Counsellor Training

Qualifying as a Counsellor

admin — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 10:54:19 +0000

This article refers to training in the UK.

Many students ask us for advice on achieving recognised counsellor status. This is quite a confusing area at present, as there are no legal requirements to register or fulfil certain training requirements before beginning to practice, and the often contradictory advice offered by different training providers can be quite difficult to follow.

We recommend following a training route which allows students to become members of the BACP (the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) – even if you ultimately select a different professional body, as an increasing number of therapists are doing, a course chosen in this way will give you the strongest possible foundation for your counselling career. It is possible that in coming years restrictions will come into force and only counsellors with the correct qualifications will be able to practice. In addition, many organisations, such as medical centres, NHS units, and most schools and colleges, already ask that counsellors applying for jobs either have registration with the UK Register of Counsellors (UKRC) or are working towards it.

However, other training organisations may disagree with us as to the importance of working towards registration. There are estimated to be over 40 professional bodies for counsellors, so the picture is far from clear. This comes down, partly, to the broad range of definitions associated with the word ‘counselling’.

The first step in training as a counsellor is to complete a Certificate in Counselling Skills.

The next step is to complete a Diploma in Counselling. We do not offer a qualification at this level because in order for a diploma to be acceptable to BACP it should involve many hours of face-to-face skills practise and actual counselling practice. We are not currently aware of any distance learning diploma course that is considered acceptable by the BACP. (Although requirements of other professional bodies vary widely, so we would recommend that you check with your chosen professional body before selecting a diploma level course.) Many local colleges offer suitable diploma courses on a part-time basis. These courses involve a heavy commitment, both in terms of time and emotional energy, and are not to be undertaken lightly.

After completing a suitable Diploma course students are considered qualified to practice in the eyes of the BACP. However, as members of the BACP they commit to ongoing personal and professional development, so training is expected to be an ongoing aspect of a counsellor’s professional life. The BACP and other professional bodies require evidence of ongoing personal and professional development, as well as practical counselling experience, as counsellors work towards registration. This is where advanced and specialised courses such as those offered by Borders (Counselling Children, Counselling Children and Young People, etc.) come in.

Useful Links

admin — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 13:03:38 +0000

Borders Counselling – Online counselling, coaching and mentoring.

Childcare Training – Childcare training directory, with free ebook on child psychology and online training course.

Counselling UK – Online directory of counselors and psychologists throughout the UK.

Counselors Online – Online counseling and therapy with expert therapists.

Couple Therapy Online – Advice for couples and families from expert therapists.

Edinburgh Garden School – Online gardening and horticulture courses from the gardening spacialists.

Employee Counselling – Online Workplace Counselling.

Learning Curve – One of the Uk’s leading distance learning providers.

Horticulture Courses – Directory of horticulture and gardening courses.

Learning Curve – Online courses from Learning Curve, one of the UK’s leading distance learning providers.

Borders Online Counselling – Online counselling and therapy with expert counsellors.

School for Writers – a leading provider of online writingcourses.

Borders Relationships – online relationship therapy and sex therapy.

Virtual Ocean – Release messages and emotions into the digital ocean.

Borders Business Mentors – Online business advice, articles and mentoring.

Explore Gardening – Online directory of gardeners and garden designers, as well as gardening articles and courses.

What is Therapy – Information and advice about different types of therapy.

Your Course Finder – Online directory of courses, including online, distance learning, part-time and full-time courses.

Mentor Guide - Find a business mentor in your area or online.

Borders Coaching – Work eith an experienced Life Coach online.

Bereavement Counselling

admin — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:53:08 +0000

An Introduction to Grief and Bereavement Counselling

This 6 module online course explores the theory and practice of counselling for grief and bereavement. It is designed for qualified counsellors who have already completed their counselling diploma and would now like to develop additional skills in this specialised area.

