The unit has two aims: to improve students’ understanding of, and ability to, practice the fundamental aspects of psychodynamic therapy, and to use these skills to manage the therapeutic relationship and the therapeutic process when delivering treatment in other orientations (for example, cognitive behavioural therapy). Topics covered include how personality impacts the therapeutic process, boundaries, anxieties and defences, cyclical maladaptive relationship patterns, implementing change in psychodynamic therapy, managing transference and counter-transference, psychodynamic case formulation, and adapting psychodynamic therapy with people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder or narcissistic personality disorder. There is a focus in the unit on learning practical skills that can be applied with clients.