Professional Training

leading to degree

qualifications

for a fulfilling career.

FAQ

1. WHATS UNIQUE ABOUT YOUR TRAINING?

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   We are an organisation that is rooted in community with 40 years counselling and 27 years training experience and the best training team in Ireland. Probably. Unlike other colleges, our teaching is practice-based. Its a non-profit, values-based counselling organisation with in-house placement opportunities. Our learning is personal, experiential and applied, with small group sizes, tailored for the optimum group experience. We focus on the certificate and degree programmes. Only. Through the use of creativity and the running of residentnial weekends, the courses offer a unique opportunity to reclaim joy, wonder and friendship in your life with space and attention given to fun and celebration as well as academics and personal development.

2. IS YOUR TRAINING WELL ACCREDITED?

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   Our BSc (Hons) Counselling and Psychotherapy degree is accredited by the Irish Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, Ireland’s largest and best recognised accreditation body for counsellors and psychotherapists, representing over 4, 500 members. The IACPs role is to maintain professional standards of exc.ellence in the field The course is also validated by Coventry University in Cork’s twin city, one of the UK’s top universities according to The Guardian University Guide. We are part of the university’s School of Health and Care. Our honours degree course is FHEQ Level 6 (equivalent to NFQ Level 8 in this country). Our academic standards are set in conjunction with the University and monitored by them on a continuous basis. As the Government progresses towards statutory regulation in the coming years, an NFQ Level 8 honours degree, from a University or QQI is expected to be the minimum standard. Already the IACP has moved to Level 8 as a minimum standard for accredited courses and our honours BSc course has been accredited by them.

3. WHAT PHILOSOPHY INFORMS YOUR TRAINING?

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   We train in the integrative humanistic model of counselling. This means that we draw from all the major counselling and psychotherapy theories. However, we are most strongly influenced by the principles of the humanistic therapies, mainly Person-centred, Gestalt and Existential.
   
   To work within this model, the counsellor needs to be willing to undergo the same awareness training and deep self-exploration as they are expecting of their clients. I can only take my client as far as I have been myself. Our courses allow students to safely learn in relationship with each other so that they learn to know and experience more about themselves from others. And then they can better relate to client experience. Welwood (2006) offers that a counsellor’s wounding is not a fault or defect, rather a guiding compass that can lead to greater connectedness.
   
   

4. WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT YOUR TRAINING IS EXPERIENTIAL?

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   Our training really is unique in using a highly relational model of experiential learning. We believe that the best way to learn to work and relate to people is to work and relate with people. Directly. Consistently. And that’s what we facilitate throughout our course. If a picture speaks a thousand words, then an experience impacts more deeply than a thousand pictures. Our trainers facilitate adult learning, we do not lecture information. While our course is theoretically strong, our well facilitated groups allow for students to learn from each other as they explore and develop their way of being and relating. In line with our model, thats where we believe the healing lies. We use creativity unlike any other college, including music, clay, art, poetry and drama. Our academic components rely on self-directed learning and presenting aswell as the extensive qualifications and experience of our training team.

5. IS THIS REFLECTED IN THE PLACES YOU TRAIN?

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   Our training venues include state of the art facilities at Crann Centre (neuro physical disabilities), Marymount (hospice), St Lukes (Elderly Care), Ballyvaloo (seaside retreat centre), St Annes, Portarlington (a rural manor) as well as in our own city centre counselling centre in Cork. The venues are "in the field", they are not in an academically remote setting. Its one of the privileges of working with a community organisation that we have access to such supportive venues from sister not-for-profit organisations.

6. WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT YOUR TRAINING IS PRACTICE BASED?

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   Cork Counselling Services operates a busy city centre counselling centre. First and foremost, our training is led by trainers who counsel as much as they teach. Your initial client work will be done in our busy centre, accompanied and supervised by our team. This level of student support at a crucial training stage is unparalleled by other colleges. We also offer in-house placement opportunities when you need to build up your practice hours in order to qualify. In this case, you do not have to find your own clients or find a premises from which to work.
   
   We are confident that the fully co-located integration of therapy, training and research in Cork Counselling Services leads to better therapy, better training and better research.

7. ARE THERE PLACEMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL STUDENTS?

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   No other training school in Ireland integrates training and practice as tightly as we do. All students attend sit-ins with clients in our own counselling practice, which means they are fully supported by our own staff. Case Studies take place here also, with inhouse supervision, giving every student a direct experience of a successful counselling practice. Practice hours can be completed either within our service or with an external practice depending on various factors. We only facilitate placements in an external practice if we are certain of the standards of counselling and supervision there.

