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Advanced Professional Diploma in Addiction Studies (Live-Online)- ICPS College



IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON ENROLMENT & SECURING YOUR PLACE

 

  • Course Status: Fully Accredited (Pending Re-Accreditation to Advanced Version)

  • Schedule: 1 Class per Week (3 Hours)

 

 

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:Written Assignment and/or Viva Voca Assessment and/or Skills Assessment


Award:Accredited Advanced Professional Diploma

 

Course Accreditation




 

 

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, and 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,n 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:

  • Define addiction, toxicomania and behavioural addiction, and trace their conceptual and historical development.

  • Explain the neuroscience of addiction, including the dopamine reward pathway, neuroplasticity and genetic vulnerability.

  • Compare behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and attachment-based theories of addiction and their clinical implications.

  • Recognise and work with major behavioural addictions, including gambling, gaming, sex, love, shopping and food.

  • Apply Freudian concepts, including the pleasure principle, repetition compulsion and mourning, to addiction presentations.

  • Apply Lacanian concepts, including jouissance, the object a, and need, demand and desire, to addiction presentations.

  • Establish and work with transference, countertransference and the social bond in addiction-focused clinical work.

  • Critically evaluate the addictification of contemporary consumer culture and the modern imperative to enjoy.

  • Conceptualise addiction as a search for a lost object and understand its structural relationship to loss and lack.

  • Understand addiction as a defensive formation arising from trauma, dissociation and failures of containment.

  • Distinguish need, demand and desire, and apply this framework to the addicted subject's relation to the Other.

  • Apply ethical principles specific to addiction work, including boundaries, the therapeutic frame and safeguarding.

  • Recognise vicarious trauma, countertransference strain and the importance of supervision in addiction practice.

  • Integrate neurobiological, psychological and psychoanalytic perspectives into a coherent clinical orientation.

  • Practitioners will be able to integrate psychoanalytically informed addiction studies into their existing professional practice.

  • Students will be able to build an advanced theoretical and clinical foundation for further study in counselling and psychotherapy.

  • All learners will be able to reflect on their own responses and assumptions about addiction in 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, always 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.

 

 

Module 1 – Introduction to Addiction Studies

 

  • Conceptual foundations: etymology, key terms and psychoanalytic frames

  • A-diction, diction and toxicomania: the linguistic and psychoanalytic roots of addiction

  • The pleasure principle (Freud) and jouissance (Lacan) as regulatory principles

  • The urgency, immediacy and demand that characterise addictive behaviour

  • Key definitions and diagnostic characteristics from DSM-5-TR and ICD-11

  • Substance and behavioural categories, with illustrative case examples

  • Historical evolution of addiction, from moral failing to biopsychosocial understanding

  • Addressing common myths and facts, and the biopsychosocial model

  • Impact on individuals and families, including safeguarding considerations

  • Skills practice in reframing case presentations through a trauma-informed lens

 

Module 2 – The Neuroscience of Addiction

 

  • Addiction as brain disease: reward, stress and executive-control systems

  • The dopamine reward pathway and substance-induced hijacking of natural reward

  • Neuroplasticity, habit formation and the shift from goal-directed to habitual control

  • Genetic vulnerability, epigenetics and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

  • Prefrontal cortex changes, amygdala hyperactivity, withdrawal and cue-induced craving

  • Psychodynamic and integrative perspectives: holding neuroscience and psychic conflict together

  • Skills practice in applying neuroscience and self-medication frameworks to a case example

 

Module 3 – Psychological Theories of Addiction

 

  • Behavioural psychology: classical conditioning, operant reinforcement and social learning

  • Cognitive approaches: addictive thinking patterns and CBT-based relapse prevention

  • Psychodynamic theories: unconscious conflict, the self-medication hypothesis and defence patterns

  • Attachment and developmental psychology: insecure attachment as a vulnerability factor

  • Personality disorders and dual diagnosis: prevalence and treatment complexities

  • The therapeutic relationship: empathy, trust, boundaries and countertransference

  • Professional assessment instruments: ASI, CAGE, AUDIT and DAST

  • Skills practice in reframing cognitive distortions and mapping the behavioural habit loop

 

Module 4 – Behavioural Addictions

 

  • Conceptual framework: behavioural addictions and shared neurobiological features

  • Gambling disorder: diagnostic criteria, brain science and co-occurring presentations

  • Gaming and internet addiction: classification, presentation and cultural context

  • Sex, love and relationship dependency: clinical perspectives and diagnostic controversy

  • Compulsive buying and food addiction: emotional regulation and shared mechanisms

  • Treatment approaches: CBT, motivational interviewing and group therapy/peer support.

