MODULES
Year 1
CORE MODULES
Core Counselling Skills and Processes
By the end of this module, you will have received an overview of the main tenets of counselling theory, research and practice in the UK. You will have acquired an understanding of the various attitudes and core qualities relevant to counselling and allied helping professions, and you will have begun to understand the importance of ethics and ethical issues in counselling.
You will also have gained hands-on experience of the development and use of core skills such as attending, listening and communicating empathy. During this process, you will gain a good grounding in the role of personal therapy as a means of persona and professional development.
Moreover, you will have experienced, first-hand, the privilege of working with peers in a process of developing personally and professionally through practical experience. A central theme in this pursuit is that of embracing reflective practice through giving and receiving feedback.
Personal Development and Professional Life (Mental Wealth)
This module aims to enhance your knowledge of theories and interventions in various areas of personal and professional development including the acknowledgment and refining of emotional, social, physical and cognitive intelligence. You will develop your reflective abilities and interpersonal skills; you will understand the importance of self-awareness in your role as a professional, accountable and ethical trainee counsellor. Issues of difference, diversity and equality will be considered in relation to personal and professional values and responsibilities.
Researching with Small Samples
To introduce students to key approaches to research in Psychology, including research design, data analysis, evaluating and writing up research. This module will focus on research methods appropriate to questions relating to smaller sample sizes.
Person-Centred Counselling
This module will introduce you to the main theory and philosophy of the Person-Centred therapeutic approach. It will enable you to develop a relationship with yourself and others, by means of understanding and putting into practice the Person-Centred philosophy. Through reflective learning and ethical practice, you will learn about difference and diversity whilst developing your understanding of human distress. Contemporary advancements of the Person-Centred approach will also be discussed.
Professional Development and Ethical Practice
By the end of this module, you will have received an overview of psychological theories and methods of professional development. You will gain an understanding of the conceptual, historical and philosophical assumptions of counselling and psychology as compared with other helping professions, including the medical profession.
You will learning about the BACP Ethical Framework and explore ethical dilemmas in counselling. You will continue to develop your self-awareness, reflecting on your beliefs, assumptions and values. You will explore the benefits and challenges of working with others who hold similar and different perspectives to your own.
Researching with Larger Samples
To introduce students to key approaches to research in Psychology, including research design, data analysis, evaluating and writing up research. This module will focus on research methods appropriate to questions relating to larger sample sizes.
Year 2
CORE MODULES
Becoming a Reflective Practitioner (Mental Wealth)
This module will prepare you for the process of finding a clinical placement. We will focus on a variety of personal and professional development activities to enable you to use reflective practice theory and applied skills to become more aware of your development as an emerging practitioner. You will have opportunities to improve the core and generic skills and personal qualities necessary for safe and effective practice and you will learn how to reflectively apply your knowledge of the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice. You will be introduced to the theory and application of reflective practice and you will be working with peers under tutor supervision to reflect on, monitor and critically evaluate your counselling practice.
Psychodynamic Counselling
This module will introduce you to the theories and practices of psychodynamic thinking. You will gain an in-depth understanding of how interpersonal dynamics unfold within a therapeutic relationship and how they inform therapeutic practice. You will be able to reflect on your personal experiences and how they influence your emerging counselling practice and your style of relating to others.
Research Methods
This module will provide you with a detailed and practical overview of qualitative research theory and methodology, placing an emphasis on the use of research skills which are particularly amenable to counselling practice. You will increase and refine your ability to plan and design ethical research and write up research proposals. Epistemological and methodological issues including reflexivity and ethics will be introduced and discussed. At the end of the module you will also have familiarised yourself with key findings from research into counselling and related disciplines, acquiring an enhanced ability to review and evaluate previous findings in the field.
Life Span Development (Children and Young People)
This module will introduce you to psychological theories related to child development and to the main historical landmarks in the understanding of counselling for children and young people. The main theoretical principles that underpin current models of counselling children and young people and the associated legal and ethical frameworks will be discussed. At the end of the module you will have acquired an understanding of a range of counselling skills and techniques deriving from contemporary approaches to counselling children and young people.
Life Span Development (Adulthood and Later Life)
This module will introduce you to the main psychological theories of lifespan development and its various milestones and transitions. It will adopt a multidimensional framework of the lifecycle in order to place clients' presenting issues in a developmental context. Through this process you will become aware of how your own experiences and stages of life affects the way you relate to others, both generally and in context of counselling work.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
By the end of this module, you will have received a broad overview of theory, research, skills, techniques and applications of relevance to Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT). You will gain an understanding of scientific understandings of the mind, the brain, behaviour and experience, as well as how each interacts with the complex environments in which it is situated. This will then inform your grasp of the cognitive and behavioural underpinnings of CBT as a psychotherapeutic approach.
You will have acquired tangible knowledge that can be explicitly applied toward integrating the cognitive-behavioural therapeutic approach with other counselling skills and processes. You will also be introduced to various cognitive conceptualisation models (assessment and formulation from a CBT perspective), all of which will have application to a variety of client presenting issues.
Year 3
CORE MODULES
Becoming a Competent Practitioner (Mental Wealth)
This dedicated work-based learning module will equip you with the knowledge and skills required for competent, professional and ethical practice as a counsellor. You will be able to recognise specific conditions and utilise your knowledge to make decisions regarding therapeutic plans, multidisciplinary support, and/or referral to other professionals. At the end of the module, you will know how to present and communicate a case to other professionals in supervision. You will have acquired experience of attending clinical supervision, utilising it to develop your practice as an emerging counsellor. Continuous reflection will be further embedded into both your counselling work and personal development.
Research Dissertation
This module will equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary to conceptualise, design, execute and report an original piece of research relevant to counselling and psychology. It will facilitate the application of your skills and psychological knowledge to conduct and report an independent piece of empirical research.
Clinical Practice and Supervision
This module will augment your knowledge about various client presentations and how to work within them. It will sharpen your professional understanding and skills, whilst furthering your ability to assess and formulate a client's presenting issues and form a therapeutic plan. Utilisation of clinical supervision will hold a central place in your practice and learning. Continuous reflection and self-care will be further embedded into both your counselling work and personal development.
The Integrative Practitioner
This module will equip you with the necessary skills and knowledge to critically evaluate the theory and philosophy of integration in counselling and psychotherapy. You will understand the philosophical underpinnings and challenges of integration and visit a range of theories and approaches on integrative practice, assessment and formulation. You will reflect on your own personal synthesis and way of working with a counsellor. Within this reflective process you will achieve a critical evaluation of your evolving personal and professional development, your integrative understanding of human distress and the language you tend to use when framing and communicating a client's presenting issues in your counselling practice and to peer practitioners.
OPTIONAL MODULES
Existential Counselling
By the end of this module, you should expect to have gained a theoretical understanding of concepts and issues involved in Existential Counselling and its application to therapeutic practice. By exploring aspects of the human condition, you will develop knowledge and understanding of how existential ideas can facilitate change within the psychotherapeutic process.