8. WILL I NEED TO ATTEND COUNSELLING MYSELF?

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   We require our students to attend 25 counselling sessions per year of private therapy with an IACP or IAHIP accredited therapist. This investment in self development is separate from the Training Institute and allows your personal development and wellbeing be supported while you engage in challenging group work on the course. While not all colleges demand this level of counselling, neither do they achieve the same relational depth in being a counsellor as our graduates. The central aim of counselling training is to develop a student's personal and relational qualities with a view to increasing their ability to form genuine therapeutic relationships with clients. Our long experience tells us that this work needs the support of personal therapy space aswell as group exploration space aswell as training interventions. For example, training feedback may bring to light old defensive patterns in us that hamper our ability to relate therapeutically to others. These patterns are there for a reason and there may be personal pain involved in looking to "correct" them.

9. DO YOU HAVE A LIBRARY OR WILL I HAVE TO PURCHASE BOOKS?

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   Cork Counselling Centre Training Institute houses an extensive library at 1 Salmon Weir, Hanover St, Cork, T12YC3X consisting of almost a thousand textbooks and hundreds of journals including all core texts and a diverse range of relevant counselling literature. The material traces the development of the profession from early philosophy, through Freud and onto 21st century neuroscience, across theories, topics and counselling issues. The Library is a welcoming place where all students on any training programmes are invited to become curious about theories, literature and research in the field of counselling and psychotherapy. Our institute also provides access to online libraries through Coventry University and EBSCO.

10. WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH REGARDS TO STATE REGULATION OF COUNSELLORS?

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    The state body CORU has the role of protecting the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct, education, training and competence through statutory registration of health and social care professionals. Corú have recently named the thirteen members of its Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board. Consultations have taken place with professional bodies, training providers, the HSE, Department of Health and other agencies. The legislation when passed is expected to require that counsellors achieve a minimum of Level 8 Honours Degree to become qualified. Psychotherapists will have a separate register and will be required to achieve a minimum of Level 8, it is predicted. The IACP (Irish Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy) – the largest professional body – have already said that they would require all training courses to be a Level 8 (NFQ) Honours degree, from 2018 onwards to meet their accreditation criteria. The Cork Counselling Services Training Institute course is a Level 8 (NFQ) Honours degree course.

11. DOES MY COURSE ENJOY "LEARNER PROTECTION"

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    Cork Counselling Services has approval to offer students Learner Protection Insurance. Learner Protection Insurance is only in place when each student receives their insurance policy. Each student should ensure that they receive a Learner Protection Insurance policy in their name (cost included in course fees). Learner Protection Insurance is provided by Arachas and underwritten by Aviva Insurance Ireland (DAC) trading as Aviva and regulated by the Central Bank Of Ireland. The learner protection policy provides for a refund of fees as specified in the 2012 Act. In some circumstances, it may be possible for a learner to transfer to a similar programme in another provider. In such circumstances, the learner may opt to receive the cost of an alternative similar academic programme. Transfer to another programme is always only a second option. The Learner Protection Insurance policy is governed by 65(4)(b) of the 2021 Act.

12. WHAT IF ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE?

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    If English is not your first language and we are not sure about your level of competence, we may ask you to submit an IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Certificate at Level 6.5, or equivalent. IELTS is an English language test that measures the ability to communicate across listening, reading, writing and speaking in English. It is for people who intend to study through English and skills are assessed on a scale from 0 (non-user) to 9 (expert user). The tests are held in Cork City, see https://ieltscork.com/ for example. There are two types of IELTS test. They are Academic and General Training. We recommend the Academic.

13. AM I ELIGIBLE FOR €1000 GOVERNMENT GRANT ON THESE COURSES?

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    Unfortunately the 1000 euro government grant for further education only applies to full time study so does not apply for these courses.

14. HOW LONG HAS CCS PROVIDED TRAINING?

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    Since its foundation Cork Counselling Services Training Institute has been providing professional training, supervision, and placements for third level students. Early training programmes included a two-year Certificate programme in basic counselling and communication skills, and a full-time internship. Cork Counselling Services Training Institute also delivered a series of seminars for a GP training scheme and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Applied Psychology. In the 1990s The Centre began to work with the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) and it developed its own Diploma programme. Our Diploma in Counselling was one of the first professional training courses to be recognised by the IACP in 1996.

15. WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE COURSE COST?

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    Your fees pay for tuition, assessment, university registration, library membership, learner protection insurance and refreshments at every class. They do not cover counselling, supervision or residential fees where these apply.