Certificate in Transactional Analysis Theory and Practice

The course is open to people who have an interest and commitment in understanding themselves and others. Whilst, there is no specific qualification or experience required, there is an assessment process via written statement, online application form and an in person or online interview.  This is to assess personal and professional readiness to do this training. Consideration is given to the academic, financial and emotional demands this training will have. It is positioned at equivalent to a level 5. To complete the year and gain the certificate, you will need to complete a TA 101 and it is recommended that you do this first if possible.  

Content for each of the 9 weekends is as follows: 

• Fundamentals of TA, ego states and transactions, and the Adult Ego State. 

• Archaic Child Ego States: A developmental perspective. 

• Parent ego states formed from environmental influences and culture. 

• Scripts, as personal defences and protection in personal, cultural and organisational contexts. 

• Games and Rackets – ways of protecting ourselves and furthering our Script. 

• Self-perpetuating Strategies, Strokes, Time Structuring. 

• TA and group dynamics. Transference, and its relation to group relationships. 

• Different Approaches in TA 

• Contracting and the application of TA. 

• Where next? And starting in voluntary placements. 

A key part of each weekend is also dedicated to the development of counselling skills, so that students who wish to train as psychotherapists will be ready to start seeing clients in placement in the first year of the Advanced psychotherapy course. 

The learning experience:

The Certificate in TA Theory and Practice includes experiential exercises, short lectures with group discussions, observed skills practice, and opportunities for self-reflection. The Ironmill is committed to and integrative and relational training in Transactional Analysis (TA). The grounding in interpersonal dynamics and groups during the Certificate course is important before learning more about unconscious dynamics in the advanced years.

Most tutors use a radical-relational educational approach which draws on the significance of social and political contexts and how these influence our psychodynamics. There is a clear curriculum offered alongside flexibility,  as learning will also develop through group discussions.

Assessments:

We use a range of assessment methods as learning to be a practitioner requires several differing qualities and skills. Ongoing (formative) and final (summative) assessments are used to track trainees' progress throughout the course

Summative assessments are:

• Two 2000-word assignments
• A presentation at the end of the year on a chosen piece of TA theory and its relevance for you. This is based on aspects from your personal learning journal, which is written through the year of study.

Formative assessments are:

• Attendance at all training dates – students are expected to attend all the sessions; if they miss any there is an absolute requirement that they attend 80% of the course hours
• Participation and demonstration of awareness and self-reflexivity in experiential exercises, skills practice, self-reflection and the training group process
• Participation and engagement with the tutor in individual tutorials
• Engaging with personal psychotherapy – this is not assessed but the hours of personal therapy are monitored in the advanced years.
• Meeting our Personal and Professional readiness criteria to enter and/or progress within the course

Award:

Students receive a Certificate in Transactional Analysis Theory and Practice.  Students who are members of UK Association for TA (UKATA) and who complete the course would also be eligible to apply for the UKATA Transactional Analysis Award.

Venue: Exeter 

Starts Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th October 2025

How to apply:

• Submit your application form which can be found in the 'Application Form'. Once your application form has been received, an interview would be arranged. Payment for the £750.00 deposit will be charged once an offer has been given. 
• If you require assistance in completing your application, please contact enquiries@ironmill.co.uk. 
• We advise applicants to have completed a TA 101 workshop before or within their first year before starting the Advanced Psychotherapy course. You will need to have completed a TA 101 workshop before your second year of study. Please click here to view our TA 101 workshops. 

Courses commencing on and between 1st Jan'25 - 31st Dec'25:

• Option 1 - Total Payable - £2,950.00
  An Enrolment Deposit of £750.00 (Non-Refundable) followed by one instalment of £2,200.00. 
• Option 2 - Total Payable - £3,150.00 
  An Enrolment Deposit of £750.00 (Non-Refundable) followed by two instalments of £1,200.00. 
• Bespoke Payment Plans - Total Payable - £3,150.00 
  In order to facilitate students, we have introduced Bespoke Payment Plans which can be tailored to meet your specific needs. Please contact the enquiries@ironmill.co.uk for more information. 

Further information on fees:

Fees listed include VAT.

Tuition Fee Increases:

Tuition fees are reviewed in Autumn each year and are usually increased in line with CPI each January.

Final application date:
The deadline for applications is 4 weeks before the start of the course.  A decision will be made on whether the course will run, based on confirmed and accepted places, 4 weeks before the start date of the course.  Any applications received after the 4-week deadline will only be processed at the discretion of the Programmes Lead. If this is the case, please contact us for further details as soon as possible.

