AGIP’s Foundation Course is a one-year introduction to psychoanalytic psychotherapy for people who want to develop a deeper understanding of human behaviour, relationships and the unconscious.

Across ten Saturdays, you’ll explore classical and contemporary psychoanalytic ideas and consider how they can help us think about individuals, families, relationships, work and society. The course combines theory with discussion, reflection and experiential learning, giving you the opportunity to engage critically with the ideas rather than simply learn them.

You might already work in counselling, psychology, mental health, education, social care or another profession where understanding people matters. You might be considering training as a psychotherapist. Or you may have an intellectual, cultural or professional interest in psychoanalysis and want the opportunity to explore it more deeply.

The Foundation Course can be taken as a course in its own right, used for CPD, or become the first step towards AGIP’s Clinical Training in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy.

If you want to find out more before you commit, come meet us and your tutors at our Foundation Course Open Day on Sunday 13 September in London.

There isn’t one typical route into psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

Some Foundation students already work therapeutically and want to deepen their knowledge. Others are considering psychotherapy as a new professional direction. Some bring their interest in people and relationships from professions such as education, social care, academia, mental health, charities and the arts.

AGIP deliberately values this breadth of experience. The course is designed as an adult learning environment in which students bring different perspectives to the group, with collaboration and discussion forming an important part of learning.

The Foundation Course has four broad purposes.

It can stand alone as a course for professionals seeking CPD or a deeper understanding of people, families and society.

It can offer a structured and critical introduction for people who are considering clinical training but want to explore psychoanalytic psychotherapy before committing to a longer programme.

It can form the first year of AGIP’s professional psychotherapy training pathway for people who already know they want to progress towards becoming a psychoanalytic psychotherapist.

It can also provide a space for people with a cultural, artistic or wider intellectual interest in the unconscious to explore how psychoanalytic thinking might relate to their work.

Psychoanalysis is not one single body of thought. 

Different traditions have developed different ideas about how the mind works, how personality develops and how psychotherapy can help.

AGIP takes a critical and pluralist approach to training. This means that no single theory is automatically placed above another. Instead, students encounter different perspectives and are encouraged to question them, compare them and gradually develop their own understanding of the relationship between theory and practice.

There is another important principle behind the training, that is unique to AGIP and one of our core values. AGIP starts from the idea that every person is unique. While theory can give us valuable ways of thinking, students are encouraged to listen carefully to people’s own experiences rather than trying to make those experiences fit a predetermined theoretical model.

For someone who is interested in psychoanalytic psychotherapy but has not yet decided where they sit theoretically, the Foundation year offers space to explore.

The course explores some of the central themes within psychoanalytic thinking and connects them with questions that remain very relevant to contemporary life.

The 2026/27 timetable runs from October through to July and includes these ten core areas of study.

The Foundation Course is taught across ten Saturdays during the academic year, meaning it’s flexible enough to fit around life, and long enough for ideas and concepts to embed.

A typical teaching day includes several seminar sessions, breaks and lunch, followed by an experiential group towards the end of the day.

Students therefore have time to encounter ideas, discuss them and think about how they relate to personal, professional and wider social experience. The deliberately small group sizes mean that everyone is given the opportunity to contribute, be heard, and engage.

Teachers are given freedom to approach their subject in the way they believe works best. Some topics may be team taught, while others may be divided between different teachers. AGIP also draws on both its own members and external practitioners so students are exposed to different voices and perspectives.

Psychoanalytic learning involves more than reading theory.

An experiential group forms part of each teaching Saturday and is an important element of the Foundation Course.

The group gives students an opportunity to think about group dynamics as they happen, notice their own responses to other people and reflect on how present experiences may connect with previous experiences of relationships and groups.

It also creates space to bring together three strands of the course, theoretical learning, reflection on work and personal development.

The group is facilitated by an experienced group analyst influenced by psychoanalytic and group analytic theory.

Students encounter teachers from a range of psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic traditions.

The current teaching faculty includes psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, clinical psychologists, supervisors, academics and researchers with experience across private practice, the NHS, universities, psychotherapy training organisations and community services.

Faculty experience includes teaching and clinical work at organisations such as UCL, Regent’s University, the Tavistock Clinic, the British Psychotherapy Foundation and the Institute of Psychoanalysis, alongside work with communities including people affected by homelessness, trauma, addiction and displacement.

This breadth is particularly important within AGIP’s pluralistic approach, giving students opportunities to encounter different ways of thinking about psychoanalytic work.

Students are supported throughout the Foundation year rather than being expected to navigate the course alone.

Each student is allocated a personal tutor and has at least one compulsory tutorial each term. Tutorials may take place in person or remotely depending on circumstances.

