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Our largest Counselling programme to date…

York Learning has been delivering the CPCAB Counselling Training Courses since 2013 and in that time we have grown to become one of the biggest training centres for CPCAB in the whole of Yorkshire.

All members of the Counselling tutor team are fully qualified counsellors as well as experienced tutors with an extensive amount of knowledge and experience that they bring to the classroom. The counselling team are very passionate about providing the highest quality training from Level 2 to Level 4 and we put our learners at the centre of everything we do.

Here at York Learning we pride ourselves on being aware of and responsive to the specific needs of adult learners.  We respect and appreciate that on most occasions our learners will be balancing their counselling training with other commitments and priorities such as work, family and child care; often our learners also travel from out of the local area to attend weekly sessions.

All courses are delivered through a blended learning model so that we can continue to offer our learners an inclusive and engaging learning environment.  The courses will combine high quality, interactive online teaching (via Zoom) with more traditional face to face learning from our premises at The Centre @ Burnholme.

If you have any further questions or queries after exploring our website then email us at yorklearningcounselling@york.gov.uk and we will be delighted to support and guide you in your next steps.

Anna-Marie Gillman
Curriculum Manager – Counselling

Here at York Learning we are considering offering a Level 5 Diploma course to support the ongoing CPD of qualified counsellors in line with current local and national priorities for mental health provision.  If you are interested in undertaking a Level 5 course in the future then please complete this online form so that we can gauge interest – this will then help to shape and inform our next steps.

In 2024 we will be running the following fully online Level L2s:

Purpose

This one year part time qualification is designed to give learners the underpinning knowledge, skills and competencies to use counselling skills ethically and safely in a variety of contexts and roles.

This qualification is for:

  • Those starting the first level of training as a professional counsellor
  • Those who want to learn counselling skills in other professional or helping roles
  • Those who want to improve their professional and personal relationships as part of personal development

This qualification could lead to employment or increase employability for those whose role is to support others in e.g. health and social care work, teaching and learning, advocacy and mediation, support and project work, other helping roles.

It provides additional skills for those already in employment likely to lead to increased opportunities for promotion and advancement.

More Information

Click here for a detailed overview of the Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills offered by York Learning and to learn more about what it is like to study with us.

To find out more or to speak with a member of the team please email us at yorklearningcounselling@york.gov.uk

All of our courses are blended learning with some sessions online and some at The Centre @ BurnholmeClick here to find out more about the venue.

The next Level 3s will be starting in September when we hope to offer a choice or daytime and evening sessions and a choice of delivery style. :

To register your interest for September 2024 click here.

We are holding two information sessions on Tuesday 12th March at The Centre@Burnholme prior to starting to take applications. The sessions are free but you will need to book a place

To book your place click here.

Purpose

This one year part time qualification is intended for candidates who have already acquired a recognised Level 2 qualification in counselling skills and want to:

  • take the next step in training to become a counsellor
  • learn more about counselling theory, ethics and mental health
  • be prepared for future work as a professional counsellor in an agency setting

This qualification does not lead directly to employment as a counsellor but can lead to employment in a related field.  It is primarily designed as a ‘pre-practitioner training’ for a professional counselling qualification such as the Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling.

Click here for a detailed overview of the Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies offered by York Learning and to learn more about what it is like to study with us.

To find out more or to speak with a member of the team please email us at yorklearningcounselling@york.gov.uk

All of our courses are blended learning with some sessions online and some at The Centre @ BurnholmeClick here to find out more about the venue.

From September 2024 course is taking place on the following days:

  • Wednesday, 10am – 5pm, blended (online and at the Centre@Burnholme).  September 2024 – July 2025

To register your interest for September 2024 click here.

We are holding two information sessions on Tuesday 12th March at The Centre@Burnholme prior to starting to take applications. The sessions are free but you will need to book a place

To book your place click here.

Purpose

This two-year part time professional qualification will provide you with the knowledge, skills and competencies to work as a therapeutic counsellor within an agency context initially, and the structure to progress to independent private practice with additional experience, support from a clinical supervisor and continuing professional development.  The course is based on a relational philosophy of counselling, primarily using the Person Centred Approach.  However, you will also study and practice other ‘self with other’ counselling theories that underpin and complement the Person Centred Approach, such as Attachment Theory and Transactional Analysis, to give you a robust foundation for your professional counselling practice and a framework to integrate other theories and modalities in the future if you wish to do so.

The course is BACP recognised which means that during your training you are eligible to apply for student membership to the BACP.   On successful completion of the course you will gain approved qualified counsellor status and be eligible to become a full member of BACP and work towards accreditation if desired.