Intake interviews will be arranged for suitable applicants. Applicants who are offered a place will be required to confirm acceptance in writing accompanied by an Enrolment Deposit of £750.00, which is non-refundable

Selection for interview:
Selection is on the basis of information provided in your application (as above). We will send you an invitation to come for an interview once these documents are in place.

This will include a  group discussion and an individual interview. You will be given notice of the day and time and sometimes there is flexibility to negotiate.  Generally, interviews start with a group question and answer session and are followed by individual meetings. 

The following personal and professional readiness criteria are used as part of the assessment of whether students are ready to progress from the CTAP to the Advanced psychotherapy course, and to progress from year to year in the Advanced TA course. Therefore, at interview for the Certificate in Transactional Analysis and Practice, we ask you to consider these criteria, and be able to identify and discuss those that you would find most challenging.  You will be sent a copy of these before your interview. 

Students should show the capacity to: 

• Relate from a stance of respect and mutual interest. 
• Communicate in an open and respectful manner  
• Show evidence of awareness of professional and ethical standards.  
• Take responsibility for your physical and emotional well being.  
• Take an active and shared responsibility for getting your learning needs met in the course. 
• Cope with the varied demands of the course including the fulfilment of financial obligations, the timely completion of assignments and active participation in the course, e.g. discussions, sharing of case material, live work under supervision in the large group, small group exercises and group process.
    

Students should demonstrate a growing ability to: 

• Be aware of your own process and communicate it when appropriate in a coherent and open way, relating it to the course content when relevant.  
• Give constructive feedback. receive constructive feedback, reflect upon it and make use of it.  
• Learn to deal with the challenge of unhelpful feedback. 
• Demonstrate a capacity for self reflexivity.  
• Be active in the group process component of the course. 
• Be aware of the boundary between therapy and training in a way that the training task can remain foreground.  
• Relate course content and theory to practice.  
• Integrate new material with previous theory and ideas.  
• Be aware of the limitations of your level of expertise and work within it.  
• Participate in skills exercises and the clinical practice component related to the course content at a level of competence appropriate to the stage of training.  
• Experiment and learn from mistakes.  
• Experience uncertainty and difficult feelings without becoming rigid, demanding or incapacitated by anxiety. 

How long is the course? 

The Certificate course is 9 weekends, October to June, (+the TA 101). Once the course has started, the group is closed so no one else can join the group. 

Is it always weekends, in Exeter? 
Yes, all the course is based around weekends, and at the moment, they are all in Exeter.  

What is the course about? 
During the Certificate course, we cover a huge amount of TA theory, at depth. At this stage, the theory is applied to people’s work situations and personal lives, as most people are not in practice at this time. TA theory can be applied in four fields: psychotherapy, counselling, education and organisations, and the Certificate course is designed to look at all these fields. There is also a strand running through the Certificate course of developing counselling skills, so students are ready to start in practice should they progress to the Advanced course. 

What is the next course in progression? 
On successful completion of the Certificate, you may progress to study on the Advanced course.  This is an addtional 3 years of formal training with an option of an additional dissertation year in preparation of final qualification.The Advanced course leads to registration with the UKCP, UK Council for Psychotherapy, and to qualification as a Certified Transactional Analyst through the European Association for Transactional Analysis (EATA). There is a  requirement for at least 600 training hours, and duration of training are set out by those organisations. Within the section of the UKCP that TA belongs to (The Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy College), psychotherapy courses must be at least 4 years long and at MSc level, (that is level 7 in terms of professional and academic qualifications).  

Can I take time out? 
There is a natural break between the Certificate and Advanced course and it is not unusual for some students to ask for a break or for the tutors to discuss this with them. Sometimes, this is about health or family reasons and sometimes there is a need for students to do more personal therapy before continuing. So, stopping training for a year then re-starting training is manageable, and not unusual. 

How do I qualify as a Psychotherapist? 
Students who complete the requirements of the Advanced course are awarded an Iron Mill Diploma in TA Psychological Studies.The Iron Mill diploma allows people to register with BACP as a qualified psychotherapeutic counsellor.  However, this is not a qualification to use the title psychotherapist.  This can only be used once you have passed your UKCP dissertation and the viva exam.  The Iron Mill offer a dissertation year to support students through these final stages. Trainees can expand their UKCP dissertation and undertake another Viva that is very similar to the UKCP one. The difference is that the CTA covers couples and/or groups as well as individual hours. Trainees need 50 group hours as well as a further 250 hours of using Transactional Analysis in any relevant professional setting, (such as pastoral care and management. These hours may also be clinical).  This takes time and accounts for the depth and breadth of the work in becoming a psychotherapist and a Certified Transactional Analyst. 

What qualifications do I need to apply for the Certificate? 

