Masters Degrees in Counselling, Ireland

Taught classes as well as counselling skills training, supervision and reflective practice modules emphasises the application of current psychological knowledge informed by empirical research in the work of the counselling psychologist. The students are facilitated to be aware of current research findings and to incorporate them into their clinical practice. In the first year the course offers academic and practical skills training in counselling psychology and related research. After the first few weeks of concentrated, full time coursework and personal development work, 2 full days per week are spent on placement and 2-3 days in classes. The D.Couns.Psych. offers a wide range of course approved placement options in community, health, mental health, education and private practice settings, as well as welcoming new student recommended sites, particularly for those students residing outside the greater Dublin area. At least 3 different placements are required during the 3 years of the course. The second year involves further training in counselling theories and practice, and students conduct a research dissertation related to counselling psychology, initiated during the summer before entering second year.

Personal development work, including individual therapy, is required throughout the 3 years. The third year includes small group supervision, reflective practice, and advanced counselling and psychotherapy theory and its application. However, the main focus will be on research. A research project resulting in the doctoral dissertation is carried throughout the three years. Courses are taught and supervision provided by both core staff and other practitioners from varied theoretical orientations. Humanistic theory underlies the course. Psychodynamic and systemic perspectives are also emphasised, and training in cognitive behavioural approaches is provided. Practical placements continue through the summer and always follow the placement site's calendar, not that of College. Guidelines for all aspects of the course are provided. All components of the course must be passed i.e., practical, academic; research, and personal development, as well as members of the Court of Examiners recommending the student as suitable to receiving the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology degree.

Graduates of this course are skilled to conduct mental health assessments and therapy with individuals, couples and groups across the lifespan. Typically, they start to specialise during their studies and further develop their skills after the course. They are employed by Health Service Executive, e.g. the National Counselling Service, Refugee and Asylum Seekers Service, Autism Services; Voluntary agencies, e.g. St. John of God's Services, Brothers of Charity Services, National Association for the Deaf; third level student counselling services; private practice; research settings; and multiple other locations.

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Overview

The Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Adult Guidance Counselling) is designed to serve as a training course for people working with adults in a guidance/counselling setting, providing information, advice and placement services. The course aims to work towards the development of an understanding of core concepts and ideas concerning sociology, marginalisation, exclusion and adult career development.

This course is also offered at Diploma Level for candidates who have appropriate experience and who do not have an initial degree. Please go to http://www.pac.ie/maynoothuniversity and click on Code MHA57 to make application. When applying for MHA57 through http://www.pac.ie please ensure that you select the undergraduate button before making application for this course. For further details please go to: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/adult-and-community-education

Minimum English language requirements:
- IELTS: 6.5 minimum overall score
- TOEFL (Paper based test): 585
- TOEFL (Internet based test): 95
- PTE (Pearson): 62

Course Structure

The Postgraduate Diploma extends over two academic years and is delivered Part-time in an open learning format, incorporating e-learning materials and workshops. (Computer access is vital). Participants will be expected to be in a position to attend on average one workshop per month. Modules include adult guidance and counselling skills, case review and professional development, integrating theory and practice, and research methodologies.

Career Options

Since its inception in 1997, this two-year course has played a key role in the professionalisation of adult guidance in Ireland. Graduates from this programme are eligible for membership of the Institute Guidance Counsellors.

How To Apply

Online application only http://www.pac.ie/maynoothuniversity

PAC Code
MHA55 PGrad Dip Arts (Adult Guidance Counselling)
MHA57 Dip Arts (Adult Guidance Counselling) is offered at undergraduate level to people who have significant experience working in the field of adult guidance and must be seeing clients on a regular basis - for further details please email [email protected] or call Breda Gibney at 01- 7083752

For both courses please ensure you complete the supplementary questionnaire on PAC.

