YAFTA Contributor Psychology Diploma
start date
February 2027
Duration
6 Months
Location
Leeds and Zoom
Study Method
Blended learning (both online and in-person)
Fees
£6500 (Finance options available)
About the Course
The YAFTA Diploma in Contributor Psychology, Ethics and Psychotherapy Skills has been developed for welfare staff currently working in TV production. The course aims to upskill existing welfare teams with the appropriate knowledge and practical skills to safely and competently fulfil welfare roles. The role of welfare bridges two fields: production and psychology, yet minimal training exists in this field. The role of welfare holds a huge amount of responsibility on a production set and those undertaking that role should receive proportionate training to ensure that they feel able and safe to undertake this work without causing psychological harm to themselves or others.
The course will be led by Dr Charlotte Armitage who is a psychologist and psychotherapist, specialising in duty of care and contributor psychology. Dr Charlotte has worked as the duty of care mental health professional for productions including:
Big Brother, Celebrity Big Brother, TOWIE, Made in Chelsea, Celebrity Ex on the Beach, Celebs go Dating, Naked Attraction, Embarrassing Bodies, Kill List, My Dead Body, Girlfriends, Hollyoaks, Heartstopper, Missing Dead or Alive.
Dr Charlotte is the course lead for the UK’s first Duty of Care in TV Production Diploma for registered Mental health professionals. After nearly a decade working in duty of care in TV, she identified two key training gaps in the industry. She has since developed two courses to address these gaps and promote safer welfare practices across the industry.
“Charlotte’s experience and skills in this field are second to none. The depth of her knowledge, expertise, and passion for the subject matter is clear as well as the evidently strong ethical standards she upholds and strives to embed in the industry.
The delivery of the course is excellent. The sessions are very well-paced, interactive, and thoughtfully structured, ensuring that complex topics and practice issues are presented in a clear and accessible way. The sessions are rich and detailed. Crucially, they are very much grounded in the practical aspects of this work. The variety of activities, discussions, and real-world examples are superb and help to reinforce learning. I feel like I am learning best practices and developing fundamental skills and knowledge from the most credible and robust professional in this niche area.”
Dr Muireann McSwiney
April 2026 Duty of Care Diploma Graduate. Educational Psychologist (CPsychol, HCPC)
Contributor Psychology, Ethics & Psychotherapy Skills for Welfare Staff
The course has been designed to ensure your productions are safe and legally defensible by ensuring that your welfare staff are appropriately trained in contributor psychology, ethics and psychotherapy skills, and taught by experienced and registered duty of care psychological professionals.
Block 1
- Introduction to Contributor Psychology & Contributor Care.
- Psychoanalytic Approaches to Personality Development
- Humanistic Approaches to Personality Development
- Assignment: Reflective Practice and written assignment.
Block 2
- Systemic Approaches to personality development
- Systemic approaches to contributor care
- Armitage Dual Ecology Framework of Contributor Care.
- Assignment.
Block 3
- The therapeutic relationship and therapeutic frames
- Transference and Countertransference
- Psychological Defences
- Understanding Psychological Teams and Professions
- Assignment.
Block 4
- Understanding the development of coping strategies, emotional regulation, and interpersonal relating from psychoanalytic, humanistic and systemic perspectives.
- Introduction to practical counselling and psychotherapy skills- role plays
- Assignment.
Block 5
- Ethics and boundaries in clinical care
- Clinical scenarios and Feedback- Reality TV or true crime/documentary
- Working with victims of PTSD, trauma and sexual assault
- Assignment.
Block 6
- Final clinical scenarios- recorded sessions
- Clinical Supervision and your own welfare.
- Working within your area of expertise
- When and how to escalate.
Each of the six teaching blocks includes an assignment related to the topics taught and providing an opportunity for reflection and understanding of the course content.
“I have known and worked with Charlotte for some years, and have seen her grow the business of YAFTA with admiration. She is a committed, industrious and creative individual with good people skills, and has built a good business which helps and inspires lots of people.
The specifically designed syllabus at YAFTA which covers training on all industry aspects ensures that YAFTA produces well rounded performers who are not only skilled at their craft but also knowledgable about the realities of working in the industry. I’ve been really impressed by the standards and attitudes of students who have gone through the YAFTA training programme.
As a professional working in the industry, YAFTA is a brilliant resource for finding new talent, and this is primarily down to Charlotte’s work there”.
Ian Bevitt
Director of Coronation Street and Emmerdale
Course specifics
Attendance
The programme is a blended learning part-time course, requiring attendance for one long weekend per month (Friday to Sunday) for 6 months.
The course will take place in Leeds. Attendees can join in person or online; however, in-person attendance is preferable. Classroom attendance is essential for clinical scenario and role-play sessions.
Alternatively, production companies can choose to offer this to their teams in-house over one day a week or one three-day block per month for 6 months.
Course fees are £6500
Payment options are available.
Discounts are available for group bookings.
The course is undergoing CPD accreditation.
Application Process
There are a limited number of places on this course.
Please complete your application form using the link below. We will assess your application form and if you are offered a place on the course you will be sent an offer letter with further instructions of how to register and enrol on the programme.
