Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Course information
Do you have a background in counselling or psychology? Would you like to learn how to help people challenge negative thinking so they can approach situations more positively?

On this Cognitive Behavioural Therapy DipHE, you'll learn the practical knowledge and interpersonal skills you need to pursue a career as a cognitive behavioural therapist.

In year 1, you'll develop foundational counselling skills and explore all the counselling approaches available to practitioners, including gestalt and humanistic counselling.

In your second year, you'll focus on developing the practical skills you need as a cognitive behavioural therapist. This includes putting what you learn into practice by conducting 100 hours of supervised therapy. You'll also develop skills you need to work with different types of clients and learn about mental health issues.

After the course, you could top up your diploma to a Bachelor's degree. You could also work as a cognitive behavioural therapist in areas such as education, the police service, the prison service and the voluntary sector.

Alternative courses
This course shares the same 1st year modules as our DipHE Humanistic Counselling and DipHE Gestalt Counselling. It's simple to switch courses at the end of year 1 if you change your mind about which counselling specialism to study.

What you'll experience
On this course you'll:

• Learn from experienced, industry-trained staff who've worked in organisations or run their own private practices

• Study modules that give you a strong foundation for your studies and future career, covering topics including counselling skills, ethics, counselling theory and professional skills and development

• Focus on developing specialist cognitive behavioural therapy skills and knowledge in year 2

• Apply your knowledge and skills with at least 100 hours of supervised counselling on a placement in the community

• Build a foundation to help work towards a further professional accreditation with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) following completion of the course

• Learn research skills, which you can apply in your career and in degree-level study after the course

• Develop transferable skills you can apply in all aspects of your life and career in areas such as problem solving, communication, group working, planning, effective feedback and IT

• Study at Eastleigh College with access to University of Portsmouth support and services

• Apply for membership of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and get access to member resources including journal subscriptions, free courses and job boards

Careers and opportunities
CBT is a tool for helping people deal with difficulties including anxiety, depression, stress, phobias, eating disorders and obsessions.

Increased awareness in society about mental health and events such as the coronavirus pandemic have increased the demand for counselling and therapy services. As a cognitive behavioural therapist, you can have a significant positive impact on people's health and wellbeing, and help take the pressure off other health services such as GPs and hospitals.

Public, private and charity sector settings you could work in after the course include:

• Education

• Alcohol and drug services

• Eating disorder services

• Mental health services

• GPs

• Police and prison services

You could also top-up your diploma to a Bachelor's degree on our BSc (Hons) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy top-up course.

When you complete the course successfully, you can sit the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Certificate of Proficiency to become a registered member of the BACP.

Year 1:
Core modules in this year include:

• Development of Counselling Skills (40 credits)
• Developments in Counselling Theory (40 credits)
• Personal Development (20 credits)
• Professional Issues for the Counselling Practitioner (20 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

Year 2:
Core modules in this year include:

• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Skills (20 credits)
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Theory (20 credits)
• Counselling Specific Clients' Groups (20 credits)
• Introduction to Research Methodologies (20 credits)
• Mental Health Issues (20 credits)
• Professional Development (20 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

Changes to course content:
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, course content is revised and regularly reviewed. This may result in changes being made in order to reflect developments in research, learning from practice and changes in policy at both national and local levels.

On this counselling diploma, you'll be assessed through:
Essays
Live skills assessments (role play scenarios)
Individual and group presentations
Portfolios of evidence
Case studies
Personal learning journals
Professional requirements (a 'Fitness to Practice' assessment)
Supervised work-based learning

You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.

Feedback is central to this course. You'll get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future, as well as on your application for the 'Fitness to Practice' assessment. You'll also practice giving feedback during live skills assessments, where you'll receive feedback from your peers, as well as the assessment tutor.

All applicants must pass Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before starting the course