The following information should be forwarded to PAC, 1 Courthouse Square, Galway or uploaded to your online application form:

Certified copies of all official transcripts of results for all non-Maynooth University qualifications listed MUST accompany the application. Failure to do so will delay your application being processed. Non-Maynooth University students are asked to provide two academic references and a copy of birth certificate or valid passport

Find information on Scholarships here https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/study-maynooth/postgraduate-studies/fees-funding-scholarships

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Overview

The MEd School Guidance Counselling degree is designed to advance the professional development of school Guidance Counsellors and builds on the Postgraduate Diploma in School Guidance Counselling (PGDSGC). This one year programme involves participation in regular research-support seminars and consultation with supervisors towards the completion of a thesis.

Course Structure

The MEd School Guidance Counselling is assessed through the thesis only.

Duration: 1 year Part-time

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This is a part-time in-career development specialism, which is an ideal programme for guidance counsellors, principals, deputy principals, adult education officers, school chaplains, subject teachers and professionals in the general field of mental health. Candidates will be selected on the basis of academic achievement and professional experience.

Modules include:

Counselling Theory and Practice (Counselling Practicum)
Educational Psychology for Guidance Counsellors
Psychometrics
Counselling and Vocational Psychology

The course has a taught component and a dissertation.

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Overview

The MEd in Adult Guidance & Counselling MHA51 is designed to meet the learning needs of
- Policy makers
- Managers of change in organisations and systems
- Facilitators of new approaches to research and development
- Managers of service delivery in changing contexts
This programme is particularly suited to those who are seeking theoretical frameworks from which to explore and question the assumptions that underpin their work practices and critical reflection.

Minimum English language requirements:
• IELTS: 6.5 minimum overall score
• TOEFL (Paper based test): 585
• TOEFL (Internet based test): 95
• PTE (Pearson): 62

Course Structure

Part time comprising of two days every month broken down into eight workshops during Semester 1 and six workshops during Semester 2. Modules include research methods in adult guidance and counselling, group supervision and reflexive research, and thesis and research completion.

Career Options

In addition to practitioners in mainstream Adult and Community Education settings, the MEd has also been found useful by nurse tutors, community health providers, counsellors and psychotherapists, local government personnel and those working in education and development settings in Africa, Asia and elsewhere in Europe.

How To Apply

Online application only http://www.pac.ie/maynoothuniversity

PAC Code
MHA51

The following information should be forwarded to PAC, 1 Courthouse Square, Galway or uploaded to your online application form:

Certified copies of all official transcripts of results for all non-Maynooth University qualifications listed MUST accompany the application. Failure to do so will delay your application being processed. Non-Maynooth University students are asked to provide two academic references and a copy of birth certificate or valid passport.

Applicants may be required to attend for interview as part of the admissions process.

Find information on Scholarships here https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/study-maynooth/postgraduate-studies/fees-funding-scholarships

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Overview

This is a one-year part time taught postgraduate diploma which is designed to prepare teachers and other education professionals to provide and manage a school guidance counselling service. The programme is recognized by the Irish Department of Education and Science, the National Centre for Guidance in Education and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors as a professional, international qualification in Guidance Counselling.

Participants attend Maynooth University one day per week (Friday 9am-4.30pm) and school placement one day per week (Monday). The programme begins with a week’s Summer School (August 26-30 inclusive) during which course participants are introduced to all six modules of the curriculum. Intensive training in Psychometric Testing is scheduled for October mid-term break (Dates to be confirmed).

Dates for the Summer School are to be confirmed.

Programme participants are responsible for arranging the school placement component of the course where they work in close co-operation with the School Guidance Counsellor. Normally, the school placement is within 65 kilometres of the university.

Course Structure

Participants attend Maynooth University one day per week and school placement one day per week. The programme begins with a week’s Summer School during which course participants are introduced to all six modules of the curriculum. Intensive training in Psychometric Testing is scheduled for October mid-term break.

