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Guidelines for Choosing a Counselling Training Course

Choosing a course can be daunting especially as when you start counselling training you are not sure what it is you need! This simple guide should help you to ensure you get training with the right qualifications.

Sound Training Principles - What you need to ask and look for:

• Is the course BOTH academically AND professionally accredited
  
  Academically Accredited has mostly the qualification at completion either through higher education or further education.
  
  Professionally Accredited has met the standards of a governing professional counselling body such as the ACC or BACP. This means the course adheres to a code of ethics and promotes good and safe practice.
  
  
• Find out what Core Model the course is using. A Model in counselling is simply the philosophy and methods consistent with that philosophy used to counsel someone. CCTS uses the Crabb/CWR Model.
• Check hidden expenses - fees besides the course for personal counselling, supervision, membership to a professional organisation etc. (The ACC give special membership rates to students).

Further Explanation Progression of Courses

Usually an Introduction Course will present the core model. This will give you an understanding of its philosophy, what it looks like, give you skills and personal development training.

A Certificate Course builds on this, and looks more at how you work with someone using that model. Where the Introduction course gave understanding and insight, the certificate will give you tools and methods i.e. put it all into practice. It's at this level you will be introduced to other counselling models so you are aware and have some understanding. There may be some integration - this is where you see methods from other models which would work well with your model and philosophy. E.g. REBT has some tools such as inference chaining that work well with the Crabb/CWR Model. Skills and personal development will be key features and there will be other professional issues covered. This course should begin to prepare you to become a counsellor.

A Diploma Course builds on the Certificate. You will begin counselling and have the opportunity to apply common problems people face such as anxiety, depression, shame etc. to your core Model. It is at this stage of training that you will begin to compare and contrast other counselling models and begin to have a go at one or two others. Integrative work is encouraged.

Note: Eclectic working takes many years of experience. This is where you import philosophies and methods, mixing up how you work with a counsellee - there is no core model. To do this requires great knowledge, understanding and skill. To work eclectively too early without this experience can be very confusing for the counsellee.

Further courses beyond the diploma level will develop specialisms such as working with children, couples counselling etc. and give you competency in more than one model.

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