Fingal Counselling Professional Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy

Commencing September 2016

About our Course

The Course

This course is accredited with the IACP and will facilitate the development of counsellors with the skills, knowledge and self-awareness necessary to initiate and sustain a therapeutic alliance with clients.

The course will give student counsellors an in-depth experience and thorough understanding of Person Centred approach to counselling along with information about other counselling and personality theories, encompassing their full range of assumptions, understanding and applications. This will enable students to understand:

  • What it is to be human.
  • The Nature of Psychological disturbance.
  • The origination and maintenance of problems.
  • How personal change takes place.
  • The process of Counselling.

It will provide students with adequate demonstrations of counselling skills and process in action, and allow students sufficient opportunity to practice counselling skills before beginning work with clients.

It will provide students with time and space for personal experience and reflection, which, along with peer and trainer feedback, will help them, identify personal issues that need to be addressed. Students will be encouraged to build on their lived experience and improve their personal and relational qualities.

It will offer students an environment of acceptance, empathy and congruence where they can take the risk to be more truly themselves knowing they will be treated respectfully and honestly. This will enable students to develop those qualities towards themselves that are realistic, self-therapeutic and fostering of their own identity. This will facilitate the development of these attitudinal conditions in relation to clients and sustain the student as a professional.

Students will be introduced to professional development, which will enable them to anticipate and competently meet a variety of counselling related situations including such issues as:

  • Life-long nature of personal development.
  • Code of Ethics and Practice for Counsellors.
  • Legal issues.
  • Insurance.
  • On Going Supervision.
  • Record Keeping,
  • Confidentiality and the Law
  • Boundary Issues.

In addition this course will offer students an opportunity to work with clients. Student’s client work will be monitored and supervised in an educative, managerial and supportive manner.

Course Content.

The training covers six main areas:

  • Theory
  • Skills
  • Personal Development
  • Supervision
  • Work with Clients
  • Professional and Ethical issues.

Timetable

First Year32 Weeks

Roger’s Person Centered Theory – Concepts.

  • Assumptions about the nature of being human.
  • Nature of Psychological disturbance and well-being.
  • How psychological problems are created and maintained.
  • How personal change takes place.
  • The process of counselling.

Egan’s Systematic approach to effective helping – concepts:

  • How personal change takes place.
  • The goal of helping.
  • The stages of the helping process.
  • Where this model complements Rogerian approach.
  • Where this model differs from Rogerian approach.

Counsellor Development & Self Awareness.

  • Self in a group
  • Awareness of moment-to-moment experience of different emotions.
  • Experience of empathy.
  • Awareness of internal client.

Theory

  • Attachment theory
  • Lifespan development
  • Development of personality theories; emotional development; Erikson and Freud’s theories of development.
  • Defence mechanisms
  • Ethics in action
  • Counsellor Self Care
  • Counselling Theories in action

Skills.

  • Attending; listening; observing; allowing space; dealing with silence.
  • Responding; reflecting back; summarising; empathy; concreteness.
  • Expanding; open questions; statements rather than questions.
  • Process; contracting; focusing; developing new understandings; brain storming.
  • Identification of preferred way of being or options; goal commitment; achievement of goals.
  • Review and ending.

Workshops, Interviews, Student issues, Course Review.

Second Year.

Theory

  • Grief & Grief Process – attachment and loss and the tasks of mourning.
  • Normal grief reactions and the mourning process.
  • Grief counselling, facilitating uncomplicated grief.
  • Grieving special types of losses
  • Complicated mourning, failure to grieve, how grief goes wrong.
  • Abuse – physical, psychological, sexual; the long term impact.
  • Counselling people who have experienced abuse – Person centered principles.
  • Abnormal Psychology/Mood disorders/Eating disorders/Psychosis
  • Anxiety – Psychodynamic concepts of anxiety and defence mechanisms.
  • Anxiety – Person Centered Theory.
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - working with clients who have been traumatised.
  • Code of Ethics; Boundary issues.

Skills

  • Attending; listening; observing; reflective space.
  • Responding; acceptance, empathy, summarising; concreteness, congruence and challenge.
  • Grief counselling; understanding the importance of catharsis.
  • Working with Trauma issues.
  • Coping with and facilitating the expression of intense emotional distress.
  • Process; Review of contracting; focusing; developing new understanding.
  • Identification of preferred way of being or option; goal commitment;
  • Achievement of goals and endings.
  • Peer group reciprocal skills practice.

Counsellor development and Personal Awareness.

