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Metanoia Institute
Hello all,
Does anyone have any experience of psychotherapy training at Metanoia Institute?
I've always thought of it as the top place to go in London and have been planning on applying. But I happened to look it up on Glassdoor today and reading the overwhelmingly negative reviews (talk of bullying, mocking, toxicity etc.) has me thinking twice.
I'd appreciate any feedback from people who know the institute.
Thanks
Does anyone have any experience of psychotherapy training at Metanoia Institute?
I've always thought of it as the top place to go in London and have been planning on applying. But I happened to look it up on Glassdoor today and reading the overwhelmingly negative reviews (talk of bullying, mocking, toxicity etc.) has me thinking twice.
I'd appreciate any feedback from people who know the institute.
Thanks
Scroll to see replies
Original post by Jade199
Hello all,
Does anyone have any experience of psychotherapy training at Metanoia Institute?
I've always thought of it as the top place to go in London and have been planning on applying. But I happened to look it up on Glassdoor today and reading the overwhelmingly negative reviews (talk of bullying, mocking, toxicity etc.) has me thinking twice.
I'd appreciate any feedback from people who know the institute.
Thanks
Does anyone have any experience of psychotherapy training at Metanoia Institute?
I've always thought of it as the top place to go in London and have been planning on applying. But I happened to look it up on Glassdoor today and reading the overwhelmingly negative reviews (talk of bullying, mocking, toxicity etc.) has me thinking twice.
I'd appreciate any feedback from people who know the institute.
Thanks
Hey, current Metanoia student here!
I'm currently training as a PCE-CfD Counsellor at Metanoia (graduating 2025) and I believe I saw those negative Glassdoor reviews too before starting. However, my experience at Metanoia is the opposite - I find the staff, lecturers and importantly my peers extremely supportive and kind. The current cohort is lovely - we are all quite close with one another, and I've made some really strong friendships with most of them. Happy to vouch for Metanoia and its comfortable couches!
Original post by DRSandhu
Hey, current Metanoia student here!
I'm currently training as a PCE-CfD Counsellor at Metanoia (graduating 2025) and I believe I saw those negative Glassdoor reviews too before starting. However, my experience at Metanoia is the opposite - I find the staff, lecturers and importantly my peers extremely supportive and kind. The current cohort is lovely - we are all quite close with one another, and I've made some really strong friendships with most of them. Happy to vouch for Metanoia and its comfortable couches!
I'm currently training as a PCE-CfD Counsellor at Metanoia (graduating 2025) and I believe I saw those negative Glassdoor reviews too before starting. However, my experience at Metanoia is the opposite - I find the staff, lecturers and importantly my peers extremely supportive and kind. The current cohort is lovely - we are all quite close with one another, and I've made some really strong friendships with most of them. Happy to vouch for Metanoia and its comfortable couches!
Hi, this is great, thank you for the feedback. Would you mind if I messaged you? If not no worries, I appreciate the opinion you shared as is 🙂
Original post by JoPellet
Hi, I have done some counselling training at other institutions and the quality of teaching at Metanoia eclipses it all by far. Everyone is friendly, helpful and the learning on offer is exceptionally high. I would highly recommend! Best choice I've ever made :-)
Hi JoPellet,
May I ask how long you've been there? Did you begin before the most recent change of director?
Thanks!
Original post by Jade199
Hi, this is great, thank you for the feedback. Would you mind if I messaged you? If not no worries, I appreciate the opinion you shared as is 🙂
Yes of course, no problem.
Original post by Jade199
Hi JoPellet,
May I ask how long you've been there? Did you begin before the most recent change of director?
Thanks!
May I ask how long you've been there? Did you begin before the most recent change of director?
Thanks!
Hi, I've been here since Sept 2022 x
Hmm... Personally, I'd be sceptical about the opinions of two first time posters who just happened to have joined today...
Original post by Jade199
Hello all,
Does anyone have any experience of psychotherapy training at Metanoia Institute?
I've always thought of it as the top place to go in London and have been planning on applying. But I happened to look it up on Glassdoor today and reading the overwhelmingly negative reviews (talk of bullying, mocking, toxicity etc.) has me thinking twice.
I'd appreciate any feedback from people who know the institute.
Thanks
Does anyone have any experience of psychotherapy training at Metanoia Institute?
