Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling

The course is delivered over two years requiring college attendance one day per week. It is an integrative course exploring psychodynamic and person centred approaches within a framework of Clarkson's 5 facets of the Therapeutic Relationship. The following are the main units for the course: Theory - A programme of seminars developing understanding of the self, personal history and interpersonal relating. Some seminars are tutor-led while others are based on the prior reading of articles followed by students presenting a summary of these followed by discussion groups. Professional Framework - A programme of seminars designed to equip students with the knowledge of practice issues. Seminars will be mainly tutor-led and will involve discussion of typical practice issues. Skills Development - A series of practice sessions aimed at helping students develop their ability to work with clients. Students will work in a variety of ways as counsellor, client and observer. Case Discussion - Working in groups, students will take turns to present actual client work. The objective is to enable students to integrate theory, self awareness and skills into ethical and professional practice. Specific Issues - There will be a number of sessions given over to looking at counselling people with specific issues such as bereavement, abuse issues etc. Personal Development Group - The aim is to help students to explore their own selves more deeply and relate theory to self-awareness. Personal Therapy There will be a minimum requirement of 40 hours personal therapy required during the course. In order to pass the course the following need to be met: 1.Min 80% attendance. Attendance at tutorials is mandatory, unless there are extenuating circumstances. 2.At least 110 hrs contracted counselling practice, working in depth in an agency

In addition students should anticipate a minimum of 8 hours per week of private study time to cover assignments, client work, supervision and personal therapy. Details of fees will be available on the college website or from the course administrator. In addition to the college fees there are other costs to be considered including: Own therapy (typically £40 per session), Supervision : usually provided by an agencxy although occasinally studend funded. Books, photocopying, travel, childcare. And finally It is important that you realise, and are prepared for, the costs involved in this course - financial, time and emotional. The award of the Diploma is crossing the threshold from trainee counsellor to emerging professional counsellor - it is therefore a serious course that requires commitment and hard work in the areas of theory, personal exploration/self-development and practice.

Entry requirements for the course will be: Both CPCAB Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills and CPCAB Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies are required. You will be required to have English at GCSE grade C or above. Equivalent qualifications and training will be considered i.e. IELTs L6 to 6.5 or ESOL SFL L2 full qualification. It is the candidate's responsibility to demonstrate that their training / qualifications is equivalent to the entry requirements; information on these qualifications can be found on www.cpcab.co.uk The application process is via a course specific Counselling Application Form, attendance at a briefing followed by interview and references. Tutors will be looking for readiness and both proven and potential ability to make effective use of this particular course. Applicants should be referred to the Counselling Courses Administrator on 01452 563294.

Students might progress into voluntary work, employment or further training.