Duration: 1 Year Part-Time

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Cognitive therapy is a collaborative, structured approach to helping individuals with psychological difficulties. It views key beliefs and assumptions which an individual holds as being pivotal to maintaining their distress and rendering them vulnerable to recurring difficulties. The course offers post-qualification training in the theory and practice of cognitive psychotherapy, as applied in a variety of mental health settings. Competence is developed through a combination of weekly clinical supervision, lectures, workshops and written assignments. Assessment is based on the submission of case studies and theoretical reviews, oral presentations and standardised rating of therapy sessions. Prospective candidates may pursue the option of a one year part-time (every Friday over three 12-week terms) postgraduate diploma course in cognitive therapy. Emphasis will be on helping participants gain clinical competence in utilising this approach in hospital-based and community-based health care settings. The course substantially contributes to academic and theoretical requirements for accreditation as a cognitive therapist and provides the opportunity to engage in introductory supervised clinical casework. Students would be required to complete further supervised clinical work to meet the clinical requirements for accreditation. For further information on accreditation as a cognitive therapist we recommend prospective students consult the BABCP website: http://www.babcp.com

The diploma course introduces the student to the basic theory of cognitive therapy and customised applications of this model to a range of clinical syndromes. The curriculum emphasises a knowledge of cognitive behavioural models, concepts and methods; competence in developing cognitive case formulations; devising and implementing individual treatment programmes for a range of emotional disorders, and evaluating their effects; understanding the links between cognitive therapy and developmental and cognitive psychology; ethics issues in practising psychotherapy.

Students are supervised treating a minimum of three cases (approx 40 - 50 hours of casework), and are taught the use of Cognitive Psychotherapy in relation to a variety of different areas and disorders. Teaching takes place one full day per week (Friday) during academic term. Assessment is based on evaluation of the student's clinical performance using the Cognitive Therapy Scale - Revised and four written assignments.

Admission Requirements

This course is offered as a specialised post-qualification course that builds on relevant knowledge and skills already possessed by prospective candidates. Suitable candidates for the course will:
- be currently employed in a healthcare setting and providing counselling or psychotherapy as part of their work, and;
- have achieved a recognised third level qualification in a mental health profession (e.g. psychology, nursing, social work, medicine) and;
- have relevant clinical experience and/or evidence of recognised foundation training in counselling/ psychotherapy and;
- have two years postgraduate experience.

Please note that supplementary documentation is required as part of the online application process. Shortlisting of applicants will occur in mid April and interviews for those who are successfully shortlisted are scheduled to take place in St. Patrick's University Hospital on the 10th of May.

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The M.Sc./P.Grad. Diploma in Clinical Supervision part-time course is aimed at practitioners in the helping professions who normally hold an honours degree in psychology or a related field and relevant post-graduate experience. It is specifically aimed at practising psychologists, (counselling, clinical, educational, health, work and organizational, etc.) psychotherapists, counsellors and mental health professionals who wish to further their professional development, reflective practice capability and train as supervisors.

The course is normally scheduled to take place on Saturdays (maximum two per month) and occasional Friday afternoons (approx five per year) to facilitate students who have work commitments. All students register on the M.Sc. course in the first instance. Students may choose to exit with a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Supervision on successful completion of Year 1 course requirements. The Postgraduate Diploma as an exit qualification is equivalent to 60 ECTS. Students who successfully complete all the required elements of the M.Sc. course will be awarded the M.Sc. in Clinical Supervision.

Course Content:

The M.Sc. comprises eight modules including a supervised Professional Clinical Practice Module and a Dissertation. Costs associated with clinical supervision of the Professional Clinical Practice Module are additional to course tuition fees and the responsibility of the student. In Year 2, M.Sc. students are required, under research supervision and support, to submit a dissertation based on empirical enquiry into an aspect of clinical supervision. All modules are compulsory and each has an assessment component.

Module 1: Advanced Clinical Supervision, theory, skills and process
Module 2: Clinical Supervision and Perspectives in Adult Learning
Module 3: Advanced Peer and Group Supervision
Module 4: The Reflective Practitioner
Module 5: Professional Clinical Practice
Module 6: Organisational Issues
Module 7: Research in Clinical Supervision
Module 8: Dissertation (c.20, 000 words)
Competence is developed through a combination of lectures, experiential learning workshops, discussions, clinical supervision, group and peer supervision, written assignments, tutorials and professional clinical practice.

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