Therapeutic Counselling (Top-up)

This module will prepare you to work in a diverse, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society. You are introduced to the relationship between working within a framework of anti-discriminatory practice, applying a theoretical base and integrating knowledge of ethical and legal responsibilities to client work. You reflect on your personal experience and issues around your practice as a counsellor when dealing with complex situations. You will develop your skills and reflective abilities in relation to responding to personal, moral, ethical and legal dimensions within the therapeutic relationship.

Client Issues in Therapeutic Practice introduces you to the theoretical concepts associated with diverse client issues and consider different theoretical responses to a range of client issues, linking theoretical knowledge to practice. The focus will be to consider the most appropriate approach to use when dealing with specific issues and concerns.

Counselling Research introduces you to the relationship between theory, research and practice through consideration of a range of research methods appropriate to counselling. You develop an enhanced ability to critically evaluate research papers and articles, skills in research design and the confidence necessary to conduct a small scale empirically-based research study.

You will write a dissertation on an aspect of counselling of particular interest to your practice. Once a proposal has been agreed you will be assigned a dissertation tutor for regular tutorial support. The topic must have a clear relevance to the work of the counsellor and will be based on a small scale piece of field research.

Theory and Practice of Group Counselling introduces you to the competencies required for working in therapeutic groups. It does not provide training to work as a group therapist but instead highlights the complexities of working therapeutically with groups. You examine basic elements of the group process, theoretical approaches to group counselling, integration and application. You consider group leadership including recognising diversity in groups, ethical and professional issues, and stages in the development of a group, psychodynamic, cognitive behavioural and person-centred perspectives of group work, goals of counselling groups and the evolution of a group.