Want to study counselling

trulla

Hi
I am very interested in doing the Diploma and BSc (Hons) in Counselling & Psychotherapy with PCI. To do the course i need a Certificate Course in Counselling & Psychotherapy. At the moment i am considering to do the certificate in Counselling with CMIT which is accredited by NCFE or the Counselling and Psychology Course with ICI, which is accredited by the IAPCC. Which course would be more suitable, as iam a bot confused at the moment of which course to go for. I want to make sure i am not wasting any time and money for something that is no good in the end.

Thanks guys.

puddles and umbrellas

Hi trulla,

Counselling is not may area of expertise by no means (I'm more clinical/neuropsychology orientated) - so I'm not familiar with the career path for this profession or the courses you mentioned.

However, I have a friend that doing this course in NUI maynooth http://adulteducation.nuim.ie/courses/CounsellingSkills.shtml to get in the counselling psych doc in TCD and gave it a good rating.

I'm not sure is what you're looking for (or if I'm confusing the situation!)

Best of luck

hotspur

Do not do a distance foundation certificate in counselling. Counselling and psychotherapy programmes do not require a foundation certificate for the purpose of finding out if you can read, they require them so that you will have had some experience of personal development / group work / practical counselling skills etc. By this you may be in a position to judge whether you are both interested and capable of a psychotherapy training programme.

The two courses you mention are, to my mind, the very definition of wasting money. Did you think of distance courses because you are geographically far away from foundation certificate courses?

trulla

So hotspur you reckon i should deffo stay away from distaqnce learning? There wouldn't be anything suitable out there? The reason why i was thinking to do a distance learning course is because of time. I would not be able to go to college full-time. I have 2 small kids, but even a part-time course would be ok for me. I am also not in the Dublin area, that cuts my opportunities down too.
I found ICHAS on the internet today, which really appeals to me, as the college teaches part-time in my area. I am looking here at the BA in Counselling Skills and Psychotherapy Studies.

kimberworth

I suggest you type ICHAS into the search bar on this website and read the previous posts that come up. I think it will be time well spent.

trulla

Ok after a bit of reading i forget about ICHAS. Does not seem to be worth it. I have also researched PCI and they got great reviews and comments. Now the question of finances has to be sorted