Overview
Our exciting course is designed for qualified counsellors and psychotherapists to top up their training to a full BA (Hons) and engage in practical research. You’ll develop your skills, knowledge, clinical practice and enhance employability with a choice of two specialist routes: Counselling Adults or Counselling Children and Young People.
This is a vibrant course, designed to challenge you professionally, personally, and academically. The aim of the BA (Hons) Counselling and Psychotherapy is to provide a professional post qualification progression route from Diploma to a full BA (Hons) award. In addition this course offers a choice of two optional specialist routes.
Route A. Adult. This route offers you the chance to develop your understanding of therapeutic work with adults with a specific focus on sexual issues in therapy. It also offers an innovative module introducing you to the emerging area of digital media in therapy.
Route B. Children & Young People. This route is designed to meet a number of the BACP Competences for working with young people (2014). This will help build skills and knowledge that enable you to develop a clinical specialism with children and young people, with a specific focus on working with creative media.
In the first semester you’ll explore person-centred theory in depth and will develop, present and peer review a seminar paper. You’ll also form study and supervision groups to support your learning. You’ll then develop a fundamental understanding of research in counselling and psychotherapy, which will prepare you for the research project and dissertation undertaken during the last semester.
This level 6 course aims to produce reflective practitioners who can understand and demonstrate the ethical, practical and academic skills and knowledge required of an effective counsellor working principally within a humanistic or person-centred approach. The course aims to enable you to work and contribute at the cutting edge in the field.
Careers
This course will help you develop your career, clinical experience and interests. Carrying out research can open up new directions in your career and develop skills that are attractive to employers. With our Adult pathway you’ll gain cutting edge skills and knowledge with digital media in therapy, in addition to developing understanding of working with issues such as sex, sexuality and addiction. With our Child and Young Person pathway you’ll develop practical skills in working therapeutically with creative materials and gain an understanding of issues such that affect therapeutic work with different age groups. This pathway meets a number of BACP Competences for humanistic counselling with young people (2014) which can enable you to develop this area as a clinical specialism.
Modules & Assessment
Year one, core modules
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Person-Centered Theory
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Introduction to Research Methods and Design in Counselling and Psychotherapy
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Undergraduate Major Project
Year one, optional modules
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Diversity in Adult Counselling (Optional Route A)
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Digital Media in Therapy (Optional Route A)
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Counselling Practice – Children and Young People (Optional Route B)
Assessment
We use a variety of assessment methods including presentations, essays, practical work, peer assessment and the final major research project. You’re expected to engage in a variety of development and learning activities such as peer study groups, research supervision and online learning support. You’re also required to engage in personal counselling.
Where you’ll study
Your faculty
The Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care is the largest in ARU, with over 7,000 students. Our Faculty is teeming with expertise and primed to meet the demand for creating health professionals, teachers, doctors, scientists and educators for the three districts we serve: Chelmsford, Cambridge and Peterborough.
We have been training undergraduates for professional roles for over 25 years, with a reputation for quality, dedication and ambition balanced with student satisfaction.
We know that to give our students the very best experiential learning, prior to getting into the workplace, simulation is second to none, for safe, realistic, learning environments. We have invested heavily in purpose built simulated wards, science labs and skills space, to support our students through their learning.