The course is designed to meet the needs of counsellors working within a range of counselling models and approaches. It is ideal as part of a programme of continuing professional development. Subjects covered include: death and grieving as a process; working with the bereaved client; traditions and cultural difference around the experience of death; research and theories on the grief process; Worden’s model of grief work; untangling the emotions of grief; bereavement and traumatic loss; supporting clients through crisis; children and grief; preparing for the future; attachment theory and grief; compound and complicated grief; loss in everyday experience. exploring the impact of grief following other losses.

Qualification

Borders Counselling Award:

Continuing Professional Development Certificate in Bereavement Counselling.

Book Now

Cost Only: £185 (Normal price: £205)

Or Pay by Instalments

Pay in 5 monthly instalments of £41 (including an administration fee of £20, total cost £205).

“Bereavement is a darkness impenetrable to the imagination of the unbereaved.” – Jane Welsh Carlyle

Couple Therapy

admin — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:50:51 +0000

Develop skills in relationship or couple therapy.

This 6 module online course explores the principles of relationship and couple counselling, both in face-to-face situations and online. It is designed for qualified counsellors who have already completed their counselling diploma and would now like to develop additional skills in this specialised area.The course is designed to meet the needs of counsellors working within a range of counselling models and approaches.

Subjects covered include: couple counselling – theory and practice; developing a structured approach; understanding the difficulties of family life; transitions; separation; divorce; sexuality; gender and identity; identifying relationship patterns; understanding abusive relationships; counselling clients in violent relationships; developing understanding in couples; relationship counselling with individual clients; and sex therapy.

Qualifications

Borders Counselling Award:

Continuing Professional Development Certificate in Couple Counselling.

Book Now

Cost Only: £185 (Normal: £290)

Or Pay by Instalments

Pay in 5 monthly instalments of £41 (including an administration fee of £20, total cost £205).

“What counts in making a happy relationship is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.”
Adapted from Leo Tolstoy

Online Counselling

admin — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:48:56 +0000

Learn how to work therapeutically with online clients.

This is a focused, 6-module course in online counselling, exploring practical approaches and underlying theoretical principles.

The Internet is an increasingly important route for providing advice and support – it is the place many people turn to first for help. This explores the development of online therapy, and the skills required to provide effective distance support. This course is designed for qualified counsellors who have already completed their counselling diploma and would like to develop the online side of their practice.

Subjects covered include: Communicating on the Internet – IM, chat, e-mail, websites, videoconferencing, and more; ethical and legal consideration; online counselling skills; online counselling groups; technical aspects; security and confidentiality; cultural issues; business aspects of the online counselling.

Qualification

Borders Counselling Award:

Continuing Professional Development Certificate in Online Counselling.

Book Now

Cost: £185 (normal price: £290)

Or Pay by Instalments

Pay in 5 monthly instalments of £41 (including an administration fee of £20, total cost £205).

“Online services in mental health are here to stay. In fact, all trends indicate that these services will continue to grow and proliferate with the enormous growth of the Web in general, and the steady increase in numbers of people who are getting online.”
John Grohol

Play Therapy Skills

admin — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:42:43 +0000

Use Play Therapy Skills in Your Counselling Practice

This 6-module online course provides a comprehensive introduction to play therapy skills for counsellors. It shows students how to communicate with children effectively through play, and also shows how play can be a means of teaching children essential personal and social skills. The course also includes a clear outline of the theory of play and play therapy, as well as many practical suggestions on how play therapy can be used in different settings.

The course is written in an accessible, engaging style that makes study easy and enjoyable, while still providing a comprehensive introduction to play therapy.

The course fee includes: core study notes, supplementary study material, and full tutorial support. Students have up to 12 months to complete the course.

Qualification

Borders Counselling Award:

Continuing Professional Development Certificate in Play Therapy Skills in Counselling Practice.

Book Now

Only £185 (normal price £290)

Or Pay by Instalments

Pay in 5 monthly instalments of £41 (including an administration fee of £20, total cost £205).

