Course Overview

The COSCA Counselling Skills course is an excellent first step for anyone interested in training as a counsellor OR for anyone interested in their personal development.

It can enhance career paths other than counselling. It can help add a theoretical and practice framework to the work of a range of helping roles - teachers, support workers, social care workers, managers, children and young people workers, student well-being officers, mental health nurses, to name but a few.

This course is widely included by higher education establishments as part of their entry criteria for undergraduate qualifications in counselling.

Although a modular course, the course should be seen as a coherent whole. Click here to access our Course Information Booklet.

Because of the highly personal nature of groupwork learning and the importance of developing a trusting, deepening and collaborative group process, we are looking for applicants in the Edinburgh and Lothian areas seeking to complete the whole Certificate with the same training group.

There are 4 modules of 12 weeks each…

Module 1: Beginnings

•Experiential listening practices

•Self-awareness and development

•Theory of therapeutic listening relationships & the ethics of confidentiality (class discussion & tutor input)

Module 2: Exploration and Expansion

•Topics: Beginnings, Middles and Endings; Transition Theory; Attachment & loss; Sexuality & Gender; Working with difference

•Exploration of ethics around all topics

•Experiential listening practices in small groups

Module 3: Review and Reflection

•Theory of 3 main modalities of counselling (Person-centred, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Psychodynamic)

•Ongoing emphasis on your self-awareness through experiential work

•Further exploration of ethics, e.g. power

Module 4: Integration

•Theory of Gestalt and Transactional Analysis modalities

•Concentrated counselling skills practice for 4 consecutive weeks

•Experiential learning - Social inclusion/exclusion; Stress; Ethics of Boundaries

The COSCA Counselling Skills Certificate has been awarded 40 SCQF credits at Level 8 by Napier University.

The course lasts for 15 months with holiday breaks which follow Edinburgh Council school holiday periods eg a course starting in September 23 will complete in November 24.

Module 1 courses will begin at various points in the year to allow for lots of flexibility around starting points for students.