About our Professional Training

HDS offers a range of professional and academic training courses, short courses and continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities.

Who is it for?

Our training is for people working in ‘people-facing’ professions. For example: health and social care services, teachers, third sector and private practice counselling.

What do you teach?

Our training courses for professionals translate the psychodynamic, psychoanalytic and systemic ideas, on which all our works is based, into practical tools for understanding the central role that human relationships play in our mental health and emotional wellbeing.

For example, our Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (CAP) programme is a practical and theoretical training course in psychoanalytical psychotherapy with children and young people. This course is the only one in Scotland which is approved by the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP).

How does it help?

Hundreds of professionals have been equipped by HDS and have used the experience in their work as teachers, social workers and in other ‘people-facing’ professions, for example. Some have shared their experience by returning to teach on our courses, contributed to our conferences and events, and by publishing books and papers.

We believe our professional training will help to relieve mental and emotional distress by increasing the availability of, an access to, high quality psychodynamic and psychoanalytic counselling and psychotherapy for all who need them.