Authentic Counselling Training
Counselling Training: Introduction
[Under construction: 23 August 2004 ]
Introduction
This section of my website consists of counselling training documentation that I have uploaded to date. This page has two purposes:
·
to outline how counselling training in the
· to signpost information and other documentation (e.g. course details and application forms; lecture notes) on this website, and on some other websites.
Counselling training: purposes
Counselling training courses have a number of purposes, the principal of these being:
· to introduce course participants to the world of counselling;
· to train course participants in the use of counselling skills;
· to deliver training towards professional counsellor status.
The kind of counselling training course you attend should be determined by what you require from the counselling training course.
Beware of:
· courses that involve only discussion and do not give you opportunities in class to practise and develop some of the basic skills.
· course tutors who are not themselves counsellors. A surprising number of institutions offer counselling courses run by people who rarely, or maybe even never, counsel real clients.
Introduction to Counselling
To find out what counselling is, an Introduction to Counselling course is ideal. These tend to be run in and by further education colleges, universities and by some organisations (commercial and voluntary). A counselling module in some other training course (e.g. DipSW, nurse training, etc.) you are attending may offer you a similar introduction to counselling. Introduction courses should be 20 to 30 hours in class contact time. These hours may be spread over a residential weekend, three or four days, or anything from eight to twelve evenings. There is an advantage in attending the introduction course at an institution in which it is possible to pursue counselling training as far as you may wish to take it. ACT offers an Introduction to Counselling.
Certificate in Counselling
If, as a result of attending an introduction course, you would like to pursue counselling training further, you need to decide whether you are likely to want to aim to be a professional counsellor. If you have difficulty with this concept, check out the website of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
If your primary purpose in attending post-introduction counselling training is to become more proficient at your existing job (e.g. social work, health care worker, school-teacher, etc.) then you may be less interested in pursuing counselling training beyond one post-introduction course. The NCFE validates a Certificate in Counselling course run in further education colleges that involves 72 hours of class contact time. The RSA used to (and may still) validate a course (Counselling Skills and the Development of Learning) run in further education colleges that is 90 hours of class contact time. The Certificate in Counselling offered by ACT is self-contained and able to stand alone in this respect.
If, on the other hand, you feel motivated to aim at training to become a professional counsellor, then your choice of post-introduction course is more limited. For whilst post-introduction courses (usually designated as certificate courses) are run in and by further education colleges, universities and by some organisations (commercial and voluntary), only a much smaller number of these offer training up to the requirements of professional counsellor status.
A principal requirement to apply for Counsellor Accreditation by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy is to have attended a minimum of 450 hours of training. This is usually thought about as being chunked out at 150 hours of training over each of three years. ACT offers a Certificate in Counselling that involves 150 hours of class contact time.
Of concern to some people who apply to undertake counselling training is whether the organisation addresses the needs of (mature) adult learners, rather than the needs of young people. People returning to education, perhaps after many years away from an education environment, may carry with them unhappy memories of formal education. It is as well to ensure that the ethos of the course if one of co-operation and support, not of competition, and that hand-in dates for submission of written work are sufficiently flexible to take account of real life.
Diploma in Counselling
Beyond the certificate lies the diploma. A diploma course typically involves two years of part-time counselling training, each of which involves 150 hours of class contact time (i.e. 300 hours in total). In some places, the diploma course involves the full 450 hours of training (one course to satisfy the full requirement of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) spread over two or three years. Such a format may have some advantages, although it also effectively excludes from the course people who would like to pursue (at least for now) counselling training only so far. The Diploma in Counselling run by ACT has been devised to allow people from a wide range of pre-diploma courses to enter advanced counselling training and still be able to pursue professional counsellor status. By extending the class contact time to 170 hours for each of two years, applicants from NCFE and RSA courses are no longer disadvantaged.
In due course, I shall write more here about the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and about professional counsellor status. Documentation giving course details can be found by following the blue link below regarding counselling course administration.
This
document in all parts is copyright © Peter Hughes from the date of construction
given above
Please feel free to make use of them for
solely personal purposes. However, should you wish to use them for teaching,
training, commercial or other purposes, you are required to ask me first.