Introduction to Counselling Skills

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Counselling Skills Distance Learning Course

Continuing Professional Development

Student Profile

This is an excellent introductory course if you are considering a career in counseling and would like to try out some of your skills to help you make your decision. If you are engaging in one-to-one interviews at work, working with patients clients or colleagues.

Benefits

• Develop business-oriented skills
• Offers a flexible alternative to face-to-face training courses

Study Method

This course can be studied at your own pace. There are no deadlines for assignments, however you must complete the course within 12 months from the date you received the course.

Qualification

On successful completion of the assignments you will receive a UK Open Learning Certificate.

Assessments

Assessment takes the form of a series of tutor marked assignments you can send these to your tutor by e-mail or post for marking. There is no word count for these assignments however you must prove to the tutor that you have fully understood the question asked, and one sentence answers will be rejected.

Entry Requirements

There are no entry requirements.

Timescale

The programme takes place over a timescale to suit the student.  Once registered, tutor support is available for up to one year or until completion whichever is the soonest.

Location

The programme is home or work-based enabling students to complete the course without having to attend scheduled college teaching sessions.

Tutor Support

Throughout the course, students will receive tutor support by email and by post.

Online Community

The tutor has now set up a forum for all of our students studying Introduction to Counselling and related courses. This will assist you with your studies as not only will you get full tutor support from a professional tutor for the duration of the course but you will get help from other students who are studying at the same time as you and also get an insight to other related courses by talking to students studying them. You can ask other students questions about your course or theirs, and they will try to help you.

This is a great community for all those students who wish to interact with other students in the same situation as theirs and get friendly advice where you can share your ideas and comments.

You will be able to interact with students studying the following courses:

• Understanding Abuse and Trauma
• Counselling and Psychotherapy
• Understanding Eating Disorders
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Mental Health and Psychiatry
• Working with a Diagnosis of Personality Disorder

Your tutor will provide all the details of how to get onto this forum if you decide to order the course.

How does the course work?

We send you the complete course by courier and you complete a series of assignments which you e-mail to your tutor for marking. There is no word count for these however you have to prove to your tutor you have fully understood the question.

Course Outline

Unit 1: Active listening and a model for helping

• Active and Non-active listening
• Barriers to listening
• ‘Attention-giving’ skills
• A model of helping activities
• Encouraging people to take responsibility for themselves.
• The Egan model of helping

Unit 2: Counselling and counselling skills

• The different between counselling and using counselling skills
• How communication works as a ‘cycle’
• The role of feedback as a counselling skill
• Essential qualities for effective helping
• The use of language in effective helping

Unit 3: Responding skills

• The internal ‘frame of reference’
• Power and control in the context of questions
• The four types of question
• The value of ‘Why?’ questions
• The use of paraphrase and reflextion
• Responding to silence
• Ways of summarising

Unit 4: Essential qualities

• A closer look at essential qualities
• An examination of ‘core’ qualities
• Carl Rogers’ definition of empathy
• The important difference between skills and qualities
• The importance of self-awareness when using counselling skills

Unit 5: Advanced responding skills

• The concept of ‘challenge’ in relation to using counselling skills
• A range of challenging skills
• Using challenge in a positive way
• How the challenging skills link up with Egan’s three-phase model
• Some reminders about confidentiality

Unit 6: Getting there goals, targets and endings

• What makes a goal
• The difference between ‘wants’ and goals
• How power, influence and authority can affect the helping relationship
• Criteria for goals

• Substance Abuse and Drugs Awareness