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Diploma in Adolescent Psychotherapy (2025 - 2026)
This diploma is for therapists who want to support teenagers in a way that’s creative, grounded, and truly reflective of what the work demands.
Adolescents bring complexity. They bring resistance, vulnerability, depth, and unpredictability. To work well with them, we need more than theory or tools. We need presence, flexibility, and the ability to meet them where they are.
This course was designed to offer all of that. Over one year, you’ll move through three intentional phases that mirror the natural flow of therapeutic work. We begin with foundations, move into readiness, and then into full integration. The course allows time to absorb, reflect, and grow at a pace that honours both the therapist and the client.
It’s a journey, not just of learning but of becoming.
Course Schedule
Blended Learning Format
| Month | Dates | Day | Time | Delivery Mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | June 20-21 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
In-Person |
| July 2025 | July 25-26 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
In-Person |
| August 2025 | August 29-30 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
Online |
| September 2025 | September 19-20 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
In-Person |
| October 2025 | October 24-25 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
In-Person |
| November 2025 | November 14-15 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
Online |
| December 2025 | December 5-6 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
Online |
| January 2026 | January 9-10 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
In-Person |
| February 2026 | February 20-21 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
Online |
| March 2026 | March 27-28 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
Online |
| April 2026 | April 24-25 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
In-Person |
| May 2026 | May 22-23 | Friday-Saturday | Friday: 6-9 PM Saturday: 9 AM-5 PM |
In-Person |
Course Fee & Payment Plan
Total Course Fee: €2700
Deposit: €500 (non-refundable, due by April 30th to secure your place)
Balance: €2200, payable over 5 months
Payment Plan (Due 1st of each month, starting July 1st)
| Month | Amount Due |
|---|---|
| July 1st | €440 |
| August 1st | €440 |
| September 1st | €440 |
| October 1st | €440 |
| November 1st | €440 |
About Maura Carey
This course is designed and facilitated by Maura Carey, an accredited psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, lecturer, and trauma-informed practitioner.
Maura is the Clinical Director and Founder of Cherry Blossom Therapy, a leading trauma-informed psychotherapy practice. She is passionate about empowering and supporting therapists in their professional development and is known for her dynamic, engaging, and deeply insightful teaching style.
She has extensive experience working with adolescents, children, adults, families, and couples, her approach is integrative, research-informed, and practical. Maura is also undertaking a Doctorate in Psychotherapy, focusing on post-traumatic growth in adults who have experienced childhood trauma.
With a strong commitment to high-quality training, she has developed many CPD courses, she has also wrote course content for BSc and Master programs, and supervises therapists at all levels. This diploma is designed to support therapists in their professional journey, combining theory, practical interventions, and self-reflective practice.
Why this course is different
There’s a lot of training out there that teaches models and interventions. What makes this course different is how it brings everything together. It balances solid clinical theory with creativity, practical tools with reflective practice, and supervision with real personal insight.
This isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about becoming the kind of therapist who can sit with adolescents in a deep meaningful and impactful way.
What to expect
Throughout the course, you will explore adolescent development, trauma, mental health, identity, and creativity. You will learn how to assess and formulate, how to engage families, and how to work ethically and safely in the therapy room. Alongside this, you will take part in monthly supervision and reflective practice that supports your work and your growth.
The course is structured into three phases:
Phase One - Foundations
We begin with what shapes the adolescent experience. You’ll explore developmental theory, trauma, brain science, and how to create safety in the room. This phase also gently introduces reflective work, helping you tune into your presence and style as a therapist.
Topics include:
Developmental and psychological theory
Adolescent brain development and regulation
Attachment, trauma and co-regulation
Polyvagal theory and the neuroscience of safety
Reflective writing and relational presence
This program is ideal for anyone looking to deepen their expertise in adolescent psychotherapy within a structured, trauma-informed, and integrative framework.
Phase Two - Clinical Readiness
This phase prepares you to begin client work. You’ll learn how to assess and formulate, how to navigate risk, and how to manage the relational space between teen, parent, and therapist.
Topics include:
Assessment tools like SDQ, CORE-YP, genograms and timelines
Goal setting
Case formulation using Eels’ 5 Ps
Anxiety, depression, emotional regulation and self-harm
Family systems, ethics, safeguarding and crisis work
Phase Three - Clinical Integration
Once you begin working with adolescent clients, this phase helps you bring it all together. You’ll deepen your understanding of identity, culture, and creativity, while continuing to receive supervision and reflective space.
Topics include:
Creative approaches including art, metaphor, music and sand tray
Working with shame, gender, peer culture and belonging
Understanding digital pressures, addiction and social media
Applying CBT, and Choice Theory, Mindfulness in adolescent work (other applications too)
Reflecting on endings, supervision, and professional development
What you will gain:
✅ Confidence in working with adolescents in a real and grounded way
✅ A strong foundation in trauma-informed practice and adolescent development
✅ Creative tools you can bring into the room with teens immediately
✅ A clear process for assessment, goal setting and formulation
✅ Insight into your own presence, story and growth as a therapist
✅ Supervision and support while you begin your own client work
✅ A professional framework that blends theory, creativity and reflection
This is a training that values depth, not just delivery. It supports you to meet young people with confidence, skill and humanity.
Who can Attend?
✅ Qualified and Pre-Accredited Psychotherapists
✅ Counsellors & Guidance Counsellors
✅ Social Workers
✅ Youth Workers
✅ Play Therapists & Art Therapists
✅ Psychologists
✅ Occupational Therapists & Mental Health Nurses
✅ Educational Professionals
This program is ideal for anyone looking to deepen their expertise in adolescent psychotherapy within a structured, trauma-informed, and integrative framework.
Course Content
✅ Exploring psychological and emotional development in teenagers, the impact of social, cultural, and environmental factors, and the neuroscience of the adolescent brain.
✅ Mental health in adolescence covers common mental health presentations such as anxiety, depression, selfharm, and suicidal ideation, trauma and its impact on young people, and working with neurodiversity
✅ Trauma-informed practice with adolescents focuses on recognising signs of trauma and its impact on behaviour, therapeutic approaches for trauma recovery, and building resilience and post-traumatic growth.
✅ Creative and integrative interventions art, and creative therapies in adolescent work
✅ Ethical and professional considerations include ethical dilemmas and boundary management, confidentiality and working with safeguarding concerns, and IACP guidelines and best practices.
✅ Working with parents and families and stakeholders explores engaging parents in the therapeutic process, managing resistance and challenges in parent-teen dynamics, and psychoeducation for families
✅ Case conceptualisation and treatment planning focus on assessment and formulation in adolescent therapy, using evidence-based frameworks, and measuring progress and evaluating outcomes.
✅ Reflective practice and personal development involve understanding the role of the therapist in adolescent work, managing countertransference and self-awareness, and building confidence in working with young clients.
Assessment and Placement
The assessment structure ensures that students not only gain theoretical knowledge but also develop the practical skills and self awareness necessary to work effectively with adolescents
Subject to change, there will be reflective journalling, a written assignment on a topic relating to adolescent psychotherapy, and placement work, along with ongoing formative assessment and a supervisors report.