  • Awareness of self in the present; thoughts; images; feelings and intensity; ebb and flow of feelings.
  • Awareness of impact of individual others and group
  • Personal transferences/different people and situations.
  • Counter transferences; experiences in response to others.
  • Personal defences against anxiety
  • Personal irrational beliefs and their impact.
  • Personal needs fears, values, attitudes, prejudices.
  • Personal experience of loss.
  • Awareness of most feared loss.
  • Awareness of personal impact of mortality.
  • Social impact on personal sexuality development.
  • Family Systems

Supervision.

Professional Issues, Student issues/interviews, course interviews.

Third Year 32 Weeks

Theory

  • Addictions
  • Additional therapies
  • Anger management/Conflict resolution
  • Couple Counselling
  • Focusing & Focusing oriented practice.
  • Sexuality; sexual orientation.
  • Dealing with sexual issues in counselling.

Student Presentations.

  • Psychodynamics – Classic, Object Relations.
  • Transpersonal Humanism – Gestalt.
  • Transactional Analysis - Reality Therapy
  • Cognitive Theory – Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy

Skills.

  • Congruence of verbal and non-verbal messages.
  • Isolations, identification, exploration and communication of personal perception.
  • Review of empathy and unconditional positive regard.
  • Practice and learning using videos and tapes.
  • Peer Group reciprocal skills practice.
  • Workplace Counselling
  • Counselling theories in Action

Supervision.

Professional issues, Student Issues, Interviews

Course Interview.

Final Student Assignment.

Skills.

  • Final review of skills revisited

Supervision.

Professional issues, Student Issues, Interviews

Course Interview.

Training Hours.

Contact hours.

This three year course runs every Tuesday commencing 13th September from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm and one Saturday per month from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm (dates to be confirmed). There are 32 weeks of classes per year (there are no classes during the midterms and school holiday

The following elements will be covered; Theory, Awareness Group, Counselling skills training, Group supervision, Meetings with core trainers and Assessment Interviews. Group supervision continues throughout the summer months when students are engaged in client work.

Non-contact hours include:

Personal Therapy - minimum 50 hours

Over the duration of the course 50 hrs of personal therapy must be completed. 25 hours must be completed prior to commencing client work and the remaining 25 hours must be completed before the end of the course.

Peer Group: Weekly Triad Meetings 90 minutes

Students must complete a minimum of 50 hours Peer Group Work in year 1, 2, 3 and 10 hrs in year 4 (single term). Students are required to keep a dated log of such work. Attendance at Peer Group will be reviewed periodically by Course Director.

A minimum of 50 logged hours of Peer Group Work must be completed prior to commencing work with clients.

Reading and Coursework Assignments.

Four to six hours per week

Work with Clients

100 supervised hours.

Attendance

Students are required to attend a minimum of 90% of course days each year.

Venue

Fingal Counselling

BASE Resource centre

Brackenstown Rd

Swords

Fees

Year 1 / €5, 000.00
Term 1 Deposit / €2,000.00
Term 1 Fees / €1,500.00
Term 2 Fees / €1,500.00
Year 2 / €3, 000.00
Term 1 Fees / €1,500.00
Term 2 Fees / €1,500.00
Year 3 / €3,000.00
Term 1 Fees / €1,500.00
Term 2 Fees / €1,500.00

Note:

A Deposit of €2000 must be paid on acceptance of an offer of place on course. This deposit will form part of Term 1 fees. Each term fee must be paid on or before the 1st day of new term.

Students who fail to complete payment for any particular term will not be allowed to continue to the next term.

A payment plan is available on request

Entry Requirements:

Applicants (over 21) should possess a level of maturity to reflect on their own personal development. Applicants must be willing to engage with group activities and reflect on experience.

Applicants must have

a) completed a Foundation course in counselling or

b) completed a recognised course in Social Care or

c) have worked in the health/caring profession

Entry is by Application Form.

Applications

All completed application forms must be returned to Fingal Counselling Service. The office is open to accept application forms between 10 am and 12.30 am Monday to Friday. Application forms should be accompanied by a refundable deposit of €100.00. Closing date for applications – Friday, 29th April 2016

Selection process

All suitable applicants will be invited for interview. The selection process will involve participation in group discussion followed by a brief interview with our course tutors.

Interviews will be held at Fingal Counselling Service.

Date to be advised

Queries

Queries on the course can be made with the Course Director - Peter Ledden who can be contacted on 0866051094

Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy Application Form

Name:
Address:
Phone: / Email:
D.O.B: / Nationality:
In 100 words or more, explain why you wish to undertake this course:
Have you undertaken a foundation course in Counselling
If so where
Current Employment:

Please return this form with non-refundable course deposit fee of €100.00 and mark the envelope Course Application to:

Fingal Counselling Service

BASE Resource Centre

Brackenstown Road.

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