“Play is a major avenue for learning to manage anxiety. It gives the child a safe space where she can experiment at will, suspending the rules and constraints of physical and social reality. In play, the child becomes master rather than subject…. Play allows the child to transcend passivity and to become the active doer of what happens around her.
Alicia F. Lieberman.

Family Therapy

admin — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:31:12 +0000

Working Effectively with Family Groups

This 6-module online course explores a systems approach to family therapy. It is designed for qualified counsellors who have already completed their counselling diploma and would now like to develop additional skills in this specialised area. The course is suited to counsellors working from a wide range of theoretical foundations, and is ideal as part of a programme of continuing professional development.

Subjects covered include: exploring family dynamics; meanings of ‘family’; theories of family therapy; existing research; the counsellor’s role in family therapy; understanding attachment theory; identifying and changing relating patterns; individual work; the individual in the family; boundaries of family therapy; identifying the need for referral; family healing; the family in the future.

Qualification

Borders Counselling Award:

Continuing Professional Development Certificate in Family Therapy.

Buy Now

Cost: £185 (Normal price £290)

Or Pay by Instalments

Pay in 5 monthly instalments of £41 each – total cost £205, including a £20 administration fee.

“You have inherited a lifetime of tribulation. Everybody has inherited it. Take it over, make the most of it and when you have decided you know the right way, do the best you can with it.”

Murray Bowen

Counselling Children and Young People

admin — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:24:12 +0000

Learn how to work therapeutically with young clients

A comprehensive exploration of counselling approaches that can be used when working therapeutically with children and young people. Study topics include: the child-counsellor relationship; theoretical and practical foundations; child counselling skills and approaches; understanding adolescence; the process of therapeutic change; play therapy; self-esteem building; social skills. Includes core study notes, supplementary material and full tutorial support.

Students have up to twelve months to complete this course, allowing them to work through the modules at their own pace.

Course Outline

Module 1: Core Principles of Counselling Children and Young People.
Module 2: Theoretical Perspectives
Module 3: Working with Families
Module 4: Understanding Children’s Problems I
Module 5: Understanding Children’s Problems II
Module 6: Life Skills for Children and Young People

Qualification

Borders Counselling Award:

Continuing Professional Development Certificate in Counselling Children and Young People.

Book Now

Cost: £185 (Normal price: £290)

Or Pay by Instalments

Pay in 5 monthly instalments of £41 (including an administration fee of £20, total cost £205).

“If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.”
Carl Jung

Counselling Skills

admin — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 13:59:02 +0000

An indepth introduction for beginners

This is an ideal course for students who find themselves providing emotional support for others within the workplace. It is also an ideal introduction for students who would like to know more about counselling and perhaps go on to further study.

Study topics include: active listening; interpreting body language; beginnings and endings; the ethics of helping. You will be asked to complete a wide range of activities during the course, which will help you to put what you have learned into practice. (You do not need to be working in a counselling situation to complete this course.) Includes all core study notes, supplementary materials, and full tutorial support.

Course Outline

Module 1: What is a Helping Relationship?
Module 2: The Core Conditions.
Module 3: Active Listening.
Module 4: Reflecting and Understanding Skills.
Module 5: Goal Setting and Stress Management for Clients.
Module 6: Self Awareness and Self Care.

Qualification

Borders Counselling Award:

Introductory Certificate in Counselling Skills.

Book Now

Cost: Only £185 (normal price £290)

Or Pay by instalments:

5 monthly payments of £41, including administration fee of £20, total cost £205.

“When someone really hears you without passing judgment on you, without taking responsibility for you, without trying to mold you, it feels damn good. When I have been listened to, when I have been heard, I am able to re-perceive my world in a new way and go on. It is astonishing how elements that seem insoluble become soluble when someone listens. How confusions that seem irremediable become relatively clear flowing streams when one is heard.”

Carl Rogers