Counselling Skills
With an ever-increasing focus on mental health issues, counsellors are in high demand. If you’re interested in exploring counselling as a potential career or would just like to understand the essential skills of being a counsellor which can help both your life and career, three new courses at Richmond American University London, could be just what you’re looking for.
The courses, which are open to both students at Richmond and the general public, have been designed to provide an introduction to counselling theory, helping skills and the ethics of safely helping others through talking therapy.
These courses are designed to provide students with a Level 1 (May to July) and Level 2 training (January–July), which will provide a useful stepping stone for qualification as a counsellor in the UK (if students wish to progress), which can be achieved with a Level 4 Diploma.
The Level 2 Counselling Skills course is accredited by ACCPH – an independent professional body and register for counsellors, coaches, psychotherapists and hypnotherapists – which said that our counselling skills courses are, “Comprehensive”. Learners in Level 2 can join ACCPH as students which will support them getting their accreditation as counsellors and access to liability insurance.
New for September 2022 is our Level 3 Counselling Skills course which is designed for learners who are progressing from Level 2 or those who have professional experience in a related area, e.g. HR. Please contact us for details.
This course prepares learners by teaching the concepts of counselling relationships; counselling others ethically and safely; and introducing learners to the counselling skills specific to psychodynamic, person-centred and cognitive-behavioural theories of counselling.
Entry onto Level 3 is rolling, meaning that you can join at the start of any term. The Level 3 Counselling Skills certificate is awarded after three modules are completed over three terms.
Together, these programmes will provide an excellent introduction to counselling. This is what makes them stand out from others:
- The programmes are delivered in the Richmond Psychology department by lecturers who are experts in both psychology and counselling, providing students with a wealth of insights into the two disciplines
- The Foundations to Counselling Skills course, which is benchmarked to be taught at the Regulated Qualification Framework at Level 1, is unique to Richmond, it is not offered by any other institution in the country
- The courses are also open to all learners from 18 years old
- Most counselling skills courses only offer training in theory and communication skills, however, Richmond completes the training by offering real business skills to help students learn how to create and develop their own private practices.
Students are welcome to join the programme at either level 1 or 2 (Foundations to Counselling Skills or Introduction to Counselling Skills). No counselling experience is required for either of these levels.
Some experience for Level 3 (Counselling Skills) is desirable, see above for details.
We will be teaching these programmes face-to-face on Thursday evenings, 6.00-9.00pm at our new state of the art campus location in Chiswick Park. If you have any questions, please contact us using the details below.
Counselling Skills Courses – BOOK NOW
Click on each of the levels below to find out more and book your course.
Foundation to Counselling Skills, Level 1 (May-July)
Date: 25 May – 27 July 2023 (one semester)
Duration: 10 Week Programme
Venue: Richmond American University London, Building 12, Chiswick Park, London W4 5AN
Time: Thursdays, 6 – 9pm
Course level: Beginner
Type of Course: Evening Short Course (not for credit)
Course Content
- The roles and responsibilities of working as a counsellor
- Basic communication skills
- The fundamental elements of creating, maintaining and ending a counselling relationship
- How to work ethically and with cultural sensitivity through reflective learning and counselling practice
Following a brief knowledge assessment, the final session will focus on career progression and training opportunities that will supporting learners to become professional counsellors. This course is benchmarked against a Level 1 Award in the Regulated Qualification Framework.
Follow a manual added link
LEVEL 1
BOOK COURSE
LEVEL 1
Counselling Skills Course
Richmond Students & General Public
Follow a manual added link
LEVEL 1
BOOK COURSE
LEVEL 1
Counselling Skills Course
Chiswick Calendar Club / Richmond Card & Enjoy Work App
Introduction to Counselling Skills, Level 2 (January–July) accredited by ACCPH
Date:
- Unit 1 (1st semester) – 19 January – 13 April 2023 (no classes 9 March 2023)
- Unit 2 (2nd semester) – 25 May – 27 July 2023
Duration: 20 Week Programme over 2 semesters
Venue: Richmond American University London, Building 12, Chiswick Park, London W4 5AN
Time: Thursdays, 6 – 9pm
Course level: Beginner
Type of Course: Evening Short Course (not for credit)
Introduction to Counselling Skills consists of two units (1 unit/term)
Unit 1: The Counselling Toolkit: Skills for Building a Counselling Relationship
This unit teaches students in detail about the basic tools counsellors use for building trust and working through the problem situations of their clients. Skills to be learnt learned include paraphrasing, summarising, reflecting feelings, and challenging clients.
Unit 2: The Stages of Counselling, Issues & Theories
This unit teaches students how to use the skills gained in unit 1 to structure a counselling relationship made up of a beginning, middle, and ending. Students will also learn how to reflect on their cultural identity and ethical practice, as well as gain a basic introduction to psychodynamic, humanistic, and cognitive-behavioral theories of counselling.
This course is assessed by observation of counselling skills, creating a reflective portfolio, a short case study and a brief knowledge and skills assessment. This course is benchmarked against a Level 2 Certificate in the Regulated Qualification Framework.