  • The classification debate: clinical legitimacy versus the risk of over-pathologising

  • Skills practice in foundational counselling skills for behavioural addiction presentations

 

Module 5 – Addiction, Transference & the Social Bond

 

  • Freudian foundations of transference: displacement, anticipation and the stereotype plate

  • Positive and negative transference, and the shift from resistance to therapeutic instrument

  • Lacan on transference: the analyst as empty mirror and the subject supposed to know

  • Countertransference in theory and in addiction practice specifically

  • The difficulty of establishing transference when the substance offers a "perfect solution"

  • Creating a demand for treatment, and moving the subject from demand to desire

  • The analyst is the object cause of desire, and the restoration of the social bond through speech

  • Skills practice in the analytic stance and countertransference awareness

 

Module 6 – Toxicomania: One Form of Modern Enslavement

 

  • Defining toxicomania and distinguishing it from behavioural addiction

  • The pleasure principle, jouissance and the social bond of shared human speech

  • Need, demand, desire and symbolic castration as the precondition for desire

  • Freud's cocaine studies: why the subject, not the substance, determines the effect

  • Implications for the limits of substance-focused approaches to addiction

  • The addictification of contemporary consumer society and the modern command to enjoy

  • Guiding clinical principles: transference, speech, diagnosis and the role of abstinence

  • Skills practice in privileging speech and listening for jouissance and the social bond

 

Module 7 – Addiction: The Search for a Lost Object

 

  • Freud on mourning and melancholia, and structural parallels with addiction

  • The lost object in early development: absence, the transitional object and symbolisation

  • Desire, absence and substitution: the addictive object as a stand-in for the missing Other

  • Lacan's objet petit a and addiction's attempt to materialise the psychic void

  • Symbolic versus Real satisfaction and its clinical implications

  • The limits of recovery without subjective meaning and unmourned loss

  • Skills practice in listening for unexpressed loss and the function of the addictive object

 

Module 8 – Wounded Roots: Addiction & Trauma

 

  • Freud's theory of trauma: the protective shield, the compulsion to repeat and defence

  • Deep psychoanalytic framing: Ferenczi's confusion of tongues and Laplanche's enigmatic signifier

  • Affect, transitional objects and repetition compulsion in addictive formations.

  • PTSD, complex PTSD, dissociation and splitting as structural responses to trauma

  • Addiction as defence, compromise formation and an attempt at psychic repair

  • Trauma therapy, transference and trauma-informed care in addiction work

  • Formative assignment: 1,000-word essay on trauma, defence and addictive formation

  • Skills practice in recognising defences, hearing repetition and offering containment

 

Module 9 – Jacques Lacan: Need, Demand & Desire

 

  • Core distinctions between need, demand and desire

  • "Every demand is a demand for love": recognition and the gap that remains

  • The nature of desire: unsatisfiable, structural and the motor force of a life

  • Desire and the unconscious: the illusion of free choice and crystallised sentences

  • The neurotic strategy of renouncing desire, and the aim of bringing desire into existence

  • Addiction as a short-circuiting of desire, and the clinical task of reawakening it

  • Skills practice in listening for demand, recognition and desire within a case account

 

Module 10 – Integration, Ethics & the Clinic of Addiction

 

  • Integrating the psychoanalytic threads of the programme: transference, loss, trauma, desire and the social bond

  • From behaviour to structure: neurotic, psychotic and perverse relations to the substance

  • The ethics of desire in the clinic of addiction: not ceding on one's desire, and the tragic sense of life

