This module aims to equip students with counselling skills, in particular to prepare those who will be continuing in their counselling training. This module aims to do this by facilitating students to understand the importance of developing relationship-building skills which enables the formation of a therapeutic relationship and creates conditions in which change can occur. Students are also introduced to a range of basic and advanced counselling skills for use within the counselling process and provided with the opportunity to gain practice and experience in the use of these skills. In addition students are assisted to develop self-awareness and the ability to give and receive feedback. This module thus enables students to relate counselling theory with practice via peer counselling triplets using the Waverley Integrative Framework.

In order for students to become professionally competent, it is important that they are aware of the personal and professional issues that arise in counselling. This module aims to achieve this by enabling students to understand the different aspects of professional development in its various contexts and settings, assisting them to appreciate the need for ongoing professional development and providing them with an understanding of what constitutes good practice for the professional counsellor. This will include introducing students to the ethical and legal obligations for counsellors, the importance of supervision and the need to be aware of the potential ethical dilemmas and boundary issues that may arise, including those that might occur for practitioners operating within faith communities. Furthermore, students are also assisted to increase their self-awareness and to understand the importance of self-awareness in professional practice.

Students are required to undertake 15 hours of self-funded personal therapy