Your tutor provides a regular point of contact throughout the course and can help you reflect on your progress, participation and personal development.

They can also provide pastoral support, discuss concerns that arise during training and help students think about the course assignment where relevant.

Personal psychotherapy is an integral part of psychoanalytic training at AGIP.

All Foundation students are required to undertake individual psychotherapy at least once a week with a psychotherapist approved by AGIP’s Training Committee. Therapy must continue throughout the Foundation Course.

Students make their own arrangements with their therapist and pay therapy fees separately from the Foundation Course fee. AGIP can provide details of therapists who are already approved by the Training Committee.

If you are thinking about progressing to Clinical Training, it is useful to know that the psychotherapy requirement becomes more intensive during that stage of training.

If you have questions about the personal psychotherapy requirement before applying, please contact the training team.

The ten Saturday teaching days are only one part of the course.

Students are expected to undertake reading between teaching weekends. The current course structure allows for up to six required papers or texts for each weekend, equivalent to approximately eight hours of reading between sessions, with additional recommended reading available for those who want to explore subjects further.

Students are also expected to participate actively in seminar discussions and the experiential group, attend their compulsory tutorials and undertake weekly personal psychotherapy.

The Foundation Course therefore asks for genuine engagement, while its once-a-month Saturday structure makes it possible for many students to combine study with employment and other commitments.

Assessment is optional if you are taking the Foundation Course as a standalone programme.

Students with attendance of at least 80% can receive a Certificate of Attendance.

Students who complete the assignment successfully and meet the attendance requirement receive a Certificate of Completion. The course is taught and assessed at Master’s level, Level 7.

If you want to apply for AGIP’s Clinical Training after the Foundation year, completing and passing the assignment is compulsory.

The current Foundation assignment is approximately 3,000 words.

A clinical placement is not required as part of the Foundation Course.

The course focuses instead on developing theoretical understanding, reflective capacity, personal development and an introduction to the way psychoanalytic psychotherapy approaches people and relationships.

There is no expectation that everyone completing the Foundation Course must continue into professional training.

For some students, the year provides the depth of psychoanalytic study they were looking for and they take what they have learned back into their existing work.

Others decide that they want to continue.

The Foundation Course forms the first year of AGIP’s wider four-year training pathway, followed by three years of Clinical Training.

Foundation students are given priority when applying for AGIP’s Clinical Training. Admission is subject to a further application and selection process.

For some students, there may also be value in taking time between the Foundation and Clinical courses to continue developing through personal psychotherapy before progressing.

Studying at AGIP also provides opportunities to engage with psychoanalytic thinking beyond the Foundation classroom.

Foundation students and Clinical trainees are invited to attend AGIP’s CPD programme and annual lecture.

AGIP is also part of the Psychoanalytic Consortium, which brings together several psychoanalytic training organisations for a joint annual study weekend. Foundation students are encouraged to attend, giving them an opportunity to deepen their understanding and meet trainees from other UKCP and CPJA trainings.

Admission to the Foundation Course is by application and interview.

Applicants provide two references from people who have known them for at least one year and attend an interview with a member of the AGIP training team.

Applications are considered against criteria including personal maturity, motivation and the ability to engage with the academic demands of the programme.

Applicants will normally have a university degree or equivalent professional qualification. However, candidates without a degree can also be considered where they meet the other selection criteria.

If you are interested in the course but unsure whether your background meets the entry requirements, please contact us. We would encourage you to ask rather than rule yourself out.

The Foundation Course fee for 2026/27 is £2,500.

Instalment options are available if needed – please just talk to us. 

Personal psychotherapy (supervision) is an additional cost and is arranged directly between each student and their therapist.

The current handbook also includes an application fee and deposit. I would confirm the 2026/27 amounts before publishing them here, as the handbook figures supplied relate to the previous academic year.

AGIP has its own library containing psychoanalytic books, journals and papers, and course fees currently include access to PEP-Web, which provides electronic access to a wide range of psychoanalytic texts and journals.

Curious, but still not sure whether the course is for you?

Come and meet us.

Our next Foundation Course Open Day takes place on Sunday 13 September 2026 from 11am to 1pm at AGIP, 1 Fairbridge Road, Archway, London N19 3EW.

You’ll have the opportunity to meet AGIP’s Director of Training and Chair of the Training Committee, hear more about how the Foundation Course works, explore psychoanalytic ideas and hear from people about their own reasons for choosing to train.

There will also be plenty of time to ask questions about the course, applying and what studying at AGIP is actually like.

If the Foundation Course sounds right for you, we would love to hear from you.

Or contact the training team at training@agip.org.uk if you would like to discuss the course before applying.