Undergraduate Counselling Skills 2019-2020

Counselling Skills 1 is a practical experiential course which will enable students to develop self-awareness and advanced communication skills. It is the first of four courses which make up the Counselling Skills Certificate (COSCA validated), the first step to becoming a Counsellor or Psychotherapist.

Students must complete a diagnostic test prior to being able to Register on this course.

See' Further Information and Notes'.

The theme of this module IS 'Exploration and Expansion'.  Students will CONTINUE TO develop the practical skills introduced IN Counselling Skills 1. They will gain insight INTO the structure of a counselling relationship WITHIN professional ethics AND boundaries AND explore self-awareness AND self-IN-context IN relation TO transitions, attachment, loss AND readjustment, attitudes TO differences, VALUES, prejudice, social identity AND the ethics of justice. See 'Further Information and Notes'.

Students being admitted to a Counselling programme or course, should first take the Counselling Diagnostic Test. The test can be taken at any time and is completed online. You will be unable to register for Counselling Skills 1, and consequently any of the subsequent courses until you have read and accepted the Terms and Conditions in the Diagnostic Test.

Please go to www.abdn.ac.uk/mycurriculum to access the Diagnostic Test.

Having completed the test you should select the appropriate course when making your curriculum choices.

This course provides students the opportunity to develop and apply person-centred counselling and
interpersonal skills to non-counselling settings; it can also be a step towards
Diploma training and a career in counselling.  The course seeks to enhance participants’ personal and professional interaction
with others and their own reflective practice. This is an opportunity for people from a wide range of backgrounds to learn experientially  together in a group setting. 

Participants will be able to explore the
connection of self-awareness and self-acceptance to practice in the process of
the person-centred approach.

See 'Further Information and Notes'.

Counselling Skills 3 provides students the opportunity to develop their ability as reflective practitioners.  It is a practical experiential course which builds on the experience gained in Counselling Skills 1 and 2.  Students will analyse and comment on their own practice with reference to theory and evidence of the core conditions. 

See 'Further Information & Notes'.

The theme of Counselling Skills 4 is 'Integration'. It is the final module of the Counselling Skills Certificate (COSCA validated). Students will review and consolidate areas covered in the previous 3 modules and focus on issues that clients bring to counselling.

See 'Further Information & Notes'.

Reviewing and extending knowledge from the Introduction to Cognitive Behavioural Counselling with particular focus on the treatment of anxiety and depression. This will involve an understanding of the appropriate CBT skills and methods to use in relation to anxiety and depression.

An undergraduate project requiring a critical analysis on a chosen concept from the world of counselling/counselling skills theory, using primary and a secondary material.

Students have an opportunity to explore the role of
research as a counselling skills practitioner and will utilise a mix of
theoretical and experiential methods. 

See 'Further Information & Notes'.