THE TRAINING
The emphasis of the Homa Counselling & Psychotherapy Diploma is on the practical and relational application of theoretical knowledge and skills
The Homa Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy is rooted in humanistic theory while integrating other approaches including PTMF (Power Threat Meaning Framework), embodied movement, art therapy and eco-therapy. Homa blends teaching, experiential and skills-based learning and personal awareness. You will develop yourself and your skills through group work, individual coaching, reflexive course work and a supervised voluntary placement. In all experiential work, you will be invited to bring your personal material, which supports you to engage and remain focussed on your own development. Your course assignments draw on the use of written, audio, visual and other creative media. The Homa training is rigorous, comprising 744 in person taught hours over four years.
All the research suggests that there is no one psychotherapy or counselling approach that is more effective than another. All the modalities have something of vallue to offer.
As a Homa psychotherapist you will be trained to be flexible and responsive to the specific requirements of your clients and to tailor how you work to the needs of each client, within their particular context.
The therapeutic relationship is key in determining the success of therapy. The Homa Diploma combines a strong focus on relational depth along with a sound grounding in humanistc theory. This means that you will know how to draw on all your skills and knowlege while being open and responsive to your clients' needs.
You will learn through being in relationship
You will learn how to be a relatoinal therapist by discovering how to be in relatoinship with yourself, with your mind, your emotions and your body, with your fellow trainees, the group and the leaders, with the natural world and with the wider community. The Homa Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy curriculum is delivered through the experience of engaging in these relationships with curiosity, openness and honesty. You will develop the ability and skills to create meaningful and transformative relationships, which you will take into your work with clients. Relational therapy means more than building a good rapport with your clients. It means being willing to bring all of who you are into the therapy room so that you do not avoid difficulties and difference. Rather you embrace and welcome all of who your cients are, working through challenges, listening and connecting deeply.
Qualification and Community
On successful completion of the four year Homa training course you will be awarded the Homa Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy. As a Homa trained psychotherapist you will also be part of a dynamic, ongoing professional community for life long learning and connection. Homa is an organisational member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy)
TRAINING PROGRAMME OVERVIEW
HOMA'S VISITING TUTORS
Homa is very fortunate to have a growing team of distinguished visiting tutors. They are all published authors and experts in their field with a wealth of knowlege and experience. Their annual sessions at Homa invite trainees to engage deeply, both personally and professionally.
Dr Aileen Alleyne
The Burden of Heritage on
Black Lives
Aileen Alleyne is a UKCP registered psychodynamic psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and organisational consultant. In addition to running her private practice, she is a visiting lecturer at several training institutions and a consultant on issues of race and cultural diversity within various workplace settings, such as the NHS, Social Services, Education, and the Police Services. In 2022 Aileen's first book was published: Burden of Heritage - Hauntings of Generational Trauma on Black Lives and she is currently working on her second book.
Dr Gillian Proctor
The Dynamics of Power in the Therapy Room
Gillian Proctor is a lecturer in counselling at the University of Leeds, responsible for the Masters in Counselling and Psychotherapy.
She is a research supervisor with a particular interest in qualitative research, ethics, power and reflexivity. Gillian is passionate about the ethics and politics of counselling and believes that philosophy and sociology are a crucial foundation to the ongoing development of self and intersubjective awareness needed to practice as a psychotherapist. She has an extensive portfolio of publications and is the author of several books including: The Dynamics of Power in the Therapy Room and Values & Ethics in Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Dr Kit Heyam
Trans Awareness
Kit Heyam is a Leeds-based freelance writer, heritage practitioner, trans awareness trainer and academic. After studying in Cambridge for four years, he returned to the north in 2012 and studied for his PhD at the University of Leeds. His writing and heritage work aims to unlock new, more expansive ways to think and talk about queer and trans history. Kit is motivated by a passion for finding the clearest and most accessible ways to communicate knotty and complex concepts, and by a desire to help people think differently about the relationship between gender, bodies and society. He is the author of Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender.
Nick Totton
Differnt Bodies
Deconstructing Normality
Nick Totton is a psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor with over 40 years’ experience. He originally trained as a Reichian body psychotherapist and has an MA in Psychoanalytic studies. He has spoken, taught and published widely on body psychotherapy, psychotherapy & politics, and eco-psychology.
Nick founded a training in his own synthesis, Embodied-Relational Therapy and set up the related but distinct practice of Wild Therapy. Nick has published 17 books including Body Psychotherapy: An Introduction; Embodied Relating: The Ground of Psychotherapy; Wild Therapy: Undomesticating Inner and Outer Worlds and Different Bodies: Deconstructing Normality.
Caroline Shabaz
Kink Aware Therapy
Caroline Shahbaz is known in the Master slave communities as “slave Caroline”. With a foundation in clinical psychology, she proudly identifies as a Jungian, depth and liberation psychologist. Her journey is driven by a profound passion for serving with clarity, strength, and authenticity.
Her diverse roles extend beyond academia and clinical practice to include business, management consulting, authorship, education, and spiritual exploration. Her mission is: to end the stigmatisation and pathologizing of BDSM practitioners by professionals. She is coauthor of Becoming a Kink-Aware Therapist.
Sophie - Year 3
I have always been very academic and all my life I have done the most academic of academic courses. Homa is the opposite of academic and it has been the most rigorous, extraordinary, demanding and wonderful learning experience of my life. It’s an utterly transformative course.
Vikki - Year 3
What really brought me to Homa was the highly experiential, embodied approach. We have really live discussions. It can be raw, expect to be uncomfortable, but that’s the waking up. The work is really live. It helps me to be aware of my blind spots, especially to do with Social Justice.
Nick - Year 3
Where do I even start, if you want something that’s completely different to anything else, Homa is the place. You are around a bunch of people who are different to you, in an environment that’s different to anything you have experienced before and that’s where the growth comes from. It’s been amazing.
Do it!