I've always thought of it as the top place to go in London and have been planning on applying. But I happened to look it up on Glassdoor today and reading the overwhelmingly negative reviews (talk of bullying, mocking, toxicity etc.) has me thinking twice.
I'd appreciate any feedback from people who know the institute.
Thanks
Hi, I'm a student at Metanoia studying the PCE-CfD course and I have found everyone at Metanoia to be incredibly supportive and helpful. The quality of teaching is very high and would recommend to anyone interested in taking the counselling training route.
And now there's a third one joined today! Who'd have thought that could happen...
Original post by ageshallnot
Hmm... Personally, I'd be sceptical about the opinions of two first time posters who just happened to have joined today...
Yes, joined today as our cohort was made aware of the comment today. So I felt compelled to come and respond to it. Happy to discuss further / prove I’m a student if that eases your mind.
Original post by DRSandhu
Yes, joined today as our cohort was made aware of the comment today. So I felt compelled to come and respond to it. Happy to discuss further / prove I’m a student if that eases your mind.
Thanks for confirming that the wave of support for your institution wasn't spontaneous.
I leave it to the OP to make their own mind up about whether to apply.
Original post by ageshallnot
Thanks for confirming that the wave of support for your institution wasn't spontaneous.
I leave it to the OP to make their own mind up about whether to apply.
I leave it to the OP to make their own mind up about whether to apply.
Ha, funny isn't it
Original post by gjd800
Ha, funny isn't it
Yep! 😆
Original post by DRSandhu
Yes, joined today as our cohort was made aware of the comment today. So I felt compelled to come and respond to it. Happy to discuss further / prove I’m a student if that eases your mind.
When you say your cohort was made aware of the comment do you mean Metanoia made you aware? Did the institute encourage students to reply to this post?
Original post by ageshallnot
Yep! 😆
It does make it tricky! I was really shocked by the glassdoor comments, toxic environment etc., the exact opposite of what you'd expect and need from a therapy training programme. The courses are all so incredibly expensive across all providers that it's a very tough call.
I'd be worried about an institute that asks its students to respond to a concerned post. I'd be more impressed if they admitted there was a problem, communicated about it, and showed what they'd done to change things.
Original post by Jade199
It does make it tricky! I was really shocked by the glassdoor comments, toxic environment etc., the exact opposite of what you'd expect and need from a therapy training programme. The courses are all so incredibly expensive across all providers that it's a very tough call.
I'd be worried about an institute that asks its students to respond to a concerned post. I'd be more impressed if they admitted there was a problem, communicated about it, and showed what they'd done to change things.
I'd be worried about an institute that asks its students to respond to a concerned post. I'd be more impressed if they admitted there was a problem, communicated about it, and showed what they'd done to change things.
I believe that you're on the right lines...
Original post by ageshallnot
And now there's a third one joined today! Who'd have thought that could happen...
This was brought to my attention but by no means was I told to reply, I just dont agree with misrepresentation and have had a very different experience so feel important to share that.
Original post by Jade199
It does make it tricky! I was really shocked by the glassdoor comments, toxic environment etc., the exact opposite of what you'd expect and need from a therapy training programme. The courses are all so incredibly expensive across all providers that it's a very tough call.
I'd be worried about an institute that asks its students to respond to a concerned post. I'd be more impressed if they admitted there was a problem, communicated about it, and showed what they'd done to change things.
I'd be worried about an institute that asks its students to respond to a concerned post. I'd be more impressed if they admitted there was a problem, communicated about it, and showed what they'd done to change things.
I can't speak for what it's like for people working at Metanoia. I was lucky to have secured a place on the funded training programme, but understand that it's a big decision (also financially) so not to be taken lightly. I also see your point about wanting Metanoia to respond to the allegations of bullying, but simply can't speak on that as my experience is only as a student. Happy to answer any questions related to what it's like studying there, feel free to DM me.
I'm a graduate of Metanoia and spent five years there, although that was about ten years ago. As someone with experience of different trainings (as a student, as prospective student and through professional trainings and CPD activities), I think it's never an easy choice which training to pursue.They all have positives and negatives and Metanoia is no different. With hindsight, I would have trained elsewhere, even more so today than when I made the decision. As an institution, they always seemed to be disorganised, bureaucratic like a large institution and unable to bring in and retain external talent. For many years, almost everyone who taught there was trained there too, which for obvious reasons makes for a myopic inward-looking learning environment. This contrasts to their diverse student population compared to many trainings, which I think is a huge plus and a good reason to train there.
