The Diploma of Counselling (CHC51708) is a nationally recognised course that provides the first step towards a career in Counselling and entry into the counselling profession. It aims to provide you with generic counselling skills and knowledge including communication skills, knowledge of a range of commonly used counselling modalities, referral skills and the ability to work within an organisation in a counselling role.

Counselling is the art of listening and skilful questioning to assist people make sense of their lives and to make quality decisions for the future. In our lives there are times when we all need someone to talk to, someone who cares. Counsellors don’t give advice rather they help people find the right path for them. They refer to specialists for medical, psychological or community support. They work with people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds. They help people cope with grief and loss, suicide, depression and anxiety and stress, trauma, abuse, confusion, goals and directions, relationship worries, parenting issues, discrimination, gender issues and problems too numerous to name.You will know if you are suited to this occupation because you will find that people always talk to you about their problems! Chances are you will make a great counsellor. Learning the skills and having the qualification will give you the confidence to do what you do best.

This course is designed to assist those wanting to work in areas such as family support services, not-for-profit community organisations, government agencies, sexual health services, community health centres, outreach services, residential services, refugee support services, women’s health centres and Indigenous community service organisations.

Employability Skills

To view the Empoyability Skills Summary for this qualification, click the button below.

Graduate Outcomes

Upon successful completion of qualification, possible occupational titles may include (but are not necessarily limited to):

• Counsellor
• Problem Gambling Worker

Completion of this course qualifies the graduate to apply for membership to the following organisations/associations (subject to organisation-specific requirements being met by the applicant; refer to individual organisation policy):

• Australian Community Counselling Association (Qualified Membership)

Articulation and Study Pathways

Pathways for this program include:

The course dates for the 2012 year are as follows (subject to change):

Course training materials are provided and include assessment workbooks and access to our online training portal provided by PBWorks. For students who have no internet access, printed materials will be made available.

Enroling now for Semester 1

Starts: 1st March 2012, 1st April

Location: Townsville (Block Mode) , Brisbane, Sunshine Coast

Delivery: Mixed Mode, Distance (workshops included) call for options

All delivery options include face to face training.

Support to pay your fees

At Community Training Australia there is assistance to help you pay your fees.

VET FEE HELP, a system like HECS at university (find more information at www.deewr.gov.au/vetfeehelp)

VET FEE-HELP is an income contingent loan scheme that assists eligible students to pay for all or part of their VET tuition fees. Students wishing to access VET FEE-HELP assistance are invited to discuss their eligibility with the staff at the Information Office at any CTA campus.

Eligibility

To gain entry into CHC51708 Diploma of Counselling it is recommended that candidates have sufficient relevant work experience to indicate likely success at this level of qualification in a job role involving:

• The self-directed application of knowledge with substantial depth in some areas
• The exercise of independent judgement and decision-making
• The application of relevant technical and other skills.

How to apply

• Directly to Townsville Campus:  Part-time applicants and mid year applicants - full-time and part-time
• Enrolment Information
• Enrolment Forms

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and Credit Transfers

RPL is the process of collecting the evidence that you have the required skills and knowledge already to provide the qualification or statement of attainment for a specific unit of competency. If you believe that you have enough experience in this field to demonstrate your skills and knowledge or have gained skills through a formal training pathway or a mix of these, you should enquire about RPL. Related industry experience should be in a role specific to this qualification and include significant work related to the units listed above. In other situations, you may have already completed training for some of the required units. In this situation you may be eligible for Credit Transfer.

ABSTUDY Information

This course is considered by Centrelink to qualify as full-time study, and as such all our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are eligible to receive ABSTUDY benefits for the duration of their study. These benefits include Government-funded travel to Townsville for study, accommodation and meals while you study in Townsville, and depending on income a fortnightly allowance paid to your bank account. Please click the button below to download appropriate ABSTUDY forms and for more information. You can submit the appropriate ABSTUDY forms with your enrolment application and we will forward them on your behalf, or you can apply to Centrelink directly and notify us that you intend to claim ABSTUDY so that we can arrange your travel and accommodation for you. Please note: ABSTUDY requires a minimum of three (3) weeks in advance in order to process travel and accommodation applications for our students (added to our administrative time to process your enrolment application). If we do not receive your enrolment pack with time to process before this minimum period, there is a good chance that the travel and accommodation for your first block will not be funded initially, and you will have to organise your own travel and accommodation for this first block. However, assuming your application to ABSTUDY is successful after this point, you may claim back a rebate for the money spent on these arrangements so long as you keep your receipts (the form required to claim back money spent on study-related travel and accommodation is also available to download through the button below).

Request More Information

If you have any more questions regarding this course, the button below will take you to a form that you can fill out with your detailed request. You may leave us a phone number or email address and a member of our staff will get back to you as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can call our office on (07) 4772 4103 and one of our friendly staff will look after you.