Counselling Advanced Level 3 (CPD) Diploma

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Specifically, explore the flexible and convenient Counselling Advanced (Level 3) course, an ideal way to gain a diploma qualification. Whether you aim for further education, improved job prospects, or expanded knowledge, this comprehensive course allows you to prepare thoroughly for exams or careers through home study. Plus, it's structured to be accessible and beneficial even if you have no prior knowledge in Counselling Advanced.

This course is comprised of ten parts which are designed to give the student a good basic knowledge of the main theories underlying the most commonly practiced approaches to counselling and psychotherapy. It is a requirement for registration as a counsellor or psychotherapist that a candidate has obtained a certificate evidencing successful completion of a theoretical course providing a basic knowledge of the main theories in psychotherapy and counselling. Additionally the candidate will need to complete around 400-450 hours of supervised practical work, this is discussed in module 1 together with suggestions as to how such practical training maybe obtained.

The student will note that the terms counselling, psychotherapy and therapy are used interchangeably, as are the terms counsellor, psychotherapist and therapist, no apologies are made for this as these terms are used interchangeably in most of the literature on counselling and psychology. The term clinician is used in some texts on counselling and psychotherapy this term has overtones of medical qualification and has been deliberately avoided in this course. Any student who successfully completes this course is not medically qualified and if presented with a client who raises the slightest suspicion of requiring medical or psychiatric treatment, should advise such a client to consult their medical practitioner.

Much of the early work in counselling and psychotherapy was carried out in Europe and particularly Germany and Austria, as a result some German terminology is universally used, particularly in the early psychotherapeutic approaches. Where such words are used in this text, an English translation is offered, or where the word does not translate literally an attempt has been made to describe the concept referred to. Since many of the early psychologists and psychotherapist were Jewish, they were forced to flee Europe and Nazi persecution in the late 1930s, many of them making their homes in the USA. This lends a North American flavour and the incorporation of a good deal of American terminology to counselling and psychotherapy from the 1940s onwards.

The student will note a marked similarity in some of the techniques used in the different approaches, particularly those such as Existentialist, Rational Emotive and Adlerian therapies which are based on the assumption that human beings can control and change their destinies. For instance there are some strong similarities between Ellis’s Rational Emotive Therapy and Glasser’s Reality Therapy, yet there are also significant differences. The student should not treat the use of techniques as being universal, there are subtle differences between approaches and the student needs to be aware of these differences. Every module in the course requires the same attention, if the student is to appreciate the similarities and differences in the varying approaches.

 Course Key Topics

the Counselling Advanced (Level 3) course is divided into 10 modules.

Module 1: Definition, Administrative Considerations and the Law
Module 2: Freud and Jung - the Psychoanalytic Approach
Module 3: Individual Psychology and Existentialism
Module 4: Gestalt Therapy and Psychodrama
Module 5: Client Centred Counselling  
Module 6: Egan and the Skilled Helper Approach 
Module 7: Transactional Analysis and Neuro-linguistic Programming
Module 8: The Rational Emotive Behavioural Approach and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Module 9: Reality Therapy and Post Traumatic Stress Counselling
Module 10: Communication Skills in Counselling