Counselling Skills (Intermediate)

This workshop builds on the skills and processes developed in the Counselling Skills (Foundational) short course. In this two-day hands-on workshop, we will explore counselling from the perspective that we have an inner cognitive and emotional life that significantly effects how we live day-to-day as well as long-term choices made. From these understandings, we will explore processes and applications that can assist clients to become further empowered, self-aware, self-accepting and positive.

This course is designed for people that have some basic education in counselling approaches and/or are already working with clients in a supportive capacity and wish to extend their training and skills.

Please note, this course does not qualify participants to work in a professional setting as a counsellor. 

Learning Objectives

Via a mix of group learning, role-plays, exercises and education sessions, following the completion of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Understand and demonstrate active listening skills and a person-centred approach
2. Understand the process of the adaptive self on authenticity and applications when working with clients
3. Develop awareness and skills to assist clients to progress from negative self-talk to self-acceptance
4. Develop an introductory understanding of the effects of interconnected internal and external factors and their impact on wellbeing and health (Note: this will be delivered via a brief overview and a detailed handout)
5. Understand and apply a strengths- and values-based approach to client work
6. Apply structured and unstructured goal setting approaches with clients
7. Understand and apply principles of motivation and reinforcement theory for building positive habits
8. Apply scale-ruler questions to assess needs, relationships and decision-making
9. Understand the concept of core emotions and emotional suppression, and, how to work at an emotional level with clients
10. Understand the concepts and application of gratitude and compassion
11. Practice and extend self-awareness in the counselling process

Depending on the needs and counselling experience of the group members, the above learning objectives may be modified accordingly.