PhD Psychoanalytic Studies at University of Essex

The PhD in Psychoanalytic Studies offers research supervision in areas including child development, creativity, gender, group and institutional dynamics, the history of psychoanalysis, Jungian thought, philosophical issues in psychoanalysis, psychoanalysis and the arts, psychosis, refugee studies, and trauma and violence. Students have access to Freud's original letters and the department's specialist library.

Department: Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies  |  Duration: 3 to 4 years full-time; part-time also available  |  Intake: January 2027 (full-time)  |  Study mode: full-time; part-time  |  Location: Colchester, England, United Kingdom

What you will study

Teaching is mainly by individual supervision, with a supervisory panel meeting twice a year. The first year (or first two years part-time) is typically spent on the literature review and refining the research.

Career pathways

Graduates go on to further study and training in psychoanalysis, Jungian analysis or psychoanalytic psychotherapy, or return to their existing professional fields.

Official programme page