Do I need to have done a TA101 to apply for the Certificate? 
The TA101 is a useful ‘taster’ for TA and for the way we think about it and teach it at the Iron Mill, so if you can attend one that will help you in your decision-making. You will need to do a TA101 either before you begin the course or before completion of the course. 

Do I need to have done counselling courses to apply? 
Not necessarily, but this is helpful. You may be able to go straight into the Certificate course without having done any counselling skills courses or the Iron Mill Certificate in counselling. A portion of the Certificate course is dedicated to developing counselling skills. Developing counselling skills is a part of the training and an important component of our ongoing assessment throughout the Certificate course. 

What if I haven’t already learnt counselling skills? 
There is teaching and development of these skills, and formal feedback on them, throughout the Certificate course.  

What if I’ve done some TA already, can I skip the Certificate course? 
This is worth discussing with the course leader. However, the requirement for the Advanced course is that students have completed at least 120 hours of training in TA, and this is generally only fulfilled by TA foundation courses. 

What if I’ve already done a counselling course? 
Each year we have some people on the TA psychotherapy course who have completed a counselling course. Sometimes they want to learn about TA on the course, sometimes they want to develop their practice and become qualified as a psychotherapist. This is therefore a common path for TA trainees, and we welcome trainees who already have had these experiences.  

I’ve missed the start of the Certificate course this year, what can I do? 
It can be frustrating to find that you’ve just missed the start date of a course. There are other things you can do in the meantime. If you haven’t already attended a TA101, we strongly recommend you do that, so you have a good idea of what the TA Certificate course will be like. You could also do some reading and start to work in therapy if you’re not already doing so. We’d also recommend that you speak to the TA lead tutor, as s/he can discuss other options and directions for you. Finally, as the TA course is a big undertaking, with a lot of commitments from the students, then we really encourage prospective students to take their time in applying. In that context, having time to research the course, look into TA, and to think about your motivation is time well spent in the long-term. 

What are the course requirements of the Certificate course? 

• Attendance of at least 80% of the course. (The expectation is that students will attend all of the course, so they also need to make up any theory that they do miss.) 

• There are two written assignments of 2000 words each. 

• A presentation at the end of the year. 

• We also recommend that people keep a learning journal. 

• We strongly recommend that all trainees start or continue in weekly personal therapy during the Foundation course. This is mandatory for anyone who is going to continue into the Advanced course. There is no requirement for clinical practice during the Foundation course. 

What are the differences between TA and an integrative course? 
TA is itself an integrative model, that has been developed over the last 60 years, and incorporates elements of both psychoanalytic and humanistic models. As the theory was all developed under the ‘umbrella’ of TA, the models integrate very well, different parts of the theory fit well together and can communicate well with each other. This makes the theory very robust. The challenge of an integrative course is to make your own integration from different pieces of theory that did not develop together so may not fit together so easily. 

Is TA too limiting as a model compared with an integrative course? 
TA is used across the spectrum of practices, from cognitive–behavioural work to a relational psychoanalytic approach and is highly adaptable to different practitioners and contexts. TA theory is deceptively simple at a first look, but has great depth, so it allows us to work with people with complex mental health problems, problems related to their development, and to do depth psychotherapeutic work. 

Clients are not generally interested in the model of counselling or psychotherapy a practitioner uses, but simply in whether they believe they can work with that person. This is appropriate as it’s the therapeutic relationship that is a key factor in the success of the work.  

Why psychotherapy? What is the difference between psychotherapy and counselling? 
This is a complex and political question, and you would get a different answer from different practitioners.  However, the qualifying process for psychotherapy is longer and generally practitioners would be trained to work for longer periods with people. One way of thinking about it is that counselling often works with the person in their situation to deal with current problems and increase their strengths, resources and functioning in their professional, social and cultural context. In TA terms, this is work with the Adult, here and now, Ego state. Psychotherapy aims to address and heal fundamental, developmental and relational issues for a person that are limiting them – ‘to deal with the past in the present, so they are free to live their lives in the future’. In TA terms, this is work not only with the Adult, but also the Child and Parent Ego states. At its best, the aim is to develop more radically people’s personality structure. This would often be in the context of long-term work. 

Successful completion of the Certificate leads into the rest of the TA psychotherapy programme and can also be taken as a stand-alone course for personal and professional development. 

The emphasis is on the application of TA in the fields of psychotherapy and counselling. The training is also applicable in the other two fields of TA (organisations and education). 

Some students will therefore use the experience of teh Certificate  year to inform their personal and professional lives, or to apply to study further in Counselling, Psychotherapy or Organisational and Educational fields of TA. The Advanced psychotherapy training can lead to qualifying as a UKCP-Registered psychotherapists and as Certified Transactional Analysts with a specialism in psychotherapy.