120 CPD Credits · 10 Modules · Live Online via Zoom

ICPS COLLEGE · TEST VERSION — NOT FOR ENROLMENT

Important Information on Enrolment & Securing Your Place

• Course Status: Fully Accredited
• Course Cost: €645
• Deposit Due Now: 50%
• Payment Now to Secure Your Place: €322.50
• Schedule: 1 Class per Week (3 Hours)

Course Details

• Delivery: Live-Online (Lecturer-Led)
• Credits: 120 CPD Credits
• Format: Live-Online Lecturer-Led Modules via Zoom
• Duration: 1 Class per Week (3 Hours) Over 10 Weeks
• Online Live Attendance: 30 Hours
• Self-Directed Learning: 900 Hours
• Course Open To: Practitioners, Students & All Members of the Public with an Interest & Speciality Area of Practice
• Assessment: Class Attendance 10%; Skills Assessment 30%; Moodle Activity & Lecture Viewing 20%; Case Studies across Modules 5–10 40%.
• Award: Accredited Advanced Professional Diploma

Course Description

This Advanced Professional Diploma in Addiction Studies provides comprehensive, academically grounded and clinically informed training for practitioners who wish to deepen their understanding of addiction across neurobiological, psychological, behavioural and psychoanalytic perspectives. The programme is designed for counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, social care practitioners, healthcare workers, educators and allied professionals who wish to develop specialist competence in working with addiction and its many presentations.

The course begins with the conceptual and historical foundations of addiction studies, including its etymology, key psychoanalytic terms such as the pleasure principle and jouissance, and the shift from moral models to contemporary biopsychosocial understanding. Learners then examine the neuroscience of addiction in depth, including the dopamine reward pathway, neuroplasticity, genetic and epigenetic vulnerability, and the psychodynamic and integrative perspectives that integrate neurobiology and unconscious meaning.

A central strength of the programme is its structured examination of psychological theories of addiction, spanning behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and attachment-based frameworks, alongside a dedicated module on behavioural addictions such as gambling, gaming, sex and love dependency, and compulsive shopping or eating. The programme then moves into sustained psychoanalytic territory, exploring transference and the social bond in addiction work, toxicomania and the addictification of contemporary society, addiction as the search for a lost object, and the wounded, trauma-related roots of addictive formations from a Freudian perspective.

The programme devotes a full module to Jacques Lacan's theory of need, demand and desire. It concludes with integration, ethics and the clinic of addiction, drawing together the psychoanalytic threads of the whole programme into a coherent, reflective clinical orientation. Freudian concepts, including the pleasure principle, repression, repetition compulsion, mourning and melancholia, and working-through, and Lacanian concepts, including jouissance, the object a, the Other, and the ethics of desire, are integrated throughout as substantive theoretical content, not as brief asides.

Practical application is central throughout the course, with case discussion, breakout-room case studies, skills practice and reflective exercises woven into every module. Learners are encouraged to think carefully about pacing, professional boundaries, scope of competence, supervision, countertransference and their own responses when working closely with addiction and its underlying psychic structure.

By the end, learners should be able to understand addiction from neurobiological, psychological, behavioural and psychoanalytic perspectives, apply structured assessment and formulation skills, and integrate psychoanalytically informed, ethically grounded practice into their own professional context. The programme supports reflective, informed and clinically responsible practice while emphasising that specialist addiction treatment, high-risk presentations and complex psychiatric comorbidity should be undertaken only by appropriately qualified professionals through recognised specialist training and appropriate supervision.

This programme is open to practitioners, students and members of the public who wish to deepen their understanding of addiction studies. Practitioners already working in counselling, psychotherapy, healthcare, education, or social care will find that the course strengthens their existing clinical skill set. It provides a structured, psychoanalytically enriched framework for addiction-informed practice. Students who are building toward a career in counselling or psychotherapy will benefit from an advanced theoretical and practical foundation that complements their ongoing studies. Members of the public with a personal interest in this area of study and who are considering a future career in counselling and psychotherapy are equally welcome to enrol.

