Counselling Children & Youth

Course Overview

Build effective age-appropriate counselling skills to work with children and youth.

The Counselling Children & Youth micro-credential explores critical aspects of child and youth care and the challenges that children and adolescents face.

In this 7-week course you will explore creative ways to effectively engage with children and young people in crisis.

Reflect on the effects of family break up, grief, trauma such as child sexual abuse, and bullying. Learn how to apply meaningful counselling strategies to address issues that affect children and youth.

This short online course will help you gain a better understanding of the ethics that govern working with children and youth.

Broaden your understanding of the nature of the therapeutic process when counselling children and youth.

Time commitment per week

An average of 10 – 13 hours weekly.

Is this course for you?

This course is particularly valuable for parents, teachers, and those who work and engage with children and youth.

Dates

• Class of 2025 February: 10 February – 30 March
• Class of 2025 March: 10 March – 27 April
• Class of 2025 May: 12 May – 29 June
• Class of 2025 June: 9 June – 27 July
• Class of 2025 August: 11 August – 28 September
• Class of 2025 September: 8 September – 26 October

There are no online classes. Course content is released on a weekly basis allowing you to work through the course material, and meet weekly targets, at a time that is most convenient to you.

Certification

Upon completion, you will receive a digital certificate of competence and badge. Your certificate and badge can be shared on 100+ social media platforms, allowing you to share your achievement with a single click.

Stackable Credentials

Stack specified combinations of micro-credentials and they can be recognised as equivalent to a module within the Bachelor of Applied Social Science Degree at SACAP.

Psychological Theories of Child & Adolescent Development can be stacked with Counselling Children & Youth, and if you meet the minimum entrance criteria, you can enrol for the Bachelor of Applied Social Science Degree and apply for module exemption.

What You’ll Need

• Access to Microsoft Word
• Google Chrome (recommended)
• Stable internet connection

What You’ll Learn

Over the course of seven (7) weeks, through videos, readings and discussions, you will explore the following topics:

Week 1: Engage with appropriate skills and styles of communication when counselling children and youth.

Week 2: Creative ways of using play therapy in counselling with children.

Week 3: Explore the impact of divorce, separation, and grief on children and youth.

Week 4: Engage with trauma with particular emphasis on various forms of child abuse and their effects.

Week 5: Understanding negative behaviours such as anger, various forms of bullying and self-harm. You will explore various preventative measures and strategies for self-harm.

Week 6: Explore the nature of the therapeutic process, presenting problems and all other processes related to it. Examine some of the ethical concerns/dilemmas involved in working with children and youth, and the complexity of reporting child abuse.

Week 7: Undertake a summative assessment that captures all the key learning outcomes for this course.

Course Outcomes

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Define the nature of the counselling/therapeutic process when working with children and youth.
• Explore the benefits of play therapy in working with children.
• Apply age-appropriate strategies and techniques for managing loss amongst children and youth.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the effects of family break up, grief, trauma such as child sexual abuse, bullying and applying counselling strategies to address these issues.
• Review the therapeutic process.

The Team

Our short course developers and assessors are expert practitioners. They have been selected for the breadth and depth of experience in their respective disciplines. The team loves sharing their knowledge and online learning expertise to help you get the most out of your learning journey.