THERAPEUTIC COUNSELLING
ADVANCED DIPLOMA IN THERAPEUTIC COUNSELLING
This three-year course is designed to train professional counselors who can gain employment in the National Health Service, occupational health departments, health projects, and private practice.
The course develops a therapist’s capacity to meet the client where they are and assess what skills and approach would most support the therapeutic movement of the client.
Our unique therapeutic approach is called the Integrative Core Capacity Model. We also refer to it as “life skills therapy”. This approach originated from extended observation and experimentation gained from 25 years of clinical practice, working with people from all walks of life experiencing a wide spectrum of issues and problems.
It takes into account skills and ideas from person-centered, gestalt, brief and rational emotive approaches. This approach has proven to be an effective therapy for clients and supportive for the therapist as well.
Our philosophy and approach are anchored in developing a high degree of practical skills for interacting with the client. This includes using the principles of brain functioning and emotional intelligence in how we feed back and assess what is happening with the client and the session. Through this we use the persons situation as an opportunity to develop evidence of their choices, awareness of how they perceive and to uncover the path to their empowerment.
WHAT WILL I LEARN?
Counselling develops a client’s understanding of their predicament. That is, their problematic situation and who they are in it. It creates a therapeutic environment where they can explore their options while developing their sense of self and their responsibility for their life.
So you can do this too, we teach you how to:
- Manage client interactions, including clients that are difficult to work with
- Build healthy relationships, engagement and rapport with clients
- Take detailed case histories
- Assess client behaviors and needs, and identify which skills and approaches are most applicable
- Work safely, respectfully and empathetically
- Work with your own motives, emotions, mind and self with more awareness
Throughout the three years, you will have an opportunity to develop your own understanding of where psychological problems come from and how to work with them. Our approach enables you to apply them to many typical problems including relationships, bereavement, anger and depression.
This course produces flexible practitioners who can use a wide range of therapeutic tools to meet individual client needs “in the moment”, while making sure they are looking after themselves in the process.
Learning about yourself, how to really listen, how to meet people therapeutically, observing patterns of behavior and learning to recognize genuine sincerity will likely have a real impact on you and your life. This impact is positive and necessary, and will make a difference when meeting delicate or vulnerable experiences with clients.
You will also be learning new ideas and theories about people and how they function as well as skills and strategies for helping them. And not every one learns in the same way!
Throughout the course you will be in an individual learning partnership with the tutor. You will meet regularly to discuss your learning process and to assess the best ways to support you. Along with this, there will be supervision sessions and group discussions to aid and nourish your capacity to grow personally and adjust to the impact of new awareness and realizations.
This entire approach will give you a different experience of the learning process so you can bring learning into the quality of your therapy.
COURSE STRUCTURE
DURATION
Three years
FORMAT
Each year has ten two-day blocks, usually weekends, roughly one month apart. The training days on weekends start at 9.00am and run till around 6.00pm on Saturdays and 5.30pm on Sundays.
HOMEWORK
Three practice sessions each week Two pieces of written work each month
ASSESSMENT
Ongoing assessment is based on participation in groupwork and practice sessions, written work and client work.
We expect you to attend all teaching days and make up any missed time. Completing all practical and written work is essential for graduation.
QUALIFICATIONS
Advanced diploma in therapeutic counselling.
We award an advanced diploma to reflect the length of the course and the number of teaching hours, and because of the extent of the personal and professional development you will have achieved on completion.
SUMMARY OF COURSE SYLLABUS FOR YEAR 1
The aims of the first year are to help you to:
- Get acquainted with the personal and professional dynamics and atmosphere of being in the ‘therapist chair’.
- Build a foundation of what it means to be present and available to another person in a therapeutic setting
- Develop the skills for building rapport and creating a basis for a healthy therapeutic partnership.
- Develop skills and strategies to help the client to orientate to themselves, their issue, the therapist and the therapy process.
- Begin the development of a theoretical framework that supports the practical skills and strategy for working with a person therapeutically
- Prepare personally and professionally to work with “real” clients in a placement
EXTERNAL VERIFICATION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE
The college has internal quality assurance procedures built on BACP guidelines. In addition, each year of the course is externally verified. The verifier will meet with each year’s group at least once. This builds on our own commitment to quality assurance processes and gives you another opportunity to give objective feedback on the teaching process.
ACCREDITATION AND MEMBERSHIP
BACP accredited the advanced diploma course in February 2004
(reference 10058/1018).
Please remember that completing a BACP accredited course does not constitute your individual counselor accreditation. That is a separate process that you can go through after graduation.
The course provides more than the requisite hours and content that allows you to do this. Supervised client work done on the course counts towards your individual accreditation requirements.
SUPPORT FOR YOUR INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING ACCREDITATION
When you graduate, we can continue to supervise and support you as your work towards individual accreditation with BACP. We also provide support and advice in the application process itself as well as helping you access the required client work, if you need it.
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