This course has a start date in September
This is a unique course in the field with a focus on the complex new challenges faced by practitioners working with children and young people in a range of settings including schools, NHS CAMHS, social services and voluntary sector as well as private practice. The challenges for early intervention today are informed by new modes of family reconstruction, high levels of depression, suicide and self-harm, eating and addictive disorders among children and young people. The MA Counselling Children and Young People is situated at the threshold of social inclusion & restorative citizenship and the course positions the talking therapies as a primary task of early intervention, not just in terms of response, but also in terms of prevention and health education.
The courses have a humanistic orientation and are primarily experiential. In brief, the humanistic approach assumes that given the right conditions, people will become more aware and in touch with their inner wisdom. They will learn for example, to discriminate between what is healthy and what is damaging for them. With enhanced awareness and self-acceptance emotionally, socially and physically they are more fluid and flexible in their responses to others and able to make decisions based on self-knowledge and consideration of choices rather than on habit or people pleasing.
It is our view that awareness is the basic prerequisite of an effective counsellor or helps working with children and young people. Professional counsellors need to be aware for example, of their own issues and particularly the ways in which their values, prejudices and assumptions may exert influence over their client.
The course is taught by staff in the Centre for Research in Schools and Communities who bring a blend of expertise and specialism.