapist wishing to join the UKCP Supervisors Directory who is interested in exploring an attachment-based approach to supervision
• Any existing Supervisor who might want a refresher course or who is interested in exploring an attachment-based approach to supervision

You will benefit from the rich experience of an exceptional team of senior attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, a consultant psychiatrist as well as psychosexual and psychodynamic psychotherapists. Many of the trainers are contributors and editors of key texts, papers and publications in the field. Names include Caroline Adewole, Charles Brown, Michaela Chamberlain, Linda Cundy, Dominic Davies, Dr. Zack Eleftheriadou, Lynn Findlay, Dr. Josephine Fielding, Sarah Jack, Cabby Laffy, Mark Linington and Gülcan Sutton Purser.

By the end of the course you will be equipped with the skills and experience to take on the role of Supervisor.

You will receive the Certificate and CPD points (up to 92.5 hours minus any missed hours). You can also decide to complete the Final Assessment Paper in order to apply for the UKCP Supervision Directory. The application criteria are slightly different for these two outcomes. Please see here

According to the path you take, there are also different requirements for your log, records and supervision practice during the course. More detailed information is available in the course prospectus available to download from this page.

The course is delivered monthly online for 10 Saturdays across May 2026 – March 2026 (excluding August).  Students are also expected to attend small groups between monthly sessions.

Understanding psychotherapy within the context of attachment relationships means that we see it as a co-operative venture between therapist and client. The aim is to develop a secure base from which to explore the unconscious and experiences of loss and trauma. We see attachment relationships between individuals as being shaped by groups and society as a whole, over the life cycle.

We believe that discriminating structures in society have an impact on the individual and these need to be thought about and explored in the therapeutic space.

We recognise the importance of mourning, which we see as vital when working through issues of abandonment, emotional neglect, trauma and abuse, whether sexual or physical. We foster and encourage the development of the true self within an authentic therapeutic relationship.

John Bowlby’s original development of attachment theory was promoted primarily by his concern to ensure social recognition for the central importance of attachment and the impact of loss and abandonment on early development. He was also concerned to strengthen the scientific foundations of psychoanalysis, emphasising the importance of basing our theories on research findings as well as clinical evidence. He recognised the need for practising a psychotherapy which can be demonstrated to be an effective contribution to mental health care. Since his original work, attachment theory has come to occupy a key position in this fast-developing scientific field, providing a link between psychoanalysis, developmental psychology, neurobiology, and the behavioural sciences.

Our therapists come from diverse backgrounds and we look to all sections of the community in welcoming course attendees, students and clients. We operate an equal opportunities policy in our work and in our ways of relating to each other.  We are committed to respecting and valuing difference and the training aims to consider the impact of age, class, culture, disability, neurodiversity, gender, race and sexuality on both students and clients.

Duration:

10 Saturdays from October 2026 – July 2027.

Start Date:

10th October 2026

Delivered:

Online

Course Fee:

£2,700 for non-Bowlby Members – £2,500 for Bowlby Members

Criteria for application:

  • A minimum of 3 years post-registration at the time of application and a substantial practice, which means an average of 8 clients per week.
  • Full membership of a professional body, for example, UKCP or BACP and hold professional liability insurance.
  • To be working with at least one supervisee, or you can supervise one of your peer group, for the duration of the course, unless you wish to complete the assessment required for inclusion in the UKCP Supervision Directory, in which case please see the criteria below.

If on completion of the taught course, you wish to apply to be on the UKCP Supervision Directory, you will need:

  • To have worked with clients for a minimum of 5 years, of which 3 years must be post-registration, and have undertaken at least 1600 client hours.
  • To have UKCP Membership.
  • To have completed 90 hours of supervision with a suitably qualified supervisee who is not a peer, by the time of the Assessment.
  • To have practised with at least one supervisee by the third month of this training. For the first two months, you may practise supervision with a colleague/peer if a supervisee cannot be found sooner.
  • Candidates are expected to find their own supervisee(s).

What are the dates of the course? 2026-2027

 

2026 Autumn Term

  • Saturday 10th October 2026
  • Saturday 7th November 2026
  • Saturday 5th December 2026

2027 Spring Term

  • Saturday 16th January 2027
  • Saturday 13th February 2027
  • Saturday 13th March 2027
  • Saturday 10th April 2027

2027 Summer Term

  • Saturday 8th May 2027
  • Saturday 12th June 2027
  • Saturday 10th July 2027

The welcome event will take place online from 9 to 10 am for one hour before the start of the first Saturday seminar on 10th October 2026. On the 5th December and 8th May, additional 30-minute group tutorials will take place, from 4:35 – 5:05 pm.

In between these monthly seminars there will be a requirement to meet for 2 hours each month for small group peer-led supervision.

