L4 Certicate in Counselling

Who is the course for?

This course provides a further step for those having studied counselling skills at an introductory level or those with experience of using counselling skills and will provide an opportunity to:
 

• Use counselling skills within your existing professional or voluntary role with a greater degree of efficacy and professionalism

• Provide you with a firm stepping stone onto either a Level 4 Diploma or level 5 foundation degree in Counselling (after which you would be able to see clients as a counsellor, become a member of the BACP and work towards accreditation)

• Use the course as personal development to change your personal and professional life and expand future opportunities

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What will the course cover?

There are 4 modules to cover:

• Developing practical counselling skills

• Personal development

• Theoretical approaches to counselling

• Working Ethically

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Learning Outcomes

A full list of learning outcomes is available on request but briefly by the end of the course you will:

• Know yourself better

• Be able to create a safe and conducive place for a person to talk with you

• Develop practical skills and knowledge to cope with a range of presenting problems

• Understand basic ethics and application in the work place and when and how to refer on

• Know about and differentiate between the major modalities of therapy

• Write level 4 assignments

Course Format

All the work will have strong links to practice and there will also be an academic element. Learning methods will include: skills practice in different formats, learning journal, large group work, personal development groups, lectures, exercises and essays, Case studies and scenarios, tutorials and study groups.  There is a strong emphasis on personal reflection and sharing and therefore a lot of work goes into creating a safe space to facilitate that. All sessions, including weekly skills practice and small group work will be undertaken online using Zoom video conferencing (using the breakout rooms facility). Help and support is offered to assist people to set this up and ensure it is working correctly before the course commences. In addition, there will be six attended skills practice days (Saturdays) in Carlisle, Cumbria and, subject to demand in the West Midlands. Attended Saturdays will be subject to Covid restrictions and, if neccessary, will be undertaken online.

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Accreditation

Students will be registered with Open College Network West Midlands, a National Awarding Organisation regulated by OfQual for 4 Units with a total of 21 Credits. The total GLH (Guided Learning Hours) for this course is 150 hours and as such, meets the entry requirements for the Level 4 Diploma. On successful completion students with be awarding a national qualification 'Open College Network West Midlands Level 4 Certificate in Counselling'. This qualification is listed on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF), No. 601/3700/9

Placement Requirement

As part of this course there will be a placement requirement of approx. 20 hours. This is a placement outside of the course where you can practice some of the skills used by counsellors, but is not formally contracted counselling. Working with family and friends will not be sufficient for a placement. A placement is a situation in which you take on a helping role that involves the use of counselling skills. This might be within your paid employment if your work requires a helping role, such as a nurse, pastoral work as a teacher, carer etc. It does not apply to paid employment where the focus is not helping – for example bar work, hairdressing etc. If you are employed and your employer is not suitable, you will need to research agencies or charities where you may become a volunteer in good time for starting the course.   You may be required to have  DBS checks etc which can take time, and you may be required to do some specific agency training.