Click here for a detailed overview of the Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling offered by York Learning and to learn more about what it is like to study with us.

To find out more or to speak with a member of the team please email us at yorklearningcounselling@york.gov.uk

All of our courses are blended learning with some sessions online and some at The Centre @ BurnholmeClick here to find out more about the venue.

Richard’s story

I studied with York Learning for 4 years, from level 2, through to my Level 4 diploma. I was seeking a career change and instinctively felt that counselling might be right for me. My experience with York Learning was extremely positive and complimented my learning style in its experiential nature. It wasn’t just about learning new skills – the course also stretched me to develop my self-awareness, which was invaluable for the role despite being challenging at times.
I had fantastic tutors; they held me to account and challenged me, but always from a place of care. The knowledge I gained was always applied to myself or others and I’d liken the experience to being given the right ingredients, but with autonomy to use them in a way that felt authentic. The training modelled the personable skills associated with counselling in how students and tutors related to each other. It did not stray to become detached or overly theorised. When combined, these were major factors in me staying with York Learning for the entirety of my training.

Towards the end, my experience of placement was that York Learning was viewed favourably by counselling agencies. Their students were deemed to be competent and this was testament to the value of the content at Level 4.

I have since been fortunate to find employment as a full-time counsellor within a secondary school and sixth form. Whilst the challenges are many, I feel that York Learning readied me for such an experience rather than contain me in a bubble of safety in predictability. Needless to say, I notice that my tutors stay with me in my practice and remain a source of reassurance despite not being there in person.

Martin’s story

I strongly feel with York Learning that you get what you put in. The tutors are second to none, they are engaging and supportive but will push and challenge. For someone who didn’t enjoy university and generally didn’t like groups, I was amazed at how well the courses were organised, how personal it was and how well the tutors facilitated the group training environment. It was a new experience to look forward to coming to sessions every week, to feel like they truly cared about your journey rather than being just a number.

I became comfortable with being vulnerable. I learnt it was OK to take risks and truly be me because the setting was safe and secure and the people were trustworthy and supportive. Some of the personal development work was, while initially uncomfortable, ultimately transformative to me and something I will take with me going forward.

The tutors have hearts of gold, they want you to succeed but at the same time, it can be difficult to hide and you will be challenged. They will model a level of authenticity that feels more at a colleague level than simply tutor-student. It is because of this authenticity that you can really be enabled to progress. You know what you are being told and the feedback you are getting is genuine and individual and this allows you to move forward.

While still on the course, I left my job to become a stay at home dad while I finished my studies. In the past, this decision would have been met with procrastination and fear, but I found my mindset was different. I genuinely believe that if you let it, Level 4 in particular changes you and enables you, however uncomfortable it may be, to make transformative changes.

Of course, this isn’t an overnight process. For me, it all started with Level 2 where I had no idea if this was a feasible long term career but something I wanted to at least try. I had tried to find a suitable provider for a while after my previous one had cancelled our course and after waiting a year I joined York Learning. From my first interaction with York Learning, I felt that I was dealing with a knowledgeable and competent team. My tutor at Level two was patient and knowledgeable and week by week, I felt my knowledge and skills growing. Even at Level three, conducted online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, everything ran smoothly which was very re-assuring with new technology I had never used before.

I knew that Level 4 would be more of a time commitment and I remember looking at courses closer to home. However they never felt right, York Learning had earned my trust and loyalty and had showed me a consistently high standard of teaching and organisation over the previous two years and I decided to continue with them even if it meant travelling further. This was genuinely one of the best decisions I ever made.

I cannot express how much change I have undergone in the last couple of years, both personally and professionally. My daughter was born mid-way through the first year of level 4, I was open and honest about my worries and the potential impact of this in advance and my tutors worked alongside me to support me. This is just one example of the human aspect of this course that perhaps is sometimes overlooked. Life happens and you need good people around you to ask for help.

In addition to the human aspect, there has to be a core base of knowledge. Within this, the teaching is varied and of a high quality, allowing you to develop a base which you are then able to apply within skills training.  In skills training, you obtain feedback from tutors and peers, and are in a much better place for going into placement with a real solid base beneath you.

I genuinely at times don’t recognise myself anymore, but in a good way. These courses haven’t just enabled me to gain some skills here and there, they have enabled a natural way of being that was perhaps hidden away. I have become more comfortable in moving away from external validation to following my own internal feelings. It has helped me understand myself and my processes and it has given me a sense of assuredness and confidence that is difficult to replicate. As I embark on a career in counselling, standing on my own two feet, I can only reflect that York Learning has helped me to develop a unique mix of knowledge, skills and self that in 40 years, I haven’t found in that combination anywhere else.