Counselling Children and Adolescents

Counselling Children and Adolescents

This Course at a Glance

• An excellent starting point for aspiring youth counsellors
• Study the theory behind counselling children and adolescents
• Gain a base knowledge for higher level counselling qualifications
• Learn online from the comfort of home
• Provides a certificate of achievement
• Does not include practical training

About Your Course

Many people believe that counselling is the same for everyone, but for children and adolescents, the process is a little different. As young people develop, their minds constantly change, and this presents challenges to the usual counselling process. The techniques that would be suitable for an adult mind aren’t the right fit for a young person, which means that a different approach is required to suit their needs and offer the best level of support.

This is why dedicated child counsellors and specialists are needed, and is also why this course exists: to help aspiring child counselling professionals develop the right skills for a rewarding career in youth counselling.

If you dream of having such a career or already work in mental health services but want to hone your skills and specialise, then this distance learning counselling course is for you. This home study course is also suitable for you if you work in a support role with young people and want to complement your existing work or studies.

How Does This Course Work?

Our knowledge-based Counselling Children and Adolescents course includes an array of engaging modules that explore the practice of child counselling in great detail, from the counselling relationship to behaviour therapies and working with children; as well as study child development and the complexities of growth. You will also learn how to get started as a counselling professional, should you wish to progress with your studies and become fully qualified.

By covering the theory and science behind youth counselling, along with the practical skills and methods that are essential to counselling children and adolescents, you’ll be ready to work in entry-level child support roles and take to higher level qualifications in this subject with confidence.

Take The Next Step

Please note, this is a knowledge-based course, so it will not qualify you as a counsellor. It is intended as the ideal introduction to this area of counselling, so you can make an educated decision as to whether this career path is the right one for you.

To become a qualified counsellor in the UK, you need to complete a core practitioner training course in counselling or psychotherapy. This must be at the minimum level of a diploma, but could also be a foundation, undergraduate or postgraduate degree.

Your training should be accredited by a professional body, such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or the National Counselling Society (NCS). This will ensure that your training meets high standards of quality and competence. Your training should also include a mix of theoretical and practical elements, as well as supervised work placements.

Getting Started

This online Counselling Children and Adolescents knowledge-based course is delivered by learndirect, the UK’s leading online learning provider. More than 4 million learners have achieved qualifications through our online training courses.

You will study this counselling course online via our innovative learning platform, which you will have access to 24/7. You will, therefore, have the freedom to choose your study schedule, working whenever you wish without sacrificing your commitments. What’s more, whilst we recommend dedicating 220 study hours to this course, there are no time restraints: you can take as little or as long as you need to complete this course.

Modules

Unit 1: Definition of Counselling

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Identify the aim of counselling
• Define the terms ‘conditioned response’, ‘block’, ‘reflecting’ and ‘supervisor’
• Examine active listening skills and the functions it allows the counsellor to perform
• Understand basic interview skills and the importance of establishing bonds

Unit 2: The Counselling Relationship

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Discuss what is meant by empathy
• Analyse roadblocks to communication
• Identify the stages of the general approach and state the eliciting phase skills

Unit 3: The Development Cycle

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Understand how school life is affected by maturity level and individual growth patterns
• Discuss the psychology of the child
• Define a growth gradient and the principle which school skills are subject to

Unit 4: Parent, Child, Teacher Relationships

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Assess the three culture areas
• Examine how considerateness, humour and philosophy of growth are interpreted

Unit 5: The Complexities of Growth

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Explain the organisms from an anatomical and physiological perspective
• Judge the way tensions outwardly express themselves in a child
• Analyse the growth of ethical sense showing the three dynamic phases

Unit 6: Introduction - Psychological Developments

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Explain the concept of instinct and identify the two basic energies that determine behaviour
• Identify the definition of a drive

Unit 7: Conflict and Stress

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Define the concept of conflict
• Discern the areas of abnormality and when behaviour is seen as being maladaptive
• Analyse the qualities that are contributory factors in normal behaviour

Unit 8: Behaviour Therapies

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Discuss the idea behind systematic desensitisation
• Identify what self-regulation involves
• Describe your understanding of inhibitory personality, the placebo effect and the hello-goodbye effect

