Introduction to Counselling

Course Overview

What is counselling? How does it help? How does it differ from a good conversation with a friend?

The main aims of this Introduction to Counselling course will be to:

• introduce you to the basic ideas, aims and methods of the main types of counselling
• give you an understanding of what counselling is, and how it is different from other supportive roles
• offer you the opportunity to learn about yourself and to develop greater self-awareness.

This 10-week course will broadly outline some of the main assumptions of counselling work, and demonstrate how the work is different from other roles, such as friendship and other helping professions. With a good understanding of counselling in general, you will be introduced to the history of talking treatment from Freud to the contemporary context. You will learn about three major counselling modalities on this course - an exploration of psychodynamic, person-centred and cognitive behavioural counselling. A key aspect of Introduction to Counselling is the development of self-awareness and the capacity for self-reflection: these skills will be developed through a series of experiential exercises.

Assessment is via an essay, eight-minute audio-visual presentation and mind map with written reflective account, 1750 words total (100%).

The course is ideal if you have no previous knowledge or experience of counselling and want to learn more. You can take it as a standalone course or, if you wish to gain more skills and knowledge in this area, you can use the credits from this short course when applying for our Counselling and Counselling Skills Cert HE.

As a student on this course, you will study alongside Birkbeck students enrolled on one of our undergraduate or postgraduate courses, giving you the opportunity to network with a range of Birkbeck current students whilst you learn.

Credits: 30 credits at level 4