Introduction to Counselling

What will I learn?

People study counselling for a wide variety of reasons:

• Personal growth and development
• Professional people-skills enhancement and development
• Preparing for a career as a Professional Therapeutic Counsellor

Our Level 5 and Level 6 Counselling qualifications can enhance job applications for those that want to apply to work with people, or with the public, or for those who want to develop skills, knowledge, and an understanding of how to best support people in a variety of settings (both personally and professionally), while also enhancing opportunities for career development and progression for those already in a working environment.  

This SCQF Level 5 Counselling: An Introduction course has been designed for individuals who have an interest in, but who have no or have limited previous knowledge and experience of studying counselling. 

This unit will introduce you to the purpose, and the basic concepts and processes, of counselling, including the importance of reflective practice.  As this is an SCQF level 5 introductory unit to counselling concepts and processes, it provides underpinning and basic knowledge of the subject, however, it does not, in any way, permit those who have achieved it to refer to themselves as qualified counsellors.

What will I learn?

• A definition of counselling
• The aims and purpose of counselling
• The qualities of an effective counsellor
• The counselling process
• Counselling skills development via role-play activities
• Counselling agency profiles
• How to reflect on your own counselling skills

This course is an SCQF level 5 SQA unit and has four assessments attached to it.  At the end of this course, successful students can apply for the SCQF level 6 Counselling Theory for Practice: an Introduction unit and course of study, towards the SCQF level 7 HNC in Counselling or COSCA Certificate in Counselling Skills.

For those who are interested in becoming a Registered BACP Counsellor, the general route is over three years:

• Year 1 - SCQF level 5 Counselling: An Introduction (PT Evening over 12 weeks), followed by the SCQF level 6 Counselling Theory for Practice: an Introduction (PT Evening over 24 weeks)
• Year 2 - SCQF level 7 HNC Counselling (FT Day over 1 year or PT Evening over 2 years)
• Year 3 - SCQF level 8 HND Counselling (BACP Diploma) (leads to a Registration opportunity, as a professional Registered Counsellor, with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) (FT Day over 1 year – so the HNC is essentially the first year of the 2 year Diploma)