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Applied Psychology

Fundamental Counselling Skills
Two women having a conversation

Course Overview

Some people naturally become the go-to person for advice and support, whether at work, in education, or among friends. But effective helping conversations require more than just a listening ear, they require skill, structure, and self-awareness.

The Fundamental Counselling Skills micro-credential introduces you to the essential principles, processes, and techniques that form the foundation of effective counselling.

In this six-week course, you will explore the Relational Skills Model, learning how to build trust, create a supportive environment, and guide meaningful conversations.

Through videos, readings, and discussions, you’ll gain practical skills such as active listening, paraphrasing, summarising, identifying emotions, goal setting, and fostering self-management strategies. You’ll also develop as a reflective practitioner, regularly assessing and refining your communication approach.

By the end of this course, you will have a structured framework for establishing, deepening, and maintaining helping relationships—whether in professional settings or everyday interactions.

If you’re looking to strengthen your ability to support and empower others, this course will provide basic counselling knowledge and skills to make a meaningful impact.

Time commitment per week

An average of 10 – 13 hours weekly.

Is this course for you?

This course is for you if you want working knowledge and practical counselling skills to enhance your current skillset.

 

What is counselling?

Counselling is a talking therapy that involves a trained counsellor listening to an individual, couple or family and helping them find ways to deal with emotional issues and trauma. Counselling allows people to discuss their problems and feelings in a safe and confidential environment.

For more information on the qualities you need for a counselling career read our blog post.

Dates

  • Class of 2025 May: 12 May – 22 June
  • Class of 2025 August: 11 August – 21 September

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

Learner Experience

Emma Kennedy

Emma Kennedy

"This was my first experience with the world of counselling and helping conversations. There was an immense amount of information that I am absolutely sure will serve me well in both my personal and professional life."
Alun John Davies 

Alun John Davies 

"The Fundamental Counselling Skills course had relevant content. The online learning platform was easy to navigate and the support from the course administrators was exceptional. I thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience."
Taryn Baldwin 

Taryn Baldwin 

"The learning experience met and exceeded my expectations. The course is well-designed and practical and enriched my personal and professional development. Thank you!"
Carrie Turner 

Carrie Turner 

"The course was genuinely fantastic. It's clear that a lot of thought has gone into the course design and structure. The course covers an impressive amount of material. Expert theory, best practice, a brilliant key text. Thank you! "
Shamashni Valencia Vandyar 

Shamashni Valencia Vandyar 

"The Fundamental Counselling Skills micro-credential was great! The course deepened my understanding and opened my mind to a lot of aspects of life."
Sally Wellbeloved

Sally Wellbeloved

"I really enjoyed this course, it was very well put together and easy to follow. There course was interesting, and stimulating and will support my counselling and coaching practice going forward. I am very glad that I did this course."
Natalie Caldwell

Natalie Caldwell

"It was a wonderful learning journey! I learnt a lot about myself."
Laura Venter

Laura Venter

''The Fundamental Counselling Skills course was easy to follow and I liked that I could move through the content in my own time.''
Connie Behari

Connie Behari

''My learning experience with SACAP Global was pleasant and exciting. I found the course easy to navigate and very interesting as I was constantly interacting with other learners. The course was exactly what I expected to empower my skills and gain more counselling knowledge.''
Lyanne Mhlongo

Lyanne Mhlongo

"The course was well compiled, and the work was engaging and manageable. I would love to do more SACAP Global courses."
Zelea Paulette Titus

Zelea Paulette Titus

"A most gratifying online learning experience!"
Juan Aucamp

Juan Aucamp

''I had a great time learning online through SACAP Global. The short course was straight forward and the online learning interface is great.''
Selasi Kabo

Selasi Kabo

"The practical assignments provided a hands-on approach, allowing me to immediately apply and reinforce the knowledge gained."
Michaela Fintelman

Michaela Fintelman

"Genuinely recommend the Fundamental Counselling Skills course to any human in any walk of life, incredible life skills learnt!"
Zandile Zulu

Zandile Zulu

"It was easy to study online with SACAP Global. The course material was relevant and easy to understand."
Demica Zaayman

Demica Zaayman

"Learning how to effectively help those around me was extremely exciting. I learned so much, a lot more than I expected to."
Phindiwe Majola

Phindiwe Majola

"I learned a lot about helping relationships and how to be more empathic towards a clients."
Tracey Cronje

Tracey Cronje

"I am exceptionally grateful to have done the Fundamental Counselling Skills Course as it has taught me so much about myself and the relationships I engage with daily."
Ifunanya Linda Ebadan

Ifunanya Linda Ebadan

"The short course is very interesting and insightful!"

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.

Credential Type

The OpenLearning team has reviewed this course to ensure quality academic learning within the Malaysian and Australian credentialing framework.

An OpenLearning OpenCred is a type of credential that can stand-alone or interact with a formal qualification. OpenCred courses are market-leading online courses that prepare learners for the future of work.

This course has been designed and developed by experts in the field of psychology. The Fundamental Counselling Skills micro-credential is for anyone needing to upskill in this area and offers 40 hours of learning and assessment.

Learners study online with peers and receive robust academic content while acquiring practical industry-relevant skills.

 

OpenCreds

Completing this course leads to obtaining an OpenCred.

  • 40 hours of learning
  • OpenCred classification: Pathway

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.

Fundamental Counselling Skills can be stacked with Deepening Your Counselling Skills, 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 six (6) weeks, through videos, readings and discussions, you will explore the following topics:

Week 1: First phase of the Relational Skills Model: Getting to know the person and engage with them.

Week 2: Second phase of the Relational Skills Model: Creating a safe and comfortable environment for the client, as well as assessment and problem-identification.

Week 3: Third phase of the Relational Skills Model: Exploring the presenting issues in more depth.

Week 4: Fourth phase of the Relational Skills Model: Setting goals and evaluating possible strategies.

Week 5: Fifth phase of the Relational Skills Model: Ways to support and encourage the client to implement their goals, maintain change, and develop self-management strategies.

Week 6: Integration of all your observations, journaling and feedback received to date – creating your own development plan.

Course Outcomes

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

  • Demonstrate self-reflective evaluation of applied skills in setting up a helping relationship, developing a helping relationship, working with a helping relationship, deepening the established helping relationship and maintaining and ending a helping relationship.
  • Design a development plan for improving your identified skills.

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.