Counselling FdA

Develop your career by combining this part-time counselling course with practical placements or paid work. Earn an academic qualification that also delivers practical skills and the option to top-up to a full honours degree.

Contact the partner college

Overview

This Foundation Degree is taught at East Durham College. You can then 'top-up' to a BA (Hons) Counselling at the University of Sunderland.

The course has a strong practical focus and our teaching will help you reflect on your workplace experiences.

When you successfully complete this course you will be awarded a Foundation Degree in Counselling that is accredited by the University of Sunderland.

Please contact East Durham College to apply for this course.

Why us?

The course ties into the growing demand for counsellors to work in the health sector, voluntary and community sector and in private practice

Opportunity to ‘top up’ this course to a full BA (Hons) degree with an extra year of study

Course structure

During your first year, you will be required to undertake some form of voluntary work so that you can practise the skills that you are learning on the course.

In the second year, you will undertake a placement with a counselling agency, and we will support you as you arrange it.

This is a highly practical course, which combines academic study and work-based learning. The elements of the course which are taught in the college include lectures, discussions, case studies and workshops.

Your progress will be assessed with evaluations of work experience, reports and presentations. Throughout the course you'll have one-to-one support from academic staff.

Modules

Year 1 (Higher Education Certificate Level 1) (national level 4):

Personal Development (20 credits)

Learn about a range of theories of human growth and development to explore group processes and examine personal development issues. Engage in group experiential activities to promote learning, self-awareness, and understanding through group interaction and experimentation. Acquire transferable skills in learning to assess your developmental needs by using a personal journal to review and reflect on your growth. Develop communication and teamwork skills and learn to present complex counselling concepts to others.

Counselling Skills Practice and Development (20 credits)

Gain an understanding of how to use practical counselling methods through experiential work. Observe demonstrations of counselling skills and engage in exercises which will enable you to role-play the roles of client, counsellor, and observer. Critically observe and learn from your own practice while developing skills in listening and reflection. Explore areas such as putting core theory into practice, beginning and ending counselling relationships, intervention in counselling, use of silence, and putting ethics into practice.

Professional Issues (20 credits)

Develop the knowledge base and decision-making skills necessary for ethical practice as a counselling professional including consideration of ethics, legal issues, differences in counselling settings, policies for safe and ethical practice, professional bodies, use of contracts, and recognising and working with severe pathology, amongst others.

Core Model of Counselling (varies depending upon the college: humanistic / cognitive behavioural / person-centred and cognitive behavioural) (30 credits)

Acquire a detailed understanding of the core model. Learn about its assumptions and evidence base, as well as the contribution of research. Learn about the impact of the model and its relationship to other models of counselling. Use case studies to explore how the core model can be used to develop and understanding of a client’s problems and the types of strategies deployed in practice.

Comparative Models of Counselling (30 credits)

Explore a range of counselling models and the history and relevance of these models in contemporary practice. Examine models of counselling in terms of current research and in relation to your own practice. Learn about the benefits and the potential negative aspects of an integrated approach to counselling practice. Discover more about the similarities and differences of various approaches and reassess the underlying assumptions of your core model of counselling. Consider the role of psychological and sociological theories in understanding human behaviour, learning, and development.

Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.

Final year (Foundation Degree) (national level 5):

Personal Development 2 (20 credits)

Participate in a regular experiential personal development group with a facilitator to help you develop greater self-knowledge and self-awareness through meaningful exploration with other group members. Develop communication skills and enhance your ability to present and discuss complex counselling concepts by discussing key concepts in personal development. Build on your teamwork skills through working cooperatively within the whole group. Review your own growth and develop self-awareness.

Supervised Counselling Practice (40 credits)

Use your developing skills to practise counselling in a real-world setting. Undertake supervised counselling practice in a placement setting with support from staff and peers to enhance your skills. Share your experiences of counselling practice while drawing on your personal journal and anonymised casework material recorded in practice.

Counselling Research (20 credits)

Explore the traditions of research and the differences between counselling research and the scientific method. Consider the issue of what constitutes evidence and examine the relationship between counselling research and practice. Learn about qualitative and quantitative research methods, including the use of evidence in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of published papers. Gain insight into research as a process that involves identifying research questions, planning, procedure, and writing a literature review.

Contemporary Issues in Counselling (40 credits)

Learn about specific issues of theory, evidence, and practice pertinent to working with certain problems and types of clients in a counselling context. Examples may include mental health problems, working with diversity to become culturally competent, grief and loss, family therapy techniques, relationship problems, and victims of abuse. Consider the role of advocacy, mediation, non-managerial supervision, and other roles outside the normal counselling role. Discuss areas of controversy and debate in counselling.

Entry requirements

We don’t currently display entry requirements for United States. Please contact the Student Admin team on studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3154.

The typical entry requirement is a Level 3 Certificate in Counselling.

Students would normally be in voluntary or paid work as a Counsellor or undertaking (or about to undertake) paid or voluntary work in a setting which will allow you to practice counselling skills.

You may be required to attend an interview. Please contact the college for more information.

East Durham College
Gabrielle Maddison
gabrielle.maddison@eastdurham.ac.uk
0191 518 2000

If English is not your first language, please see our English language requirements.

Is your qualification not displaying here? For international qualifications, search our full list of international entry requirements for this course.

Fees and finance

The tuition fees for this course are £5,665 per 120 credits if you are from the UK/Ireland/EU settled/pre-settled.

There is a course requirement stipulating that all students need to acquire student membership of the BACP at own cost prior to beginning counselling practice in a placement.

Prospective students are advised to consult the BACP for the latest information on student membership which currently stands at £82.

Possible additional costs:

In the second year of the course, students must undertake a placement with a counselling agency. If the counselling placement provider cannot supply an appropriate supervisor, it is the responsibility of the student to identify a suitable supervisor and also pay for any fees charged for this service.

Please note that this course is not available to international students.

Learn more about settled status, pre-settled status, special discounts, visa requirements and Common Travel Area (CTA) agreements for the Republic of Ireland applicants in our Help and Advice article.

Take a look at the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

a psychology student sitting at a desk using a computer in the murray health ICT skills lab

Career ready

A Foundation Degree equips you to move into a broad range of careers or to pursue an honours degree with one more year of study.

Further study

There is a natural progression from this Foundation Degree to the Counselling (Top-Up) course at the University of Sunderland for a full BA (Hons) Counselling.

Career options

There is a growing demand for counsellors to work in the health sector, voluntary and community sector and in private practice. This is because of better awareness of the benefits of talking therapies by policymakers, health professionals and the general public.

Counselling careers include educational counselling (where you help deal with difficulties in learning and social adjustment), forensic counselling (where you become an expert in psychological issues associated with criminal behaviours), and clinical counselling (where you deal with mental and physical health problems).

In addition, skills in counselling are useful in many different careers including personnel, social work, public services, marketing and advertising.

Related courses

BA (Hons) Counselling (Top-Up)

Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:

0191 515 3000

student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

View Programme Specifications for the Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing.

Page last updated: 10 February 2025

We aim to provide clear, accurate and timely information to prospective and current students. We continuously review and enhance course content in consultation with our students and the information provided on our website is the latest available. If you have received an offer from us to start a course, we will communicate any important changes to you in writing. We will always seek to ensure that our prospective students are fully aware of the basis on which they are accepting an offer.