module specification

This module will embrace the notion of social justice, compassion, and inclusion. This is key to our Education for Social Justice Framework at London Met.

Rationale:
To introduce and familiarise students with key concepts of counselling in Youth Work practice and their implications in different professional contexts. This module requires students to explore and develop the basic skills needed for counselling and recognise the difference between listening to others as friends, parents, Youth Work practitioners or as counsellors. Due to the experiential nature of the course there is scope for personal development.  Many of the exercises will focus on practising skills necessary for counselling and there will be theoretical inputs on the main influences in this area. The aim of the module is for students’ to be introduced to key concepts of counselling and provide a world perspective.  The module will involve the students in active group learning, sharing some of their own experiences with other group members.  The course will be very practical with the learning being conducted in the large group, small groups, triads and pairs.  Emphasis will be placed on learning basic listening skills, finding out what counselling is, how it relates to the student as a Youth Work practitioner, and recognising the importance of developing self-awareness.

In total there are three counselling modules, one at each level.  It is envisaged that they correspond to the L1, L2 & L3 of the training structure that prospective counsellors have to undertake with regards to the hours and assessment strategies prior to attending the L4 Diploma in Counselling.
The successful completion of one module is the equivalent of L1.
The successful completion of two modules is the equivalent of L2.
The successful completion of three modules is the equivalent of the L3 qualification.

The module at L4 is a core module for all the students on the Youth Work programmes and will be very much focused on developing counselling skills in working with young people.

The modules at L5 & L6 will be optional modules.  As such there will be an opportunity for all students to cover some of the basic skills in particular settings and working in groups respectively.  For those with more experience it will enable them to develop their personal journey at a much deeper level and this will be reflected in the quality of their journal submissions, the depth of the essay question and the enhanced quality of their practical counselling intervention skills.

The assessment processes will be the same to reflect the methods of assessments used on the pre-Diploma courses.

It aims to:
● Understanding counselling in a world perspective and its role in Youth Work and analyse key approaches, core conditions and models of counselling.
● Develop an awareness of their own self-development and how they are able to use counselling skills to help develop others.
● Identify and understand diversity issues while working with people from different gender, race and sexualities and power dynamics and the importance of anti-oppressive practice.

The syllabus will encourage students to think critically about issues affecting oppression in contemporary contexts and introduce theory, practice and applied youth work principles in relation to the following themes:
Indicative Content
1. What is Counselling? 
2. Eurocentric and world approaches to counselling.
3. Person-centred/humanistic approaches, Cognitive-behavioural approaches, Psychodynamic approaches &
4. Integrative approaches, Egan’s 3 stage model of counselling.
5. Exploring Existential, Transcultural, Gestalt and the myriad forms of counselling that exist and the contexts in which they are applied.
6. The key skills of paraphrasing, reflecting feelings, communication and active listening skills
7. Where group work skills and counselling meet / diverge?
8. Issues of power and anti-oppressive practice, addressing diversity issues (gender, race, sexualities) within counselling relationships
9. Appropriating knowledge and the colonisation of the mind of the oppressed
10. The impact of migration

Learning Objectives: L/O 1,2,3,4,5

The module will be taught by a blended learning approach to lecture and critical discussion. There will be a focus on triads and counselling real life experiences.
A student-centred approach will be adopted in teaching and learning on the module, relying on class discussions/activities, reflections.

1. Ensure that work with young people remains within the professional boundaries of a youth worker's role and the core conditions of Person-centred Counselling (LO1).
2. Describe the core conditions of counselling and how they link to the principles and values of youth work and identify organisational policies, procedures and legislation which support or contradict these values (LO2).
3. Identify the connection between personal values, youth work values and behaviour in practice and analyse the use and abuse of power in micro and macro contexts within the field of counselling (LO3.
4. Identify key concepts in counselling and how they inform interventions in different professional contexts and how they have been dominated by western european concepts (LO4).
5. Implement Anti-Oppressive Practice (AOP) and with due regards to the principles and values of Counselling and youth work (LO5).

Formative assessment, and draft work is considered and commented on. Comments on draft work are provided a week before the final hand in date, so that students have opportunities to amend their work.

The learning of the module will be assessed through three methods:
1. Students will need to demonstrate in front of the group their counselling skills in a 30 minute Triad session.
2. A 1200 word assignment
3. 1600 Words. Weekly reflective journals.

The reading list for this module can be found here