MA addiction studies DBS

metamorphosis

Hey people

Anyone have any experience or know what this masters is like in DBS?

Cheers.

hotspur

I did it and was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the lecturers and the course. It was very enjoyable and I got a lot out of it. It is an academic course, so it isn't a training to become an addiction worker as such. The class was a mix of people working in the field and graduates of psychology who were interested in addiction. I was the latter.

I can highly recommend it as a good course, and I'm a very critical person when it comes to the quality of courses.

bipolka

hotspur,

1) i am thinking of doing this course as my first masters, following my ba in psychology. would i be able to pursue any research degree in a similar area (within clinical psy, disability/rehab studies, etc.) in ireland, if i complete this course? or would i still have to do another taught course after it, before i can get into research?

2) from what i read, the program places considerable emphasis on psychoanalysis: why is that? is this the 'mainstream' path with addiction studies?

thanx!

Odysseus

I haven't done that MA I did my degree and a Research MA in Psychoanalysis in DBS so I know the quality of the course as some of my mates did it and I have worked in the Addiction Services for over a decade. I rate the course as one of the best courses around addiction in Ireland.

Yes, there is a stong psychoanalytic element to the course and it is not part of main stream treatment, however, myself and other psychotherapists/counsellors within the HSE Addiction Services would work that way. So it will help you in working with addicted subjects, however, it is important to note this is not a clinical training programme, however, it would cover the educational requirements for membership to the IAAAC.

I can't answer your question around it helping you access further research training, as I'm a psychotherapist not a psychologist; however, from what I remember there is a strong research and social policy aspect to the programme, so I would guess it would help.

The downside that I'm aware of it that the admin side of things in DBS in not great, when I done my BA there it was LSB at the time and tbh the place was like a large family/small community. This changed in 2000 when DBS took over. Overall if you are interested in addiction I would recommemd it, the lecturers are top class with years of experience in the field. The reason it has a strong psychoanalytic element is the course was developed by the psychoanalytic unit there. If you want an idea of the course content, the head of the unit Rik Loose wrote "The Subject of Addiction" which is an excellent book and it will give you an idea of the psychoanalytic content. If I remember correctly Key Concepts in Chemical Dependency by Dewiko is the core text in the theories of addiction module.

Hope that helps a tad.

bipolka

@Odysseus: that helps a lot actually, thank you for the detailed info! gives me a fair idea. will order that book too.

Odysseus

bipolka wrote: »

@Odysseus: that helps a lot actually, thank you for the detailed info! gives me a fair idea. will order that book too.

No probs, if I can be of any futher help don't be afaird to ask, Hotspur will probably add more info as well; he may be able to help you more with your research questions as he has a psychology background. The thing is I can't believe the difference in fees the last time I looked the course fees where 7,500. It's the same with the Research MA in Psychoanalysis I did there, it's 7,500 each year. When I done it, the fees where 1,700 and 1,900 punts. I'm starting back study myself and can't believe the fees some places are charging, I'm luckly that the MSc I'm signed up for is 3,500e in year one and 4,000 in the second year.

bipolka

@Odysseus: thank you so much! yes, i found that the fees for some of the courses are even higher than berkeley or stanford - which is funny, considering it's in, say, university of cork! celtic tiger miracles :P

hotspur

Hi bipolka, the course tends to be used more by people with an interest in the clinical side of things even though it is a taught academic course. The thesis is a large component of it, however the research methodology teaching was of a poor standard when I did it a few years ago. It may have improved since then.

In what esteem it is held by those admitting students for doctoral level psychology research degrees I honestly don't know. My advice is that if you have an eye on a particular research degree(s) for the future then get in touch with them and informally ask them. The mere fact of doing a masters level research thesis should give you a lot of confidence in going forward for doctoral level work.

If you are considering a further research degree in addiction then it is surely the best taught masters you can choose.

Psychoanalytic perspectives played a part in the syllabus, as Odysseus pointed out, because the department has expertise in that area, no other good reason. However it had a wide ranging syllabus. And the psychoanalytically informed modules were actually fascinating.

Rik Loose who is responsible for that is a serious and impressive thinker, he is a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and has spent many years working in addiction - he used to work in the Rutland. And Barry O'Donnell who is also psychoanalytic in orientation is great too.

They used to fly a lecturer in from Britain once a week to teach us. And if Andrew Honeyman still teaches there he's fantastic.

A lot of people who do the course go on to train as therapists. Some choose to train psychoanalytically and more choose other modalities.

bipolka

@hotspur: thank you for so detailed a reply! very interesting. we'll have done plenty of research methodology in my undergrad stage (actually, 2 big modules alone, and a thesis, to address just that): so i m hoping this would suffice for now i'm delighted that the course is so clinically-driven, otherwise it would be just too much sociological water

Odysseus

Just to let you know Bipolka, there are a few of us over in the psychology forum that are always interested in a discussion around addiction, if you want to discuss any aspect of addiction or addiction treatment in Ireland.

grind gremlin

Are classes during the day for the part time MA in addiction studies or would they be in the evening?

mkahnisbent

From what I know about their lecturers I would not go to DBS.

For example, they employ people with zero work experience to teach management.

I accept the lecturers on this particular course may be good, but I could not trust a college who do things like the one I mentioned above.

devlidan

Hey,

I am looking for some information about the Certificate in Addiction Studies in Maynnoth, has anyone heard about this and whether it is any good?

Thanks:o