PGDip Evidence-Based Psychological Treatment for Children and Young People (High Intensity)

Our Postgraduate Diploma in Evidence-Based Psychological Treatment for Children and Young People (High Intensity) is a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) course. It will equip you with CBT strategies to support children, young people and families with anxiety and depression.

Choose CBT training at the University of Reading

• Gain a theoretical understanding of common mental health problems and the clinical skills to support them.
• Develop the expertise to help clients with moderate to severe mental health conditions using high intensity CBT.
• This Level 2 CBT course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS). When you graduate, you’ll be eligible for registration with the BPS. You will also meet all the minimum training standards to apply for accreditation with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP).
• Your training will be delivered within the University's Charlie Waller Institute. Established in 2008, the Institute offers award-winning training underpinned by psychological research. We have delivered our CBT training to more than 14 cohorts of trainees.

Course duration

This is a full-time taught programme, spanning 12 months. It normally runs once per year. The next cohort will start in February 2026.

What you’ll learn

This course will provide you with the knowledge and skills to practice as a cognitive behavioural therapist. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that aims to help people manage their difficulties by changing how they think and behave.

CBT therapists provide evidence-based, high intensity cognitive behavioural interventions for people experiencing moderate to severe anxiety and/or depression.

You'll follow NHS England’s Children and Young Peoples Psychological Training Curriculum. The programme combines theory and practice-based learning at the University, alongside clinical practice under supervision at a placement service in England.

On this course, you will:

• examine evidence-based approaches for working with children, young people and their families
• learn how to assess and support children and young people with common mental health difficulties
• explore how CBT can be used to treat anxiety disorders in children and young people
• study the latest theory and research in CBT for depression
• develop your clinical competency to offer evidence-based treatment – through assessment, role play and skills practice.

Who is the programme for?

This programme has been designed specifically for staff who routinely work with children and young people presenting with emotional disorders.

Your training will equip you with CBT strategies to support a range of disorders in young people, including:

• generalised anxiety disorder
• obsessive compulsive disorder
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• depression
• social anxiety
• specific phobias
• separation anxiety disorder
• panic disorder.

Applicants employed by the NHS

Many of our students will be directly employed as a trainee CBT therapist within a partner NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), local authority service, or charity. The course is fully funded by the service for these students. Trainees will receive a salary equivalent to a full-time NHS band 6 over the year, along with supervision within their service.

Fully funded trainee CBT roles are advertised on the NHS jobs website. Applicants should apply directly to NHS services for these roles. The University of Reading will review applications and be present on interview panels.

Self-funding applicants

You can apply directly to the University of Reading if you are interested in self-funding (covering the costs of training yourself as an individual), or being sponsored by your employer.

You will need to complete a minimum number of clinical hours and supervision hours in order to pass this course. Prior to starting the course, it is therefore essential that you have access to appropriate training cases (clients) and supervision within your service/placement.

The University of Reading is unable to help with securing a suitable placement or supervision if these are not already in place.

Guidelines for suitable CBT training cases

Before starting the course, you will need to wind down your current caseloads and have planned access to appropriate training cases.

• Read our guidelines for suitable CBT training cases (Word)

Documents to be provided

You will need to complete our Information Particulars and Objectives form (Word) at enrolment. The form also offers guidance around your responsibilities, and those of your employer/placement organisation and clinical supervisor.

How you'll learn

You'll study at the University’s Charlie Waller Institute, which specialises in research and high-quality training in evidence-based psychological treatments.

Our courses are taught by nationally and internationally recognised academics who are experts in improving clinicians’ skills.

Your training will involve a variety of learning methods, including these essential components:

• on-campus teaching
• recordings of clinical work
• live presentations to varied audiences
• role play with peers and University staff.

You’ll be required to complete:

• academic assessments (one essay, one process report, two extended case reports)
• clinical assessments (three video recordings)
• a case presentation
• a course portfolio.

Course structure

• Induction days: you’ll attend one online and one face-to-face induction day. These will be followed by intense week-long teaching blocks, where you will be required to attend classes from 09:00 to 16:00.
• Teaching: your teaching will be a mixture of face-to-face and online, usually on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• University supervision and clinical skills sessions will take place on Thursdays, 09:00 to 16:00. In addition to university supervision, you will receive weekly supervision within your workplace.
• On-campus teaching: you will need to attend all of your timetabled teaching and supervision days on campus. The number of on-campus teaching days will vary from week to week.
• Study days: you are entitled to 20 study days over the course of the year (including Autumn School). These must be agreed with your line manager.
• Support services: we offer a range of support services, including individual and group tutorials, study skills support, an allocated academic tutor, and access to student counselling services.

Equipment required

You must have access to equipment that can record multiple uninterrupted 60 to 90-minute sessions without battery charge. This equipment must allow you to quickly review your sessions, either on the device itself or on a laptop.

You will also need permission from your service/employer to securely upload your recordings to SharePoint.

Time commitments

Our CBT training is time intensive. The number of hours you must commit to the course are:

• Supervision: 70 hours (35 at your workplace, 35 at university)
• Clinical work: 200 hours
• Self-directed study (typically outside of usual working hours): 250 hours
• Taught modules: a minimum of 80% attendance across all individual modules.

It is likely that you will need to spend several hours a week of your own time on course-related work, including preparing for supervision and coursework deadlines.

Managing the competing demands of coursework, workplace commitments and home life can be challenging. Our experienced CBT course team will help you maximise the opportunities for learning and provide you with support wherever needed.

Assessment of competencies

We will assess your clinical and academic competencies formatively throughout the modules you study, and summatively at the end of each module. Each module must be passed to successfully complete the course.

The range of summative assessments includes:

• submission of a patient recording
• oral presentation
• an essay
• reflective case reports.

You will be required to keep a Practice Portfolio throughout the course, providing evidence of your successful completion of all elements of the course. This includes completing:

• a self-directed learning log (83-84 hours per module)
• a clinical log of your 200 clinical hours
• an audit of eight training cases
• reflections of CBT literature (two per module)
• training case reports of the five cases not submitted for the summative written pieces.

Requirements to pass the course

To pass this course, you must achieve 50% in all of your academic and clinical assessments, supervisor assessments, and student portfolio (which includes evidence of self-directed learning, client outcomes, and student reflections on training).