Course summary

Course details: Counselling psychology involves developing an understanding of why and how people experience psychological distress and learning the skills to help alleviate this, promoting wellbeing and mental health. You gain the core skills included in a psychology degree, working with cognitive processes and neurology, understanding behaviour, group processes and how a child’s development impacts their future, and you develop specific counselling related skills which are applicable to future careers in a range of helping professions. These will include modules with a focus on mental health and wellbeing, the process of counselling, eco-psychology and being a ‘wounded healer’. You practice your counselling skills with your peer group and learn to reflect on your practice. In your final year you work with local organisations on a service evaluation in the community, previous projects have included services which focus on homelessness, young people’s mental health, addiction services and those who work with military veterans. Although this course does not qualify you to be a counsellor, you develop relevant counselling skills which are valued in a arrange of sectors including education, housing, mental health services, probation and prison, and private and voluntary organisations, or can progress on to one of our postgraduate courses. Top reasons to study this course 1. You learn counselling skills alongside your peers 2. Gain the first step to professional accreditation with BPS. 3. Learn about supporting people to manage their mental health. 4. Develop a deeper understanding of yourself and your relationships. 5. Work with real world organisations and develop skills around service evaluation - valuable in your future career. After the course: Although this is an academic course rather than a professional training course, on successful completion with a 2.2 or above, you will be eligible to apply for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) status with the British Psychological Society (www.bps.org.uk). As with all our psychology degrees, upon graduation you can proceed to further study in any area of psychology. You can also utilise your enhanced critical thinking, research aptitude and analytical skill in a range of graduate-level careers. However, the skills and abilities developed in this course are particularly suited to the postgraduate training in counselling psychology you will need in order to become a chartered counselling psychologist. All programmes are designed to incorporate employability skills development alongside your degree course. Our staff utilise their extensive connections to provide many and varied opportunities to engage with potential employers through fairs, guest lecture sessions, live projects and site visits. In addition we offer a series of workshops and events in the first, second and third year that ensure all students are equipped with both degree level subject knowledge PLUS the practical skills that employers are looking for in new graduate recruits. Our award winning careers service works with regional and national employers to advertise graduate positions, in addition to providing post-graduation support for all Teesside University alumni.