Course Overview

How do you cope with stress? Do you suffer, or do you know somebody who suffers, from depression? Do you have a friend or relative dealing with addiction or substance abuse? Is your friend recovering from a painful divorce or bereavement?

Many of these situations are common today, and lots of people struggle to cope with difficult conditions, particularly in our frenetic, fast-paced and increasingly anonymous society.

You can help them. Yes, I really do mean YOU!

The most exciting thing is, that if you have "been there, done it, worn the T-shirt and watched the DVD", you are probably the best person to "counsel" them! Counselling is, quite literally, a "talking" therapy, and a large number of professional counsellors have themselves recovered from conditions like these and then gone on to gain professional qualifications in order to pass on their experience of coping and recovering. If you're also a good listener, then you could be ideally suited to this profession.

Our Counselling and Psychotherapy Course is an inspired choice for those individuals who want to help others suffering from stress, depression, addiction, eating disorders, divorce plus many more mentally-challenging conditions. Studying the course also offers volunteer opportunities.

What will I Learn on the Course?

This course is a fanatastic choice for those who have already studied the 'Counselling Skills' course and now want to advance their knowledge and skills further.  The course starts with the basic principles of counselling and psychotherapy and progresses through to counselling tools/techniques which can be used in working with a variety of problems which clients present with. It also deals with and gives you an insight into a number of therapies currently in use, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Person-Centred Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, and Gestalt Therapy, plus many others.

Students are then guided through the exploration of some of the many reasons which may lead a person to seek therapy, including those mentioned at the start of this discussion, and others such as schizophrenia and abuse, and the ways in which therapy is delivered.

By the end of the course students will have developed a sound understanding of the key skills and tools needed to work with clients, and the importance of values and ethics. Furthermore, and this is UNIQUE, students of this course will be awarded 30 points towards accreditation with the National Counselling Society. This is a really "big deal" for anyone committed to a career within the profession. Membership of NCS requires 75 points, so this course fulfils almost half of that requirement. Full accreditation requires a 150 points, so completion of the course gets you well on the way, and is a real stepping stone on your career path.

Course Requirements

The course is open to anyone with a genuine and positive attitude to the subject matter, and no prior knowledge is needed. However, as this is a Level 4 NCFE course, a good standard of literacy and general education is needed to progress and absorb the course concepts and materials. GCSE at grade C or above is suggested as a general guideline.

This course has been independently accredited as being equivalent to level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) which means it is comparable to the first year of an undergraduate degree.

Length of Study

Despite its perhaps daunting title, the course only needs around 100 study hours over a 12 month period, which is achievable by even the busiest professional. 

If the prospect of exams frightens the life out of you, there is even more good news. There is no final exam!

The low price of the course includes dedicated tutor support, regular critique and feedback, and all assignments are marked by one of our professional tutors. You can even pay by instalments if funds are tight.

What are you waiting for? Book your course today and start improving the lives of  friends, colleagues and relatives tomorrow. It really could be that life-changing.