  • Boundaries, the therapeutic frame and safeguarding in addiction practice

  • Countertransference and the practitioner's own desire in addiction work

  • Supervision, reflective practice and the wounded healer

  • Sustainable, ethical practice and synthesis of the whole programme

  • Formal skills assessment: a live, fishbowl-format demonstration of applied clinical and psychoanalytically informed skills, evaluated by two examiners to confirm each learner's readiness to apply course content ethically and professionally

 

 

Zoom Delivery

 

All live online classes for this programme are delivered through ICPS College's Secure Enterprise Zoom platform. This enterprise-level system has been selected to ensure a safe, stable and professional learning environment for all students. The platform supports encrypted video communication, secure waiting rooms and controlled access, ensuring that only registered students and approved lecturers can join live sessions. Breakout rooms are used for small-group discussion, case-based learning and skills practice, allowing students to engage closely with peers under the lecturer's guidance. Recordings of formal lectures are stored securely and made available to registered students through the College's learning systems to support review and revision. ICPS College is committed to maintaining the highest standards of data protection, confidentiality and student safety across all live online delivery, and technical support is available to students who require assistance accessing or using the platform throughout the course.

 

In addition to live lecture delivery, the Secure Enterprise Zoom platform enables the College to accurately manage attendance records, supporting compliance with the programme's attendance requirements. Screen sharing, digital whiteboards and interactive polling features are available to lecturers to enhance engagement and support varied learning styles during live sessions. The platform is regularly updated in line with the latest security protocols to protect against unauthorised access and to safeguard personal data in accordance with relevant data protection legislation. Students are provided with clear guidance on how to access and use the platform before the course begins, and technical assistance remains available throughout the programme. ICPS College views secure, reliable technology as an essential foundation for effective, respectful and professional live online learning.

 

 

Moodle LMS

 

ICPS College uses the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS) to support and structure every student's learning journey. Each student is provided with secure, personalised access to the Moodle platform, where they can access module materials, lecture notes, reading lists, reflective tasks and supplementary resources throughout the programme. The Moodle LMS also hosts recorded lecture content, revision materials and, where applicable, password-encrypted documents designed to protect academic content and preserve College branding. Students can track their own progress through the course, access assessment guidelines and submission portals, and communicate with lecturers and academic staff through structured, monitored channels. The platform is designed to be user-friendly and accessible, supporting students with varying levels of digital confidence. ICPS College continually reviews and updates its Moodle LMS resources to ensure that content remains current, relevant and aligned with best practice in addiction studies. Technical guidance and support are available to all students to ensure smooth access to the system. The Moodle LMS forms an integral part of the blended learning approach at ICPS College, complementing live online delivery and supporting self-directed learning, reflective practice and successful completion of the programme.

 

In addition to hosting learning materials, the Moodle LMS enables lecturers to provide timely feedback, share announcements, and communicate important programme updates. Students can access a structured overview of each module, allowing them to plan their self-directed learning alongside live online attendance. The system supports multimedia content, including video, audio and downloadable documents, catering to a range of learning preferences. Discussion forums may be used to facilitate peer engagement and reflective dialogue outside of live sessions, further supporting the development of professional and academic skills. Data held within the Moodle LMS is managed securely and in accordance with data protection requirements, ensuring student confidentiality is maintained at all times. The College regularly reviews the platform to ensure it remains user-friendly, accessible and fit for purpose. Students experiencing any difficulty accessing or navigating the Moodle LMS are encouraged to contact the academic registry office, which can provide guidance, technical support and any necessary accommodations.

 

 

Lecture Recording

 

Live online lectures for this programme are recorded only with the informed consent of all participants attending the session. No lecture will be recorded unless every student and lecturer present has agreed to the recording. If any participant does not consent, alternative arrangements will be made to ensure they are not recorded while still enabling them to engage fully with the live session. Recordings that do proceed with full consent are used solely for legitimate academic purposes, including student revision and review of course content. Consent may be withdrawn at any time, and students are encouraged to raise any concerns regarding recording directly with their lecturer or the academic registry office.

 

 

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