Overview

Building upon the foundation established in PPC4003 Counselling Skills, the PPC4007 Advanced Counselling Skills course offers additional assistance in your growth as a counsellor. The objective of this module is to expand your comprehension of risk, diversity, and inclusivity, enabling you to enhance your interactions with clients and improve your overall performance in mental health settings.

Topics covered in this module include: 1. Reflective Practice (Reflecting on Therapeutic Skills) 2. Diversity and Difference (Recognition, Awareness, and Acceptance) 3. Decolonalisation (Decolonalising Our Practice) 4. Gender Identity and Sexuality (Gender and Sexuality in Counselling) 5. Older Adults (Counselling in Later Life) 6. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (Working with Difference) 7. Religion and Spirituality (Respect from a Place of Similarity and Difference) 8. Collaborative Risk Assessment for Suicide and Self-Harm (Working with Risk) 9. Self in the Therapeutic Philosophy (Integration in Practice) 10. Therapeutic Writing (Writing for Wellbeing) 11. Mindfulness (Practicing Mindfulness)

Please note that these topics are subject to change dependent on staff availability, unexpected circumstances, and the assessed needs of the students.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment criteria for this module is as follows:

Excellent (A*, A+, A, A-) • Honest and insightful reflection resulting in positive development of counselling skills (safe practice) • Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of counselling skills • Insightful and deep reflective awareness of issues of diversity and difference • Detailed understanding with no factual errors • Critical analysis showing evaluation and synthesis of ideas • Novel and innovative originality in approach, interpretation, and voice • Extensive and comprehensive independent research • Logically defended arguments with evidence for all claims • Highly focused and well structured • Excellent presentation with accurate and appropriate expression • Correct format in appropriate referencing style

Good (B+, B, B-) • Honest and considered reflection resulting in positive development of counselling skills (safe practice) • Strong knowledge of counselling skills • Deep reflective awareness of issues of diversity and difference • Clear understanding and mostly free of factual errors • Some analysis showing critical evaluation and links between ideas • Novel originality in approach, interpretation, and voice • Considerable independent research from appropriate sources • Coherent arguments with evidence for most claims • Focused and well structured • Clear presentation with accurate and appropriate expression • Mostly correct format in appropriate referencing style

Threshold (C+, C, C-) • Honest reflection resulting in some positive development of counselling skills (safe practice) • Some knowledge of counselling skills • Some reflective awareness of issues of diversity and difference • Understanding of the main concepts with no major factual errors • Basic analysis showing obvious points of evaluation and links between ideas • Some originality in approach, interpretation, and/or voice for part of the work • Some independent research from appropriate sources • Arguments presented with evidence for the most important claims • Readable structure showing focus at times • Acceptable presentation with appropriate expression • Attempt at correct format in appropriate referencing style with no major errors

If you do not meet the threshold, then your work will be graded as a Fail. Fail grades vary from Poor (D+, D, D-, E+, E, E-) to Very Poor (F).

Learning Outcomes

• Analyse own counselling skills of with honest critique and insight into the generation of reflective professional development action plans.

• Apply a theoretical orientation in practice with appropriate critical flexibility.

• Generate and maintain the therapeutic framework through the therapeutic process with critical appreciation of difference and diversity.

• Metacognitively reflect on own role and manage interactions one-to-one and in a group, with considered awareness of diversity and difference