The Counselling Centre
7 Chilston Road, Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN4 9LP
Telephone : 01892 548750,
email: info@thecounsellingcentre.org.uk
British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
Accredited Counselling Training
at the Counselling Centre, Tunbridge Wells
Who we are
We are the largest provider of psychodynamic counselling and training in Kent. Our
counselling service and our training courses are accredited by the British Association
of Counselling and Psychotherapy. This means we meet all the rigorous professional
standards required by the largest and broadest moderating body in the counselling
and psychotherapeutic sector within the UK. It also means that all our services are
under constant review, in order that we achieve the highest current standards in
therapeutic thinking.
The Counselling Centre itself was founded over 20 years ago and currently provides
nearly 300 sessions of counselling a month to a wide cross section of the local
community.
What we offer
The Counselling Centre currently offers two training courses: the one year, part-time
Foundation Certificate in Counselling Skills (this course also forms the first step to
further training at TCC) and the two year, part-time, BACP accredited Diploma in
Psychodynamic Counselling.
Becoming a counsellor involves more than academic study. We support our trainees
through the whole challenging and demanding personal experience. Both courses
are taught by experienced practitioners, who have significant expertise in both
clinical practice and teaching. Counselling skills are useful whatever one’s
professional role. Our introductory course has proved useful to many people in the
helping professions – teachers, social workers, nurses. Other professionals,
including lawyers and HR specialists, have also found the skills and insights, acquired
through our training, to be invaluable in the workplace.
The Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling represents particularly excellent value for
money, in that the fees cover all aspects of training – from seminars to providing a
client placement [and clients] at the centre – and we offer a high standard of clinical
supervision and academic assessment throughout. Many training courses require
students to find their own placement, and sometimes even fund their own
supervision.
Why study Psychodynamic Counselling?
Considerable research supports the efficacy and effectiveness of psychodynamic
counselling – and psychotherapy. The essence of psychodynamic counselling
involves working with a client to explore those aspects of the self that are not fully
known – and how these might unhelpfully impact upon daily life. Seven features
differentiate psychodynamic therapy from other therapies:
1. Focus on expressing emotion
the counsellor helps the client describe and put words to feelings,
including contradictory ones, that might be troubling or threatening;
(although the client might not initially recognise this)
2. Exploration of attempts to avoid distressing thoughts and
feelings
Psychodynamic counsellors actively focus on and explore avoidances
with a view to ultimately minimising them
3. Identification of recurring themes and patterns
… in clients’ thoughts, feelings, self-concept, relationships and life
experiences.
4. Discussion of past experience (with a developmental focus)
The counsellor will work with the client to understand how early
attachment relationships affect one’s relation to, and experience of,
present relationships; the ways in which the past tends to ‘live-on’ and,
in turn, how this might shed light on current emotional difficulties.
5. Focus on interpersonal relationships.
6. Focus on the therapeutic relationship
To the extent that there are repetitive themes in a person’s personal
relationships, these themes can tend to emerge in the same form in
the counselling relationship. The therapeutic relationship provides a
unique opportunity to explore these and rework them in the present.
7. Exploration of wishes and fantasies
Psychodynamic counselling encourages the client to speak freely about
whatever is on their mind. All of this material is a rich source of how a
person views themselves and others. Using these ‘clues’ the counsellor
can help the client make sense of how they might interfere with daily
living – and how unlocking them can lead to a potential to find greater
enjoyment and meaning in life.
In short, the goals of psychodynamic counselling include, but extend beyond,
symptom remission. A successful therapeutic relationship should not only relieve
symptoms (ie, get rid of a problem), but also help grow positive psychological
capacities and resources. Depending on the person – or the circumstances – these
might include the capacity to have more fulfilling relationships, make more effective
use of one’s talents and abilities, maintain a realistic sense of self-esteem and
understand oneself and others in a more sophisticated way – hence facing life’s
challenges with greater freedom and flexibility.
The other positive aspect of psychodynamic counselling is, that research has shown,
clients tend to continue ‘improving’ in their lives, after the counselling has ended.
This suggests that psychodynamic counselling sets in motion positive psychological
processes that lead to ongoing change – long after the counsellor is no longer
present.
(For more detailed information please see The Efficacy of Psychodynamic
Psychotherapy by Jonathan Shedler, American Psychological Association, 2009, from
which much of this information has been extracted.)