Fundamental Counselling Skills

Course Overview

The Fundamental Counselling Skills micro-credential introduces you to the basics of counselling, essential processes and skills in a helping relationship.

There is always that special person who people naturally gravitate to for support with their problems. Be it at work around the water cooler or that special kind of teacher who always has a moment to listen.

In this 6-week course, you will be introduced to counselling terminology, key concepts and the Relational Skills Model.

Gain practical skills needed for effective helping conversations, such as: attending skills, active listening skills, contracting skills, paraphrasing, summarising, identifying and reflecting feelings, asking questions, the skill of challenging, use of immediacy and self-disclosure, empathy, goal-setting and action planning.

Develop your capacity as a reflective practitioner and regularly reviewing your application of the processes and skills.

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 2024 August: 12 August – 22 September
• Class of 2024 September: 9 September – 20 October
• Class of 2024 October: 7 October – 17 November

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.

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.