Director of Studies: Fiona Hamilton

Enrolment now open

Click here to Apply 

Introductory Workshops lasting 1.5 hours are regularly offered for people interested in exploring CWTP. Please email cristina.soares@metanoia.ac.uk to book a place (registration fee £10).

Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes (CWTP) is a growing field of research and practice. This unique non-clinical MSc course gives students the opportunity to learn experientially through writing and discussion, to receive taught content on theory, and to develop skills and aptitudes for working in the field of CWTP. The core values of the course are humanistic and person-centred, emphasising people’s potential for growth, change and movement in a positive direction in their lives. 

Time commitment: The programme is taught over 10 weekends per academic year, in each of the first two years – 7 weekends Live Online and 3 weekends In Person in Bristol UK (November, end of March, beginning of July - there is no online teaching on these days). Students require a minimum of 5 hours’ personal study time per week. Participants undertake a research project in Year Three. 

Contact days and hours are 09.00 - 17.00 BST

Please click here for a Summary of this course

For an overview of the course in video form, please click here

Click here to Apply

The course is attractive to: 

• People with an interest in writing in a broad sense including literature, stories, narratives and oral forms, and in how working with these can contribute to wellbeing on individual and social levels 
• People currently working, or aiming to work, in the helping professions, who seek training to prepare them for working with CWTP 
• People in other fields of work who wish to employ the resources and practices of CWTP to tackle problems, enhance organisations and communities, or envision pathways in diverse cultures and settings 

The course offers students opportunities  

• to engage with writing and texts in ways that foster their critical abilities and help them to find their own voice in the practices of CWTP 
• to explore this field, building upon their prior knowledge and skills gained from a relevant first degree and/or experience, with a strong emphasis on the integration of theory and practice 
• engage experiential learning, group work, practical skills training, peer feedback, and creative and personal development 

Applicants are required to submit examples of their creative writing with a reflective commentary on the process of writing one or more pieces.

Course Philosophy:  

There is a strong emphasis on creating opportunities for participants to develop the personal qualities that becoming a facilitator of CWTP demands. The MSc draws on the range of current literature on theory and practice in both CWTP and in counselling. It is open to theory and practice from other established creative and therapeutic disciplines, as well as ethical and philosophical viewpoints and practices that support creative and therapeutic processes. 

Underpinning the practice of CWTP is a rapid growth of theory and research. CWTP has the capacity to harness imagination and envision ways towards healthier societies and enhanced collective wellbeing for people and the planet. This involves addressing issues of inequality within structures and particularly the social, historical, political and institutional beliefs and behaviours which uphold inequalities. This MSc provides a wide range of resources to support engagement with this process, including encounters with creative texts and accounts of lived experience, articles on micro-aggressions, discrimination, and privilege. Students are invited to consider how practices relate to our physical and planetary environment and how CWTP supports re-imagining scenarios from personal and much broader perspectives.

To find out what our students say about the course: click here.  

For a list of our diverse completed MSc CWTP research topics click here 

For course dates click here

To enquire further about the MSc in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes please use the form below. Experienced CWTP practitioners can enquire about entering the course in Year Two via the Accredited Prior Learning Route.

If you have any queries or if you require more information please contact Cristina on 020 8579 2505/020 8832 3096 (direct line) or email cristina.soares@metanoia.ac.uk  

For academic related queries please contact Fiona Hamilton fiona.hamilton@metanoia.ac.uk  

We also offer a Practitioner Certificate in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes for Therapists (click here)

We are excited to announce that Metanoia Institute has begun the process to be able to award its own degrees. We are currently waiting for the outcome of our initial submission to the Office for Students (OfS) with the intention that all students on undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes will be enrolling for Metanoia Institute degrees from September 2022. For full details please see Update on our application for degree-awarding powers 

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