Fingal Counselling Professional Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Commencing September 2015
About our Course
The Course
This course is accredited with the IACP and will facilitate the development of counsellors
with the skills, knowledge and self-awareness necessary to initiate and sustain a therapeutic
alliance with clients.
The course will give student counsellors an in-depth experience and thorough understanding
of Person Centred approach to counselling along with information about other counselling
and personality theories, encompassing their full range of assumptions, understanding and
applications. This will enable students to understand:
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What it is to be human.
The Nature of Psychological disturbance.
The origination and maintenance of problems.
How personal change takes place.
The process of Counselling.
It will provide students with adequate demonstrations of counselling skills and process in
action, and allow students sufficient opportunity to practice counselling skills before
beginning work with clients.
It will provide students with time and space for personal experience and reflection, which,
along with peer and trainer feedback, will help them, identify personal issues that need to be
addressed. Students will be encouraged to build on their lived experience and improve their
personal and relational qualities.
It will offer students an environment of acceptance, empathy and congruence where they can
take the risk to be more truly themselves knowing they will be treated respectfully and
honestly. This will enable students to develop those qualities towards themselves that are
realistic, self-therapeutic and fostering of their own identity. This will facilitate the
development of these attitudinal conditions in relation to clients and sustain the student as a
professional.
Students will be introduced to professional development, which will enable them to anticipate
and competently meet a variety of counselling related situations including such issues as:
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Life-long nature of personal development.
Code of Ethics and Practice for Counsellors.
Legal issues.
Insurance.
Fingal Counselling Professional Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Commencing September 2015
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On Going Supervision.
Record Keeping,
Confidentiality and the Law
Boundary Issues.
In addition this course will offer students an opportunity to work with clients. Student’s
client work will be monitored and supervised in an educative, managerial and supportive
manner.
Course Content.
The training covers six main areas:
 Theory
 Skills
 Personal Development
 Supervision
 Work with Clients
 Professional and Ethical issues.
Timetable
First Year
32 Weeks
Roger’s Person Centered Theory – Concepts.
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Assumptions about the nature of being human.
Nature of Psychological disturbance and well-being.
How psychological problems are created and maintained.
How personal change takes place.
The process of counselling.
Egan’s Systematic approach to effective helping – concepts:
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How personal change takes place.
The goal of helping.
The stages of the helping process.
Where this model complements Rogerian approach.
Where this model differs from Rogerian approach.
Counsellor Development & Self Awareness.
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Self in a group
Awareness of moment-to-moment experience of different emotions.
Experience of empathy.
Awareness of internal client.
Theory
Fingal Counselling Professional Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Commencing September 2015
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Attachment theory
Lifespan development
Development of personality theories; emotional development; Erikson and Freud’s
theories of development.
Defence mechanisms
Ethics in action
Counsellor Self Care
Counselling Theories in action
Skills.
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Attending; listening; observing; allowing space; dealing with silence.
Responding; reflecting back; summarising; empathy; concreteness.
Expanding; open questions; statements rather than questions.
Process; contracting; focusing; developing new understandings; brain storming.
Identification of preferred way of being or options; goal commitment; achievement of
goals.
Review and ending.
Workshops, Interviews, Student issues, Course Review.
Second Year.
Theory
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Grief & Grief Process – attachment and loss and the tasks of mourning.
Normal grief reactions and the mourning process.
Grief counselling, facilitating uncomplicated grief.
Grieving special types of losses
Complicated mourning, failure to grieve, how grief goes wrong.
Abuse – physical, psychological, sexual; the long term impact.
Counselling people who have experienced abuse – Person centered principles.
Abnormal Psychology/Mood disorders/Eating disorders/Psychosis
Anxiety – Psychodynamic concepts of anxiety and defence mechanisms.
Anxiety – Person Centered Theory.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - working with clients who have been traumatised.
Code of Ethics; Boundary issues.
Skills
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Attending; listening; observing; reflective space.
Responding; acceptance, empathy, summarising; concreteness, congruence and challenge.
Grief counselling; understanding the importance of catharsis.
Working with Trauma issues.
Coping with and facilitating the expression of intense emotional distress.
Process; Review of contracting; focusing; developing new understanding.
Identification of preferred way of being or option; goal commitment;
Achievement of goals and endings.
Fingal Counselling Professional Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Commencing September 2015
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Peer group reciprocal skills practice.
Counsellor development and Personal Awareness.
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Awareness of self in the present; thoughts; images; feelings and intensity; ebb and flow of
feelings.
Awareness of impact of individual others and group
Personal transferences/different people and situations.
Counter transferences; experiences in response to others.
