COUNSELLING SKILLS - KEY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Ms Elaine Cameron

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

Counselling Skills 1 will introduce the theory, practice and ethics of using counselling skills. It will focus on five overlapping areas of work: theory, skills practice, professional development, personal development, and self-assessment. The theory section will entail establishing a definition of counselling, and distinguishing it from other helping activities, as well as offering an overview of the development of counselling and introducing Roger's person-centred approach. Participants will have the opportunity to practice active listening skills and learn how to communicate empathetic understanding. Professional development will consider ethical considerations, particularly the need for confidentiality and boundaries. The importance of on-going personal development and self-assessment will be emphasised.
Weekly seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
Continuous assessment: essay (25%); learning log (25%); oral assessment (50%) [divided between practice 25% and participation/attendance 25%]. Candidates should note that to achieve credit for the course overall, a pass in the practice element is required. This tests whether candidates have sufficiently deep understanding of theory to be able to apply it to practice.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Ms Elaine Cameron

Pre-requisites

KL 1010 and KL 1510 or equivalent.

Overview

The objective of Counselling Skills 3 is to review and consolidate previous learning whilst going on to look at alternative counselling skills approaches in greater depth. The five elements of theory, skills practice, professional development, personal development, and self-assessment, will run concurrently in this course. Theoretical work will involve a detailed look at other counselling approaches from the humanist, cognitive, behavioural and analytic traditions. Focusing on the person-centred approach, the course will develop an understanding of congruence and authenticity. Attention will be given to the beginning, middle and end stages in the helping process. The practical element will involve integrating theory and practice with the development of congruence. The professional element will entail discussion of values, specifically those connected with race, culture, gender and sexual orientation. The way in which client issues impinge on the helper will be investigated, and a diary will be used for personal assessment.
Weekly seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
Continuous assessment: essay (25%); learning log (25%); oral assessment (50%) [divided between practice 25% and participation/attendance 25%]. Candidates should note that to achieve credit for the course overall, a pass in the practice element is required. This tests whether candidates have sufficiently deep understanding of theory to be able to apply it to practice.

Credit Points

5

Course Coordinator

Ms Elaine Cameron

Pre-requisites

KL 1510 or equivalent, or permission of the Manager of KEY Learning Opportunities.

Notes

This course may be available each session.

Overview

Practical workshop sessions to develop and consolidate counselling skills.
3 five hour workshops or 5 three-hour workshops.
Continuous assessment (100%): practical/oral assessment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Ms Elaine Cameron

Pre-requisites

KL 1010 or equivalent.

Overview

Counselling Skills 2 aims to review and consolidate areas covered in Counselling Skills 1 and to consider theory in greater depth. The five elements of theory, skills practice, professional development, personal development, and self-assessment, will run concurrently in this course. The theoretical part will investigate person-centred theory in greater depth, focusing on the core conditions of empathy, acceptance and genuineness. Skills practice will entail developing accurate empathy and exploring the condition of acceptance as well as introducing structuring of the counselling context. The method of working in triads will be introduced as a means of developing effective feedback skills. Professional development will involve developing further considerations of ethics, looking specifically at prejudice and its impact on unconditional positive regard. This issue will also be the focus of personal development work, and keeping a diary will promote self-awareness in counselling.
Weekly seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
Continuous assessment: essay (25%); learning log (25%); oral assessment (50%) [divided between practice 25% and participation/attendance 25%]. Candidates should note that to achieve credit for the course overall, a pass in the practice element is required. This tests whether candidates have sufficiently deep understanding of theory to be able to apply it to practice.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Ms Elaine Cameron

Pre-requisites

KL 1010, KL 1510 and KL1011 or equivalent.

Overview

As in the previous courses, the elements of theory, practice, professional development, personal development, and self-assessment, will be present. The theoretical part will continue the exploration of other counselling approaches from different traditions. In this course, client issues will be considered, particularly those involving loss and change. The aim in skills practice will be to give participants the opportunity to undertake a complete session from beginning to end using counselling skills and ensuring that the core conditions are present. Professional development will consider the issues of record-keeping, referral, use of supervision, professional accreditation and working in institutional settings. Personal development will entail looking at what happens to the helper during the helping process and some self-reflection on the process itself. Participants will be assessed on their practice session.


Weekly seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
Continuous assessment: essay (25%); learning log (25%); oral assessment (50%) [divided between practice 25% and participation/attendance 25%]. Candidates should note that to achieve credit for the course overall, a pass in the practice element is required. This tests whether candidates have sufficiently deep understanding of theory to be able to apply it to practice.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Ms Elaine Cameron

Pre-requisites

KL 1510 or equivalent.

Overview

This course will introduce the basic theoretical concepts of a transactional analysis approach to counselling skills. The course emphasises the importance of contract making, theory of ego-states, transactional analysis, game analysis and script analysis. Transactional analysis provides an integrated model of counselling skills and the course will therefore build on previous training and/or practical experience.
1 three-hour seminar per week.
100% continuous assessment: two pieces of written work, one of 1200-1500 words (30%) and a second of 3000 words (50%) plus a learning log (20%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Ms Elaine Cameron

Pre-requisites

KL 1510 or equivalent.

Overview

This course will develop in some depth the various components of the person-centred approach to counselling skills, such as empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard. It will expand and develop understanding of the work of Carl Rogers beyond the learning outcomes of the courses Counselling Skills 1 - 4 and explore how these ideas can be applied in counselling relationships.
1 three-hour seminar per week.
100% continuous assessment: an essay of 3000 words (50%), a learning log (25%) and an oral assessment (25%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Ms Elaine Cameron

Pre-requisites

A minimum of 60 credit points from courses in the Counselling Skills schedule, including the achievement of a minimum CAS mark of 14 in at least two courses.

Overview

Following an introduction to the course and to group work, subsequent sessions will include guidance and instruction on the preparation of a research project in Counselling Skills Theory. It will include guidance on keeping a research diary, collection of data and other relevant information, and the organisation and collation of this information. Students will be supported in the construction and writing of a dissertation on an approved topic and in methods of referencing and presenting data. During the course, students will share and discuss their own work, providing peer group support and constructive criticism on preliminary drafts, with assistance from the tutor to help with research problems. Individual tutorials will form part of the course at the following stages: following submission of the original outline dissertation; following submission of the final detailed plan; following the submission of a preliminary draft; in oral examination of the dissertation.
4 one-hour lectures, 6 two-hour workshop/seminar sessions; and 4 one-hour individual tutorials, over 2 half-sessions.
Continuous assessment: research log (15%), oral seminar presentation (10%), and written dissertation of 10,000 words (75%).