Unit 9: Grief and Bereavement

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Summarise bereavement counselling and the effects of grief on a bereaved person
• Examine the different types of grief

Unit 10: Exploring Grief and Letting Go

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Describe a pang or wave of guilt and analyse what might trigger such an episode
• Identify the primary symptoms of grief
• Understand the effects of bereavement on the male client

Unit 11: Working with Children

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Assess what results psychiatric research has shown
• Discuss the features of bereavement reactions
• Summarise the rights of the bereaved

Unit 12: What is Co-Dependency?

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Examine your understanding of co-dependents
• Explain problems likely to be found in the family of origin
• Describe what makes a co-dependent relationship confining

Unit 13: Transformation

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Understand the two levels of acceptance and the four dimensions of intimacy
• Assess the four elements of recovery and show how codependents handle emotional expression
• Analyse cognitive reconstruction

Unit 14: Using Newly-Found Skills

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Discuss what should be included in the inventory of positive aspects
• Identify how communication, privacy and compromise should be viewed
• Assess what rigidity, silence, denial and isolation need to be transformed to

Unit 15: Dysfunctional Families Explained

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Define all areas of dysfunction that affect the family unit
• Discuss ways to replace dysfunctional behaviour

Unit 16: Recovery - The Therapeutic Process

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Assess the benefit of a family member attending a session where the dysfunctional person is absent
• Analyse the aspect of communicating feelings within a relationship
• Describe how you perceive the compassionate observer self

Unit 17: Moving On - Emotional Intimacy

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Define the four dimensions of intimacy
• Define friend-confidant and explain the importance of verbalisation

Unit 18: Psychological Study of Education

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Discuss how learning might be defined
• Define ‘respondent behaviour’, ‘operant conditioning of autonomic responses’ and ‘punishment’
• Explain the effects the computer has on teaching

Unit 19: Memory

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Define the three stages of memory
• Examine emotional factors in forgetting and explain how long-term memory can be improved
• Analyse the two factors that increase the chances of successful retrieval

Unit 20: The Use of Language

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Assess how we produce and understand sentences
• Explain the operating principles children use as a guide to forming hypotheses
• Define your understanding of language confusion, memory and environment
• Summarise how reading readiness is perceived

Unit 21: Child Bullying and Child Abuse 

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Discuss child bullying

Unit 22: Setting Up a Practice

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

• Understand the business logistics for setting up a practice
• Identify the steps involved when assessing a business opportunity

Entry Requirements

Entry Requirements

No previous experience or qualifications are required to enrol on this course.

Average Completion Timeframe

The approximate amount of time to complete this course is 220 hours.

Assessment Requirements

This course is assessed through a series of end-of-module papers.

Placement or Practical Required

There are no placements or practicals involved in this course.

Course Fees

All course fees, inclusive of all payment plans including our Premium Credit Limited option, must be settled before certification can be ordered.

*You will have access to the course for 24 months.

This course is assessed through a series of end-of-module papers. This means that you will need to submit 22 assessments throughout your course. We advise spending 1 – 2 hours of study time on each paper.

On successful completion of your course you will receive the learndirect Certificate of Completion of Training in Counselling Children and Adolescents.

Your course certificate will also state the number of CPD points/hours the course is eligible for.

View a sample of the certificate (opens in new window)

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• Over 250,000 apprentices have achieved with learndirect.

*Please note, this is a knowledge-based course, so it will not qualify you as a counsellor.

After successfully completing the Counselling Children and Adolescents course, you will have the skills and knowledge to confidently complete a core practitioner training course in counselling or psychotherapy – training that is required to qualify as a counsellor in the UK.

Should you wish to progress straight into employment on completion of this knowledge-based counselling course, your ability to recognise, understand, and support young people’s mental health issues will help you secure a number of entry-level roles in this space.

These can include:

• Child support administrator
• Counselling assistant
• Mental health support worker
• Family support worker
• Youth worker
• Refuge worker
• Domestic violence support worker
• Victim support worker
• Mental health helpline worker