Course Highlights

• Comprehensive advanced training in addiction studies across neurobiological, psychological and psychoanalytic perspectives
• Detailed exploration of the etymology, history and conceptual foundations of addiction
• In-depth coverage of the neuroscience of addiction, including the dopamine reward pathway and neuroplasticity
• Structured examination of behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and attachment-based psychological theories
• Dedicated module on behavioural addictions, including gambling, gaming, sex, love, shopping and food
• Sustained integration of Freudian concepts, including the pleasure principle, repetition and mourning
• Sustained integration of Lacanian concepts, including jouissance, the object a, need, demand and desire
• Applied focus on transference, countertransference and the social bond in addiction work
• Exploration of toxicomania and the addictification of contemporary consumer society
• Conceptualisation of addiction as the search for a lost object, loss and psychic void
• Deep exploration of trauma, defence and addictive formations from a Freudian perspective
• A dedicated module on Lacan's theory of need, demand and desire and its clinical implications
• Strong emphasis on ethics, boundaries, supervision and the practitioner's own countertransference
• Strong emphasis on skills practice, breakout-room case studies and reflective learning
• Final integration of the programme's psychoanalytic threads into a coherent clinical orientation
• Suitable for practitioners seeking to formalise existing addiction-related experience within an advanced academic framework
• Accessible to students building toward a career in counselling, psychotherapy, or allied helping professions
• Open to members of the public with a personal interest in addiction studies
• Flexible, live-online delivery designed to suit practitioners, students and members of the public, balancing work, study and personal commitments
• Rigorous, academically robust approach that values psychoanalytic depth alongside applied clinical skill

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this programme, learners will be able to:

1. Define addiction, toxicomania and behavioural addiction, and trace their conceptual and historical development.
2. Explain the neuroscience of addiction, including the dopamine reward pathway, neuroplasticity and genetic vulnerability.
3. Compare behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and attachment-based theories of addiction and their clinical implications.
4. Recognise and work with major behavioural addictions, including gambling, gaming, sex, love, shopping and food.
5. Apply Freudian concepts, including the pleasure principle, repetition compulsion and mourning, to addiction presentations.
6. Apply Lacanian concepts, including jouissance, the object a, and need, demand and desire, to addiction presentations.
7. Establish and work with transference, countertransference and the social bond in addiction-focused clinical work.
8. Critically evaluate the addictification of contemporary consumer culture and the modern imperative to enjoy.
9. Conceptualise addiction as a search for a lost object and understand its structural relationship to loss and lack.
10. Understand addiction as a defensive formation arising from trauma, dissociation and failures of containment.
11. Distinguish need, demand and desire, and apply this framework to the addicted subject's relation to the Other.
12. Apply ethical principles specific to addiction work, including boundaries, the therapeutic frame and safeguarding.
13. Recognise vicarious trauma, countertransference strain and the importance of supervision in addiction practice.
14. Integrate neurobiological, psychological and psychoanalytic perspectives into a coherent clinical orientation.
15. Integrate psychoanalytically informed addiction studies into existing professional practice.
16. Build an advanced theoretical and clinical foundation for further study in counselling and psychotherapy.
17. Reflect on personal responses and assumptions about addiction within a safe, structured and supported learning environment.

Additional Information

This programme provides an advanced professional foundation in addiction studies, integrating neurobiological, psychological and psychoanalytic perspectives. It is not a full specialist training in addiction medicine, psychiatric treatment or any single addiction-treatment modality. It does not qualify participants to practise outside their existing scope of competence. Learners should apply the material within their existing professional role, training background and ethical responsibilities.

The course is particularly relevant for professionals who encounter addiction, compulsive behaviour or dual diagnosis in their work. Learners are encouraged to seek appropriate supervision, further specialist training and referral pathways when working with acute withdrawal, medical complications, safeguarding concerns, severe psychiatric comorbidity or presentations requiring specialist addiction or medical services.

The Freudian and Lacanian material included throughout the programme is presented as substantive theoretical content central to this course's advanced, psychoanalytically informed orientation to addiction. These concepts should never be used to impose interpretation prematurely or to replace evidence-informed, collaborative and client-centred care. Instead, they support listening carefully to speech, repetition, desire, and the symbolic or relational meanings that may shape the relationship, all held alongside humility, ethical restraint, and appropriate supervision.