Personal defences against anxiety
Personal irrational beliefs and their impact.
Personal needs fears, values, attitudes, prejudices.
Personal experience of loss.
Awareness of most feared loss.
Awareness of personal impact of mortality.
Social impact on personal sexuality development.
Supervision.
Professional Issues, Student issues/interviews, course interviews.
Third Year 32 Weeks
Theory
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Addictions
Additional therapies
Anger management/Conflict resolution
Couple Counselling
Focusing & Focusing oriented practice.
Sexuality; sexual orientation.
Dealing with sexual issues in counselling.
Student Presentations.
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Psychodynamics – Classic, Object Relations.
Transpersonal Humanism – Gestalt.
Transactional Analysis - Reality Therapy
Cognitive Theory – Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy
Skills.
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Congruence of verbal and non-verbal messages.
Isolations, identification, exploration and communication of personal perception.
Review of empathy and unconditional positive regard.
Practice and learning using videos and tapes.
Peer Group reciprocal skills practice.
Fingal Counselling Professional Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Commencing September 2015
Supervision.
Professional issues, Student Issues, Interviews
Course Interview.
Year 4 13 Weeks
Theory
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Family Systems
Workplace Counselling
Counselling theories in Action
Final Student Assignment.
Skills.
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Final review of skills revisited
Supervision.
Professional issues, Student Issues, Interviews
Course Interview.
Training Hours.
Contact hours.
This three and a half year course runs for 4 hours on Wednesday mornings from September
2015. Year one, two and three run for thirty two weeks and year four for thirteen weeks.
The following elements will be covered; Theory, Awareness Group, Counselling skills
training, Group supervision, Meetings with core trainers and Assessment Interviews. Group
supervision continues throughout the summer months when students are engaged in client
work.
Non-contact hours include:
Personal Therapy - minimum 50 hours
Over the duration of the course 50 hrs of personal therapy must be completed. 25 hours must
be completed prior to commencing client work and the remaining 25 hours must be
completed before the end of the course.
Fingal Counselling Professional Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Commencing September 2015
Peer Group: Weekly Triad Meetings 90 minutes
Students must complete a minimum of 50 hours Peer Group Work in year 1, 2, 3 and 10 hrs
in year 4 (single term). Students are required to keep a dated log of such work. Attendance at
Peer Group will be reviewed periodically by Course Director.
A minimum of 50 logged hours of Peer Group Work must be completed prior to commencing
work with clients.
Reading and Coursework Assignments.
Four to six hours per week
Work with Clients
100 supervised hours.
Attendance
Students are required to attend a minimum of 90% of course days each year.
Venue
Fingal Counselling
BASE Resource centre
Brackenstown Rd
Swords
Fees
Fee Payment
Fees Schedule
Total Fee
€11,000
Year 1
€2, 000.00
14th September 2015
€1,500.00
11th January 2016
€1,500.00
12th September 2016
€1,500.00
9th January 2017
Year 2
Fingal Counselling Professional Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Commencing September 2015
Year 3
Year 4
€1,500.00
11th September 2017
€1,500.00
8th January 2018
€1,500.00
10th September 2018
Note:
A Deposit of €500 must be paid on acceptance of an offer of place on course. This deposit
will form part of Term 1 fees (€2000). Each term fee must be paid on or before the 1st day of
term.
Students who fail to complete payment for any particular term will not be allowed to continue
to the next term.
Entry Requirements:
Applicants (over 21) should possess a level of maturity to reflect on their own personal
development. Applicants must be willing to engage with group activities and reflect on
experience.
Applicants must have completed a foundation level Certificate in Counselling Entry is by
Application Form and brief telephone interview by Course Director.
Applications
All completed application forms must be returned to Fingal Counselling Service. The office
is open to accept application forms between 10 am and 12.30 am Monday to Friday.
Application forms should be accompanied by a cheque for €100.00
Open Day
Why not come along to our open day on Saturday, 18th April 2015 from 10 am – 1 pm.
Meet the course Director and admission team, take a tour of our facility and learn about the
course, the supports offered to students and the counselling service.
Queries
Queries on the course can be made with the Course Director - Peter Ledden who can be
contacted on 0866051094
Fingal Counselling Professional Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Commencing September 2015
Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy Application Form
Name:
Address:
Phone:
Email:
D.O.B:
Nationality:
In 100 words or more, explain why you wish to undertake this course:
Fingal Counselling Professional Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Commencing September 2015
Have you undertaken a foundation course in Counselling
If so where
Current Employment:
Please return this form with non-refundable course deposit fee of €100.00 and mark the
envelope Course Application to:
Fingal Counselling Service
BASE Resource Centre
Brackenstown Road.