Counselling (Children and Young People) - MSc

This is the first of three modules across the year focussing on key areas relevant to the counselling children and young people. These modules follow the same core themes, but each of the three modules emphasise slightly different aspects across these areas. Both the indicative content and the learning outcomes of all three modules focus on legal and ethical issues, theory, practical skills, competencies, and issues of context. 

You will begin this module in week 5 of semester 1, alongside Initial Counselling Practice and after the delivery of Introduction to Counselling. In this module you will explore key aspects of child and young person development of relevance to counselling practice. An exploration of theories and domains of development will help you to recognise typical and optimum developmental processes with a particular emphasis on emotional and psychological development. The general principles of Interpersonal Neurobiology introduced during the Introduction to Counselling module will be refined and focussed with reference to children and young people and linked to relevant elements of attachment theory for practical application during semesters 2 and 3. 

This is the second of three modules across the year focussing on key areas relevant to the counselling of children and young people. It focuses primarily on the content and practical processes to support you starting out in clinical practice. The legal and ethical context introduced in Initial Counselling Practice will be considered in practice, and theory will be applied to the process of assessing the presenting issues and needs of clients, and developing a counselling plan. 

During this second semester module you will explore the range of complex presenting issues of child clients, their underlying causes, precipitating and maintaining factors and some of the ways these can be addressed in counselling practice. The module will be taught alongside Developing Counselling Practice and Cultural, Familial and Contextual Dynamics and will coincide with starting counselling practice.

This module supports the explicitly stated course inclusive ethos and philosophy of the course by providing a focussed counterpoint to the traditional euro-centric perspective of counselling theory. It does so by promoting an attitude of self-reflection and exploration of counsellor unconscious bias and an depth contextual inquiry. Further exploration of personal attitudes and the experience of the impact of discrimination will be supported by your ongoing personal therapy, offering essential personal development and increasing your capacity to work with the issues presented by child clients.  

This is the final module to focus specifically on the ethics, theory and practice of counselling children and young people. During the course of this third semester module you will complete the minimum client counselling and personal therapy hours required for graduation.   The module will support you to consolidate your knowledge and understanding of the theory and practice of counselling children, to deepen your ability to work in an appropriately relational manner and to extend your practical skill base in counselling children and young people.  

This final module provides you with an opportunity to consolidate your learning through the preparation and presentation of a research project of relevance to your counselling practice. You will be supported through in an exploration of relevant research methodologies, the development of a research proposal and the submission of an ethics proposal. You will demonstrate advanced professionalism and independence in undertaking, completing and reporting your findings. Your project supervisor will support you on a one-to-one basis during this process. Your project should draw upon and critically evaluate a range of both classic and contemporary research findings. You will be encouraged to seek to publish your project in order to contribute to the knowledge base in this area of work.