Learners should understand that addiction work can raise difficult and sometimes distressing material, both clinically and personally, and that the client's safety, consent, pace and lived experience must remain central throughout. Compassionate, psychoanalytically informed practice can enrich assessment and support when held alongside evidence-informed practice and clear professional boundaries.

Teaching is delivered live online and includes lecturer-led input, case discussion, breakout-room case studies, skills practice and reflective exercises. Learners are expected to actively engage with the live sessions, Moodle LMS materials, self-directed reading, reflective tasks and assessment preparation. The programme supports students in developing not only academic knowledge but also professional judgement, ethical reasoning, self-awareness and the capacity to work confidently and reflectively with addiction.

The course may support continuing professional development for counsellors, psychotherapists, trainees, social care workers, healthcare professionals, educators, psychologists, supervisors, community workers and allied professionals. Students should consult the lecturer, course leader or academic registry office if they require clarification regarding accreditation, assessment, attendance, professional pathway requirements, suitability, scope of practice or progression.

This programme welcomes practitioners, students and members of the public alike. Practitioners already working in counselling, psychotherapy, healthcare, education or social care are encouraged to use the course to consolidate and extend their existing knowledge of addiction studies through advanced psychoanalytic perspectives. Students working toward a qualification in counselling or psychotherapy will find the course a rigorous foundation that complements their wider studies. Members of the public, including those with a personal interest in this area of study, are warmly encouraged to enrol.

The College recognises that learners come to this subject from diverse personal and professional backgrounds, and the course is designed to be rigorous and meaningful regardless of prior experience. Reflective exercises, case discussion and skills practice are structured to support learners at all levels, while maintaining the academic depth expected of an Advanced Professional Diploma for Level 8/9 CPD learners. Learners are encouraged to engage honestly and thoughtfully with the material, and to seek appropriate support, supervision or further training where relevant to their personal circumstances or professional development goals.

Course Curriculum — Ten Modules

Assessment & Course Completion

Your overall course mark is calculated from four assessment components, totalling 100%.

• Class Attendance — 10%: A minimum of 80% attendance at live online classes is required. Attendance is recorded automatically through Zoom and reconciled by the Registry.
• Skills Assessment — 30% (Mandatory): A demonstrated skills assessment is observed by the lecturer. A minimum passing grade of 80% in the skills assessment is required to receive the course award. Learners who do not achieve 80% at their first attempt will be offered a resubmission opportunity.
• Moodle Activity & Lecture Viewing — 20% (Mandatory): Engagement is evidenced through Moodle activity logs, including lecture recordings viewed in full, resources accessed, module tasks completed and consistent weekly participation. Passive enrolment without activity will not meet this requirement.
• Case Studies — Modules 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 — 40%: Six case-study submissions are completed across Modules 5–10, applying course concepts to practice. The six submissions collectively account for 40% of the overall course mark and are assessed against the published marking rubric on Moodle. This is the largest single component of the final grade.

Total Percentage Achievable: 100%. The minimum attendance requirement and mandatory skills and Moodle engagement requirements must also be met.

Regular attendance, sustained Moodle engagement and timely assessment submissions support successful progression through the course. If you fall behind or have any concerns about your progress, contact the Registry early for support.

Zoom Delivery

All live online classes are delivered via ICPS College's secure enterprise Zoom platform, providing a stable, professional and confidential environment for lecturer-led teaching, discussion and skills practice. Students are expected to engage fully with live sessions, including breakout room discussions and applied skills practice, to gain the maximum benefit from the programme.

Given the personal and reflective nature of some of the material covered in this course, students are encouraged to attend live sessions from a private, confidential space and to take breaks or seek support where needed. Students experiencing technical difficulties should contact the College promptly so that alternative arrangements can be made where possible.

Moodle LMS

Students are provided with access to the College's Moodle Learning Management System, where lecture notes, reading materials, module resources and assessment guidance are made available throughout the course. The Moodle LMS supports independent study and allows students to revisit key concepts, review recorded material where applicable, and prepare thoroughly for assessment.

Students are expected to engage regularly with the Moodle LMS as part of their self-directed learning hours. The platform is updated throughout the course to reflect the content covered in live sessions and to support consistent, structured academic progression.