Counselling Skills Certificate

What will I learn?

On this course you will develop your interpersonal and communication skills to work with individuals in a variety of support and helping roles. You will be introduced to humanistic theory and a range of professional counselling skills. These include:

• Active listening
• Attending to both verbal and non-verbal communication
• Empathy
• Acceptance

The workshops will contain the following elements:

• Understanding theories of counselling and mental health
• Working in triads to develop your counselling and helping skills
• Activities to develop your self awareness
• Introduction to the ethics underpinning any helping relationship

How will I learn?

This short course will be delivered over 24 weeks. Sessions will run from 3.30pm to 8.00pm on Wednesdays.

How will my employer benefit?

Developing your use of counselling skills will support you in working in roles which involve working with individuals. This could include health and social care, advocacy and mentoring, support and project work or teaching. These enhanced skills can increase employability or lead to increased opportunities for promotion.

Lynne Lacock

Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead, Postgraduate courses in Counselling

Lynne has worked at York St John University since 2003 and is currently the programme lead for postgraduate courses in counselling. She trained as a counsellor following a move to York after a career in NHS management, working in a variety of strategic and operational posts in organisations in London, mostly within General Practice and Primary Care. She has worked as a counsellor in the NHS and in a number of voluntary organisations in York. Since 2012 she has been jointly involved in developing Person-Centred Experiential Counselling (formerly CfD) training for experienced counsellors. She is on the BACP voluntary register and is a qualified counselling supervisor.

Dr Trish Hobman

Associate Head: Children, Young People, Education and Counselling

Trish has worked for York St John University since 2003 and is currently one of the Subject Directors for Counselling. She is a course lead for the PG diploma in Counselling, which is a British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy accredited training course. Since 2012 she has been jointly involved in developing Person-Centred Experiential (formerly CfD) training for experienced counsellors. She is on the BACP voluntary register and also an accredited counsellor, and a qualified supervisor.

Both Lynne and Trish have been running CfD courses for the last 4 years, and are experienced counselling trainers. They have also been involved with the PRaCTICED trial in Sheffield.

No specific training or experience is required to undertake this course. However, applicants need to be motivated towards developing as a helper and should be aware that there will be some written assignments. It is not suitable for individuals who are currently experiencing emotional distress or difficulty.