Counselling at QLS Level 3

This is course is divided into 6 units, as listed below:

Unit 1: The Basics of Counselling

• What is Counselling?
• What is a Counsellor / Psychotherapist?
• When is a Counsellor not ready to Counsel?
• Who Needs Counselling?
• Models and Approaches to Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Hypnotherapy
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
• Drama and Art Therapy
• Psychotherapy and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
• Cognitive Analytic Therapy
• Solution Focused Therapy
• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing
• Gestalt Therapy

Unit 2: Types of Counselling

• Addiction
• Anxiety
• Divorce
• Stress
• Sexual Orientation
• Premenstrual Syndrome
• Accompanying Treatments
• Antidepressants
• Antipsychotics (Major Tranquilisers)
• Sleeping Tablets
• Minor Tranquilisers

Unit 3: Mental Health Conditions

• Depression
• Major Depressive Episode
• Manic Episode
• Mixed Episode
• Hypomanic Episode
• Major Depressive Disorder
• Dysthymic Disorder
• Bipolar I Disorder
• Bipolar II Disorder
• Cyclothymic Disorder
• Eating Disorders
• What are Personality Disorders?
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Dependent Personality Disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Gender Identity Disorder

Unit 4: Delivering Counselling

• Delivery of Counselling and Psychotherapy
• Individual Counselling
• Group Therapy
• Couples Therapy
• Family Therapy
• Online Counselling
• Telephone Counselling
• SMS Text Counselling
• Video Counselling
• Listening Skills and Validation
• Stages of Listening
• Types of Validation
• How to Help Someone in Crisis
• Suicide
• Self-Harm
• Eating Distress
• Relationship Breakdown
• Common Problems in Counselling
• Introduction to Supervision
• Clients with Communication Problems
• Observing Your Limits
• Are You Ready for Counselling?
• Power and Control Issues
• Transference
• Counter-Transference
• Projection and Projection Identification
• Issues of Dependency
• Aggression
• Safety Issues
• Therapist’s Personal Issues Interfering
• Managing Out of Session Contact with Clients

Unit 5: Abuse and Trauma

• Abuse and Trauma
• Explanation
• Staying Safe
• Abuse and the Law
• Sexual Offences Act 2003
• Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004
• Rights of Victims
• Injunctions
• Applying for an Injunction
• Evidence Required
• Breaking a Court Order
• Role of the Authorities
• Reporting Abuse as a Counsellor / Therapist
• The Inner Child
• Relationships after Abuse
• Why Do People Abuse?
• Trauma Work
• Stigmatisation
• Betrayal
• Powerlessness
• Traumatic Sexualisation

Unit 6: Therapy Strategies and Professional Practice

• Useful Strategies
• Therapist’s Toolbox
• Therapeutic Tools and Interventions
• The And And Approach
• Halting Protocol
• Pro and Con List
• Writing Letters
• Feeling Safe
• Transactional Object
• Breathing Exercises
• Mindfulness
• Reduction and Ultimately Replacement
• Third Person (Client) Approach
• Validation
• Use of Metaphors
• Splitting
• Projective Identification
• Life Goals and Target Behaviours
• Stabilisation
• Setting Homework
• Keeping a Diary
• Boundaries in Therapy
• Grounding
• Self-Help
• Endings
• Being a Therapist
• Confidentiality
• Benefits and Issues of Registration and Accreditation
• Professional Liability Insurance
• Setting Up Your Own Practice
• Continuing Professional Development
• Working Ethically

At the end of this course successful learners will be given the option to receive a Certificate of Achievement from the Quality Licence Scheme and a Learner Unit Summary (which lists the components the learner has completed as part of the course).

The course has been endorsed under the Quality Licence Scheme.  This means that Kendal Publishing Ltd has undergone an external quality check to ensure that the organisation and the courses it offers, meet defined quality criteria. The completion of this course alone does not lead to a regulated qualification* but may be used as evidence of knowledge and skills gained. The Learner Unit Summary may be used as evidence towards Recognition of Prior Learning if you wish to progress your studies in this subject. To this end the learning outcomes of the course have been benchmarked at Level 3 against level descriptors published by Ofqual, to indicate the depth of study and level of demand/complexity involved in successful completion by the learner.

The course itself has been designed by Kendal Publishing Ltd to meet specific learners’ and/or employers’ requirements which cannot be satisfied through current regulated qualifications.   The Quality Licence Scheme endorsement involves robust and rigorous quality audits by external auditors to ensure quality is continually met.  A review of courses is carried out as part of the endorsement process.

The Quality Licence Scheme is part of the Skills and Education Group, a charitable organisation that unites education and skills-orientated organisations that share similar values and objectives. With more than 100 years of collective experience, the Skills and Education Group’s strategic partnerships create opportunities to inform, influence and represent the wider education and skills sector.

The Skills and Education Group also includes two nationally recognised awarding organisations; Skills and Education Group Awards and Skills and Education Group Access. Through our awarding organisations we have developed a reputation for providing high-quality qualifications and assessments for the education and skills sector. We are committed to helping employers, organisations and learners cultivate the relevant skills for learning, skills for employment, and skills for life.

Our knowledge and experience of working within the awarding sector enables us to work with training providers, through the Quality Licence Scheme, to help them develop high-quality courses and/or training programmes for the non-regulated market.

*Regulated qualification refers to those qualifications that are regulated by Ofqual / CCEA / Qualification Wales

Paper Based Version

The course comes to you as a paper-based pack delivered by courier.

You will be given guidance through the Study Guide on the nuts and bolts of studying and submitting assignments.

Postal assignments cannot be accepted without prior permission from the tutor.

Online Version

Our online courses are fully digitised versions of the paper-courses, so you can study on any PC or smart device when connected to the internet.

As with the paper course, your online learning programme is completely flexible, so you can study at a pace that suits you.

All of our online course content is broken down into bite size chunks to make your learning more manageable and effective.

The course contains a number of assignments which your tutor will mark and give you valuable feedback on. We call these Tutor Marked Assignments (TMAs). You need only send the TMAs to your tutor for comment, not the self-assessment exercises which are also part of the course to help you gauge your progress.

This course can be taken over a 12 month period but you can complete it as fast or as slowly as you wish.

You will have access to a tutor via email who will mark your work and guide you through the course and will assist you with any problems you may have. In addition you will be supplied with a comprehensive Study Guide which will help you through the study and assessment process.