All teaching is on-line
• 10.00 am – 11.30 am Seminar 1
• 11.30 am – 11.45 am Break
• 11.45 am – 1.00 pm Continue Seminar 1
• 1.00 pm – 1.45 pm Lunch
• 1.45 pm – 3.00 pm Seminar 2
• 3.00 pm – 3.15 pm Break
• 3.15 pm – 4.30 pm Continue Seminar 2

Applicants will need to apply by completing the application form on our website.

Applicants will usually have one 30-minute interview. The interview will be conducted by the course manager, Sarah Jack, or a senior member of the Bowlby Centre, usually from the Clinical Training Committee (CTC). The interviewer will explore each candidate’s readiness to train. There is no interview requirement for Bowlby Members.

The interview fee will be £85.00

For Bowlby Centre Members there will be an initial administration fee of £25 with no requirement for an interview

Deadline for applications: 31st July 2026

There are two paths available on completion of this course and different criteria are required depending on which path you wish to take

All candidates will need
• A minimum of 2 years post-registration at the time of application and a substantial practice which means an average of 8 clients per week.
• Full membership of a professional body, for example, UKCP or BACP and hold professional liability insurance.

If you wish to apply for the UKCP Supervision Directory on completion of the course you will need:
• To have worked with clients for a minimum of 5 years, of which 3 years must be post-registration, and have undertaken at least 1600 client hours.
• To have UKCP Membership.

The completion of the following within 2 years of completion of the course is required for the UKCP Supervisors directory:

• Evidence of having considered the 30 case history vignettes during the course, noting your thoughts about working with these. (e.g. a 100-word log of your learnings)
• 90 hours of supervising a supervisee (over a 2-year period), plus a log of 100 – 200 words on your reflections and learnings of 15 hours of these sessions.
• 15 hours being supervised on your supervision, plus a 100 – 200-word log of your learnings from each session.
• Submission of your log of the small, self-run group, including dates, hours you have attended, who attended and a short 100-word written summary of your learning from each meeting.
• Submission of your Supervisor’s Report which confirms you have completed 90 hours of supervising a supervisee(s) and 15 hours of taking your supervisee(s) to supervision for consultation. (Completion of all aspects of the course, including the 90 hours, has to be completed within 2 years of the end of the course in order for The Bowlby Centre to send on your details to the UKCP (if you are applying for this pathway). After this point, you would need to make an application to the UKCP yourself, which would be possible if you have met their criteria.
• Completion of the Final Assessment Paper: approximately 5 hours.
• 80% attendance of the taught part of the course, 80% of the small groups and 80% of the case histories, completing any missed seminars the following year if your attendance is under 80%.
• Full payment of fees and completion of the evaluation form

• Online training: 5.75 hours per month
• Online small supervision group: 2 hours per month
• Log of learning from the monthly small group: 15 minutes per month
• Consideration of case histories: 1.5 hours per month
• Personal supervision of your supervision: 1 hour per month.
• Supervising a supervisee: 90 hours in total (for those on the UKCP pathway).
• Logging your learning from practising as a supervisor: 15 minutes per month
• Final Assessment Paper: approximately 5 hours
• Reading: approximately 6 hours in total

You will need to pay for your own 15 sessions of supervision (or 4 sessions if not taking the UKCP pathway), which you need to have for the duration of this course. The supervisor of your supervision must be 5 years post-registration and a suitably experienced clinician to support you in your training and development.
You will need to pay for your own UKCP Supervisors Directory application fee, if you choose to take that route.

Attachment relationships affect all aspects of people’s internal and external lives. From the very beginning our earliest childhood experiences shape us emotionally and physically, forming our identity, levels of security, our resilience, our ability to be playful or creative, our relationships and mental health. All people can benefit from learning about attachment theory and our belief is that attachment theory based psychanalytic psychotherapy is a positive and valuable contribution to the world.

Our approach to mental health is therefore based on our curiosity to understand the specific ways which make a particular person vulnerable, hurt or struggle to cope and how an individual relates to their emotional and physical pain, whether this is with attention, engagement, attunement, which implies a secure base or with amplifying, catastrophising or dismissiveness which implies anxiety and attachment trauma.

We inherently welcome, value and celebrate diversity. We seek to understand the reality of people from different ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, gender identities, faiths, abilities and disabilities, neurominorities and socio-economic backgrounds. We recognise we have an ethical responsibility to do the work to ensure a safe, inclusive home for our psychotherapy community, trainees and the people they work with. Our teaching, training and information is high-quality, offered in small groups for strong relational practice.

Attachment relationships are formed and shaped in the real world, not only in our minds. We therefore believe that all real-life impacts must be part of the therapy and treated with respect, welcome, warmth, openness, and always with a readiness to interact and relate. In particular, we believe that it is vital that people who have undergone extreme traumatic experiences must have their reality validated and their ways to survive deeply respected, whether that be through addictions, compulsions or other ways of coping or self-protection. Above all, we believe that recognising our shared humanity is our shared secure base.

Our work is lived by and measured against our values. Our values are:

  • Compassionate
  • Attuning
  • Inclusive
  • Curious
  • Courageous
  • Transparent