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LEVEL 2
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LEVEL 2
Counselling Skills Course
Richmond Students & General Public
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LEVEL 2
BOOK COURSE
LEVEL 2
Counselling Skills Course
Chiswick Calendar Club / Richmond Card & Enjoy Work App
Counselling Skills, Level 3 (September/January/May)
Date: Three start dates: September 2022/January 2023/May 2023
Duration: 10 week x 3 term programme – 30 weeks in total
Time: Thursdays, 6.00 – 9.00pm
Venue: Richmond American University London, Building 12, Chiswick Park, London W4 5AN
Course level: Level 3
Type of Course: Evening Short Course (not for credit)
Course Content
Entry onto Level 3 is rolling, meaning that you can join at the start of any term. The Level 3 Counselling Skills certificate is awarded after the following three modules are completed.
COUN 3100 The Counselling Relationship (22 September 2022 to 24 November 2022 – no classes 27 October 2022)
- The complexities of the therapeutic relationship between counsellor and client:
- Contracting and setting boundaries with clients
- Establishing an empathetic and trusting relationship with clients
- Applying counselling congruence to the client and counselling student alike
COUN3200 Counselling Safely & Ethically (19 January 2023 to 13 April 2023- no classes 9 March 2023)
- How to help others safely as well as professional standards across the counselling profession:
- Frameworks for ethical counselling
- Limitations on confidentiality
- Avoiding client manipulation
- Working with counselling supervision
- Working with private insurance
- Ethical monitoring with notetaking
COUN3300 Theoretical Approaches to Counselling (25 May 2023 to 27 July 2023)
- This module teaches learners the three main approaches to counselling:
- Introducing the basic theoretical concepts of counsellors apply to their helping relationships such as free association, dream analysis, the Q-sort, the A-B-C-D-E model and the negative triad
- Learners will practice with each modality and discuss which approach helped them most in their progression
Follow a manual added link
LEVEL 3
BOOK COURSE
LEVEL 3
Counselling Skills Course
Richmond Students & General Public
Follow a manual added link
LEVEL 3
BOOK COURSE
LEVEL 3
Counselling Skills Course
Chiswick Calendar Club / Richmond Card & Enjoy Work App
Who should apply
All three short courses are ideal for people of all backgrounds who are interested in learning more about the role of a counsellor and how counselling skills and knowledge can be highly useful tools for life.
Entry Requirements
No prior knowledge of counselling is required for Levels 1 and 2. Some knowledge of counselling is advisable for Level 3, please see above for more details.
Fees
£600 per term/semester (10 weeks)
Payment plans are available (3 payments per semester).
Get in Touch
If you are interested in any of these courses, please contact:
Dr Ira Konstantinou,
Head of Psychology Department
konstai@richmond.ac.uk
What our students say
“The Level 2 Counselling Skills course was really engaging and enjoyable. I especially valued that throughout the course, we were given many opportunities to practise the skills we’d learned about in class with the other participants and receive feedback from our peers and our instructor. I would recommend the course to anyone interested in exploring counselling as a career path, as well as to those in people-facing roles and helping professions.”
“The learning from Level 3 took my understanding to a much deeper level. Our course tutor was very patient and generous with his time as well as giving us many opportunities to practise and provided valuable feedback to help us progress. I can’t recommend this course highly enough!”
“Tavis was great from start to finish. Even before I signed up to the Level 2 Counselling course, he took the time to talk me through the course and to ensure it was the right fit for me and my goals. It was enjoyable, informative and fun — Tavis put us all at ease with his humour, experience and knowledge. It felt like a real achievement to gain a qualification in my 40s and fantastic to collaborate and learn with a diverse mix of people. I’d thoroughly recommend the course!”
“I had the great privilege of being taught counseling for three years by Tavis. He always came well prepared, managed to explain difficult concepts in a way that the class understood. He combined his classes with good materials that we kept. Tavis gave us ample opportunity to put theory into practice with role playing at the center of this. I thoroughly enjoyed his classes throughout the three years, and I wish I had an opportunity to continue with a fourth year with him.
A great teacher with even a greater personality.”
“The course is great. The lesson plans are structured really well, allowing lots of time for practice. The information is taught very clearly and the classes have offered so many opportunities for both learning and practising different counselling skills. The counselling activities are very engaging. The content taught, the interaction with fellow course-mates and the course overall, has been a great opportunity for my personal development. Would highly recommend!”
Meet the Team
With the support of a highly renowned Psychology team at this international university, the academic faculty teaching this programme are experts in the fields of both psychology and counselling:
Tavis Ryan King
BA (Hons), MSc, MA, Couns.Dip, PhD Candidate
Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society Special Group for Independent Practitioners; Academics, Teachers and Researchers; Psychology of Sexualities; Psychotherapy Section
Fellow Member of Accredited Counsellors, Coaches, Psychotherapists and Hypnotherapists
George Berguño
BSc (Hons), MSc, DPhil
Chartered Member and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society
Full Member of the British Psychological Society Special Group for Independent Practitioners
