The Graduate Certificate in Counselling Vulnerable Children and Young People is an 18 unit program offered by the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work on a full fee-paying basis.
Admission requirements
Applicants must normally hold an approved degree or equivalent qualification from an approved tertiary institution. However, the Dean (Education) may, under certain circumstances and subject to specific conditions, admit others who can show evidence of fitness for candidature.
Course aims
The Graduate Certificate in Counselling Vulnerable Children and Young People aims to:
- provide school well-being leaders; and school counsellors with theory and practice skills for their interactions with vulnerable populations encountered in their work
- advance the knowledge and skills of students from relevant professional backgrounds including education, social work and youth work about practice with vulnerable children and young people
- increase awareness among helping professionals about the need to adapt counselling, mindfulness and expressive therapy methodologies to the developmental needs of vulnerable children and young people
- review research and knowledge development trends in mindfulness, counselling and expressive therapies practice with vulnerable children and young people
- introduce students to a range of creative and arts-based interventions and culturally-sensitive responses aimed at enhancing the wellbeing of vulnerable children and young people ad creating calm, supportive and inclusive practice environments
- provide practical ways to assist professionals such as teachers, social workers and youth workers to connect with families and caregivers, to work collaboratively with colleagues and to their own wellbeing
- give students’ active experience of a range of counselling, expressive therapeutic and mindfulness activities
- allow students to pursue areas of study about using counselling mindfulness and expressive therapies in their work with vulnerable children and young people that are of particular interest to their practice or professional development.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this course students will:
- identify, describe and have insight into mindfulness and expressive therapy counselling models that can be used to enhance the wellbeing of vulnerable children and young people and their environments
- be able to access scholarly, practitioner based and community resources and activities to support vulnerable children and young people, their families/caregivers and professionals working with them
- articulate and implement strategies for assisting vulnerable children and young people in a range of settings, including but not limited to school settings
- recognise the connections between scholarly, practitioner-based knowledge and children and young people and family/caregiver knowledge about vulnerability and relevant issues encountered in the students’ lived environments
- respond in a more child, family and culturally-sensitive manner to a range of experiences of vulnerability
- demonstrate how their learning, insights and practice has developed in the areas of enhancing the wellbeing of vulnerable children and young people knowledge and skills.
Program of study
To qualify for the Graduate Certificate in Counselling Vulnerable Children and Young People, a student must complete 18 units with a grade of P or NGP or better in each topic, according to the program of study below.
Not all topics necessarily are available in a given year.
Core - Year 1 topics
13.5 units comprising:
SOAD8006 Interventions with Children and Young People (4.5 units)
EDUC9709 Mindfulness and the Inner World of Teaching and Learning (4.5 units)
SOAD8012 Loss, Grief and Trauma Counselling: Human-Animal Interactions (4.5 units)
Option - Year 1 topics
Plus 4.5 units of topics from the following list:
EDUC9720 Directed Study in Education (4.5 units)
SOAD8010 Professional Practice Project (loss and grief) (4.5 units)
