Crisis and Trauma Counselling Course

Course overview

Crisis and trauma counselling is growing in popularity to help individuals cope with stressful events in their lives. It is also a specialty that is used in many organisational settings such as healthcare and emergency services, corporate organisations and education. Crises and traumatic events are not limited to major incidents, disasters or fatal outcomes; but encompass ordinary everyday events in life. Therefore a crisis might be an event that one individual cannot cope with, yet another can. This makes crisis and trauma counselling diverse and dynamic. Furthermore the immediacy of media coverage on major disasters and incidents leads to the situation where those needing counselling support extend well beyond the immediate victims.

This course is aimed at those who are already in a counselling role but wish to develop their professional knowledge and widen their practice scope; for those who may be involved in a voluntary role within groups or organisations who specialise in crisis and trauma victim support, or for those with a keen interest in the subject and who wish to expand their current understanding.

Successful completion will allow practising counsellors to widen their client base and gain insight into the theory of crisis and how crises develop. It may also facilitate access to voluntary and support roles, demonstrating knowledge gained which can then be developed and translated into practical applications and skills; or it may allow those already in an organisational role to expand their responsibilities and become involved in a support team.

Syllabus

Lesson One
- Basic Counselling Skills and Theories
  - Introduction
  - Counselling as a Form of Communication
  - Skills and Theory
  - Counselling Tools
  - The Scope of Counselling
  - Summary
Lesson Two
- Ethics in Counselling
  - Confidentiality
  - Transference
  - The Counselling Contract
  - Ending the Counselling Relationship
  - Referring Clients
  - Supervision and Mentoring
  - Professional Development
  - Summary
Lesson Three
- Theoretical Models for Counselling
  - The Psychodynamic Approach
  - The Humanist Approach
  - The Behaviourist Approach
  - Summary
Lesson Four
- Current Perception of Crisis and Trauma Counselling
  - Stress
  - The Stress Reaction
  - Defining Crisis or Trauma
  - Reactions to Crisis or Trauma
  - Classification of Psychological Disorders
  - Common Scenarios in Crisis and Trauma Counselling Practice
  - The Heightened Accessibility State
  - Preparing to Counsel Those who have Suffered a Crisis or Trauma
  - Summary
Lesson Five
- Theories and Models
  - The Theory of Crisis and Intervention
  - The ABC Model
  - The Iceberg Theory
  - Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
  - Self-Awareness
  - Loss Processing
  - Problem Management
  - False Memories and Reprocessing
  - Summary
Lesson Six
- Crisis and Trauma Counselling in Action
  - Family Issues
  - Child Abuse
  - Alcohol and Drug Abuse
  - Death and Dying
  - Depression and Suicide
  - Summary
Lesson Seven
- Critical Incidents
  - Counselling and Critical Incidents
  - Stress Debriefing
  - The Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Model (CISD)
  - The Critical Incident Reprocessing and Recovery Model (CIPR)
  - Psychological First Aid
  - Positive Psychology
  - How Crisis Affects the Inner Self
  - Critical Incidents and the Counsellor
  - Summary
Lesson Eight
- Specialist Skills and Short-term Interventions
  - Introduction
  - Short-term Intervention Using the ABC Method
  - Short-term Intervention Using Egan’s Skilled Helper Model
  - Telephone Intervention
  - High Risk and Volatile Situations
  - Setting Boundaries
  - Summary
Lesson Nine
- Ethical Practice
  - Introduction
  - Counselling Conflicts and Dilemmas
  - Coping with Client Distress
  - Legal Implications
  - Understanding Client Rights
  - Training and Preparation
  - Emotional Burnout
  - Complaints
  - Summary
Lesson Ten
- Being a Crisis Counsellor: Self Evaluation and Reflection
  - Introduction
  - Application of Skills
  - Being a Counsellor
  - Personal Therapy, Supervision, Peer Review and Reflective Practice
  - Counselling Levels of Expertise
  - Conclusion

Practical training

No practical training is required to complete this course.

Prerequisites

Advisory pre-requisites are counselling, stress management or psychotherapy training or experience.

Level

On successful completion of this course you will have received professional training at level 3. This is ideal if you wish to start a practice, or expand a career. Graduates of this course wishing to start their own practice can also obtain professional liability insurance. It has also been endorsed by the Quality Licence Scheme and graduates will receive the QLS Certificate of Achievement as above. This course has been designed by BSY to meet specific learners’ and/or employers’ requirements which cannot be satisfied through current regulated qualifications. The Quality Licence Scheme, endorses high-quality, non-regulated provision and training programmes.

Certification

On successful completion students will receive dual awards: Award 1 – The professional BSY Crisis and Trauma Counselling Diploma and will become a registered BSY Crisis and Trauma Counselling Practitioner.

Award 2- Certificate of achievement at QLS Level 3 from Quality Licence Scheme. Registration through BSY is essential with this course.

How the course works

Upon enrolment you receive your first course lessons.

You can study in your own time, at your own pace and from the comfort of your own home. If you have any questions, or would like feedback or encouragement about your course or your studies then you can contact our friendly tutors by phone, email or post.

At the end of each lesson are a set of questions. Completing these can aid your learning and help you master each step before moving on to the next. Your next lesson will then arrive for you to continue when it suits you. This allows us to continually assess understanding and competence of the subject.

Having progressed through each lesson you can take your final examination at home, and at a date and time that suits you. Then, on successful completion you will be awarded your BSY certificate.

Support

Your tutor will mark your lessons, giving valuable, constructive feedback - helping you to master each step before moving on to the next. You can contact them for support or advice throughout your studies.

You can also contact the support team who are here to help you Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

We are proud of our friendly, caring ethos and aim to do all we can to help you succeed.