They want to appear academically rigorous and try hard to conform to various academic standards, at least in terms of ticking boxes, but in my opinion there were few people there who were deeply knowledgable in an academic sense. They may have been good clinicians, but that’s difficult to assess except sometimes in the group ‘fishbowl’ exercises. Generally, most tutors were supportive, kind and wanted us to do well and grow. At one point, some of the older generation of tutors were still there and they seemed very knowledgeable as well as clinically experienced. Looking at their staff lists every year or so, it seems as though they change people frequently. I imagine this is reflective of the work environment, though I don’t know for certain the reasons for the high turnover.
I think they are very concerned about their reputation and in my view quite defensively so. As an institution they were founded by some bright, humanistically-oriented, progressive (and eccentric) South African psychologists at a time when psychoanalytic training was the norm and being gay was pathologised in the DSM. They were the underdog and I think this has led to some of the systemic defensive issues they have today.
To be fair, all the trainings will have their particular weaknesses and it’s not that Metanoia doesn’t provide a good enough training. It does, but it could be so much more. I found it to be neither academically rigorous nor experientially deep, at least not compared to some of the other trainings I know well. In part, it’s due to the weekend format that creates an environment where people come together for two days and then don’t see each other again until the following training weekend, compared to trainings that are one full day per week. The good part about this is that it makes training possible for a lot of people who otherwise could not take time off for courses that require one day per week - that means a much more diverse student population too. The negative, at least in my person experience, is that it’s less intense and with fewer training hours. Again, this is not to say that isn't intensive as a training, which also includes all the other dimensions that are required (therapy, supervision, training placement, reading, etc), but it affects the 'feel' of the course. Training to be a psychotherapist is a hard, and at times painful, process at so many different levels.
At the end of the day, any course is just one part of a training and there is huge scope to to shape your own learning, and the depth of your learning, by thoughtfully choosing clinical placements, supervisors, your own therapist and readings. Metanoia does not stop you in that regard and in my experience were generally quite open-minded about these choices.
They want to appear academically rigorous and try hard to conform to various academic standards, at least in terms of ticking boxes, but in my opinion there were few people there who were deeply knowledgable in an academic sense. They may have been good clinicians, but that’s difficult to assess except sometimes in the group ‘fishbowl’ exercises. Generally, most tutors were supportive, kind and wanted us to do well and grow. At one point, some of the older generation of tutors were still there and they seemed very knowledgeable as well as clinically experienced. Looking at their staff lists every year or so, it seems as though they change people frequently. I imagine this is reflective of the work environment, though I don’t know for certain the reasons for the high turnover.
I think they are very concerned about their reputation and in my view quite defensively so. As an institution they were founded by some bright, humanistically-oriented, progressive (and eccentric) South African psychologists at a time when psychoanalytic training was the norm and being gay was pathologised in the DSM. They were the underdog and I think this has led to some of the systemic defensive issues they have today.
To be fair, all the trainings will have their particular weaknesses and it’s not that Metanoia doesn’t provide a good enough training. It does, but it could be so much more. I found it to be neither academically rigorous nor experientially deep, at least not compared to some of the other trainings I know well. In part, it’s due to the weekend format that creates an environment where people come together for two days and then don’t see each other again until the following training weekend, compared to trainings that are one full day per week. The good part about this is that it makes training possible for a lot of people who otherwise could not take time off for courses that require one day per week - that means a much more diverse student population too. The negative, at least in my person experience, is that it’s less intense and with fewer training hours. Again, this is not to say that isn't intensive as a training, which also includes all the other dimensions that are required (therapy, supervision, training placement, reading, etc), but it affects the 'feel' of the course. Training to be a psychotherapist is a hard, and at times painful, process at so many different levels.
At the end of the day, any course is just one part of a training and there is huge scope to to shape your own learning, and the depth of your learning, by thoughtfully choosing clinical placements, supervisors, your own therapist and readings. Metanoia does not stop you in that regard and in my experience were generally quite open-minded about these choices.
(edited 7 months ago)
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