Councelling &Pschotherapy at Irish College of Humanities and Applied Science. Limeri

OzMister

I need a unbiased opinion, got this email and wondering if this Masters would meet accreditation criteria. There isn't a word about accreditation so I'm wondering is it a waste of money?.


Following on from your recent enquiry in relation to the Master’s Programme with ICHAS, I would like to take this opportunity to advise you of the significant changes that are currently taking place in the field of Counselling and Psychotherapy along with the course options now open to you for the forthcoming academic year, commencing September 2014 at the Irish College of Humanities and Applied Sciences.

The last year has seen monumental changes in the profession. Of particular importance is the fact that the Department of Health has recently announced that it is this Government's intention to bring the disciplines of Counselling and Psychotherapy under Statutory Regulation without further delay. CORU, which was established under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act (2005), will have overall responsibility for the regulation of the professions including Counselling and Psychotherapy.

In the past few weeks, Minister Kathleen Lynch T.D, announced in Dail Eireann that regulation would commence without delay. It is anticipated that regulation will be in place following receipt by the Department of the final report from QQI/HETAC. QQI are expected to agree the award standards for Counselling and Psychotherapy in May of this year.

The Minister has specifically stated that “the standards of proficiency to be required of existing practitioners for registration will need to be established and the necessary qualifications prescribed”. Once Statutory Registration comes into force, it will be illegal to describe oneself as either a Counsellor or Psychotherapist unless one is Registered as such with the Regulatory Authority CORU, as both titles will, under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act (2005) become protected titles.

It is envisaged that the minimum qualification level to meet expected Regulatory Standards will be a QQI Level 8 degree for Counselling and QQI Level 9 for Psychotherapy.
ICHAS college has a Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) policy in place, which allows participants with relevant experience or other qualifications, to have this taken into account so as to access the Masters Programmes through an RPL application. (Please contact the college if you have queries in relation RPL).

JuliusCaesar

Have you checked the CORU website? Do you see any intention to regulate Psychotherapy/Counselling?

And have you checked what QQI (formerly HETAC and FETAC) have as draft standards for the training of counselling & psychotherapy?

Department of Health has recently announced that it is this Government's intention to bring the disciplines of Counselling and Psychotherapy under Statutory Regulation without further delay.

When did they announce it? How is Ireland going to do this when neither the EU nor the UK have succeeded?

regulation will be in place following receipt by the Department of the final report from QQI/HETAC. QQI are expected to agree the award standards for Counselling and Psychotherapy in May of this year.

So they are just regulating training standards, that's not the same as regulating the profession on a statutory basis. It seems to me that the letter you quote above is conflating two different issues.

A lot of things are announced in the Dail which never come to pass.

iPink

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Have you checked the CORU website? Do you see any intention to regulate Psychotherapy/Counselling?

And have you checked what CORU have as draft standards for the training of counselling & psychotherapy?

When did they announce it? How is Ireland going to do this when neither the EU nor the UK have succeeded?
So they are just regulating training standards, that's not the same as regulating the profession on a statutory basis. It seems to me that the letter you quote above is conflating two different issues.

A lot of things are announced in the Dail which never come to pass.

That is very interesting JC... I recieved the same or similar email from ICHAS a couple of weeks ago & have been in a mild panic ever since. .. I graduated in 2011 with a BA in Counselling (4 years) & have been working towards accreditation since... extremely difficult under the current circumstances!

I wouldn't mind doing a further year to achieve a level 8 but can't even BEGIN to imagine how I would pay for it. .. I am working as a volunteer, paying supervision (€50 a go) & on a single parent SW allowance. .. I'm still paying back the initial loans I got yearly to cover the BA, books & exam fees... not to mention travel expenses etc...

I emailed the college back looking for further information & confirmation but haven't recieved any reply....

My gut feeling is that that is scare-mongering looking for more students & fees... Though I do think that regulation is important & ethical there are countless excellent counsellors or there working with certs, diplomas & BAs...

OzMister

Trust me you won't get a reply from the college. I have rang so many times wanting to ask them some questions regarding the accreditation process once the course is complete. They always say they will get someone to ring me back, when I get tired of waiting I ring again and apparently nobody got the message. Also got my girlfriend to ring and the same crack, in my opinion a bunch of cowboys and that's putn it mildly

iPink

OzMister wrote: »

Trust me you won't get a reply from the college. I have rang so many times wanting to ask them some questions regarding the accreditation process once the course is complete. They always say they will get someone to ring me back, when I get tired of waiting I ring again and apparently nobody got the message. Also got my girlfriend to ring and the same crack, in my opinion a bunch of cowboys and that's putn it mildly

When I checked my emails again I realised that I had actually sent the email to myself & not to them! When I resent it got a reply almost straight away & when I queried again I got a phone call from one of the Managers (Denis). .. Was on to him for almost an hour & most of my questions were answered...
I was also invited to an online conference that was basically a question & answers session!
Overall I think the college handled my query very well & if I don't really like the answers or the fact that I can't afford another year in college to potentially bring myself up to the proposed standard then it's not really their fault. ..