BA (HONS) COUNSELLING

Developmental Psychology and Psychopathology

In order to prepare students for their work with clients, students will be introduced to a number of mental health disorders and diagnostic criteria. They will also be encouraged to reflect on a range of assessment issues and consider when counselling may or may not be helpful, and when referral might be required. The module will assist students in reviewing psychological literature and research in order to consider cognitive, developmental and social psychology and the potential implications of findings for the practice of counselling.

Counselling Skills: Clinical Practice 1

In order to further enable students to integrate their learnt theory into their clinical practice, it is important to build on previous skills and theory lectures. This module introduces students to a number of interventions, drawing on Psychodynamic Theory, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, creative methods and (if appropriate to the client) Christian approaches to spirituality. In section 2 of this module, students will be encouraged to identify issues of difference and diversity and to become increasingly aware of the impact of a client’s cultural and social context.

Students are required to undertake 50 hours of placement work with clients

Students are required to undertake 20 hours of self-funded individual supervision

Supervision and Professional Development 2

This module enables students to become ethical and competent practitioners. It provides students with professional awareness and expertise, in particular in providing a greater knowledge of ethical practice. The module provides training on how to use supervision and group supervision effectively; enables students to be supported in their client work with group supervision, and to gain experience in giving and receiving feedback on their client work in a group setting. Students will be informed at this stage on the accreditation requirements of counselling bodies (BACP and ACC).

Self-awareness and Personal Growth

It is important for counsellors to increase in self-awareness of self in relationship with others, thus encouraging personal growth. To facilitate the development of this, this module encourages students to understand theories and models of group dynamics; to continue to attend process groups during the remaining CertHE programme; to continue to reflect on the connection between the student’s personal story, their relationships with others, and their relationship with God and to have personal therapy to continue to assist personal growth and awareness.

Students are required to undertake 30 hours of self-funded personal therapy

Integrative Approaches and Mental Health

Students will be encouraged to further enhance their skills and knowledge from a variety of models of counselling. In addition, it is vital that students continue to appreciate the continuum between mental health and psychiatric disorders. This module will deepen their knowledge and critical understanding of a further range of theoretical approaches to counselling; provide evidence as to how interventions from a variety of theoretical approaches may be successfully integrated into the Waverley Integrative Framework and personal client work; build further on an understanding of a range of mental health problems that a client may present, identifying when counselling may not be appropriate; provide an understanding as to how quantitative and/or qualitative methods in outcome research inform counselling practice.

Advanced Counselling skills: Clinical Practice 2

This module supports students in developing advanced counselling skills, as they continue to work with clients, and in particular assists in evaluating the use of religious and spiritual interventions in clinical practice. This module builds on previous teaching from the first two years of study. Group supervision provided in this module will continue to support students in their clinical practice and enhance their ability to critically evaluate their clinical work with clients.

Students are required to undertake 50 hours of placement work with clients

Students are required to undertake 15 hours of self-funded individual supervision

Reflective Practice

This module provides further the conditions and opportunity to reflect on themselves and their interactions with others. It enables students to continue to experience group process by means of process groups and reflect on this experience in terms of their relational style in a group setting; encourage students to reflect on their relational experience with clients and supervisors; enhance the students self-awareness and personal development by means of their recording of reflections in a written format and encourage students to develop an awareness of the history and range of personality typologies and their personal therapeutic application.

Year 4

Fieldwork and Professional Development 3

This module consolidates and deepens the student’s professional and personal development. Students will be encouraged to begin to formulate their personal integrative philosophy of counselling that is congruent with their own personality and style of working with clients. Students will be supported in this process by attending further sessions of group supervision.

Students are required to undertake 50 hours of clinical practice on placement

Students are required to undertake 15 hours of self-funded individual supervision

Integration: Theory and Practice

To compliment previous learning, this module is designed to deepen the student’s understanding of the integrative approach and to assess clinical interventions in terms of which are most appropriate when working in a variety of clinical situations. This module will further consider integration in practice by assisting students to critically review the body of knowledge of three differing approaches in more depth, namely: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Family and Systemic Psychotherapy (FSP) and Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS).

Counselling and Spirituality

Counsellors working within faith communities are inevitably faced with the interface between Christian spirituality and counselling. This module provides students with the further opportunity to reflect on the relationship between spirituality, counselling and spiritual direction and to increase understanding and deepen awareness of the tensions that inevitably arise within church, pastoral and counselling settings. The module will also further explore counselling and spirituality which is non-faith specific, and consider relational dynamics in transpersonal counselling.

Year 4 or 5

Counselling Literature Review

As a conclusion to this programme, students will be required to conduct a literature review on a personal area of interest related to their counselling practice. In order to analyse and engage in depth with the area of interest, students will be encouraged to develop advanced theoretical knowledge of counselling research methodology. Students will be provided with the opportunity to select an appropriate question and area of interest and produce a literature review illustrating how they have critically evaluated relevant theories, literature sources and research findings.