Integrative Counselling FdA

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of formal lectures, creative activities, experiential exercises, group process, presentations, skills practices and applied learning, large and small group activities and reflective practice.

In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least 4 occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of a course. You will be encouraged to keep in regular contact with your tutor throughout your studies. In addition, you will have the opportunity to develop your skills through your counselling placement and Work Based Learning.

Contact time

In a typical week, students will have around 7 contact hours of teaching. The precise contact hours will depend on the optional modules selected and in the final year there is normally slightly less contact time in order to do more independent study. Typically class contact time will be structured around:

• Lectures
• Discussions
• Skills practice
• Large and small group activities
• Reflective practice and experiential work

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 22 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, this will involve:

• reading of text books and journals
• journal writing
• professional portfolio activities, organisation and writing
• work based learning - approx. 30-50 hours per year
• placement - a minimum of 100 hours across the programme
• supervision of counselling placement practice - a minimum of 1.5 hours per month
• personal therapy - a minimum of 40 hours across the two years
• preparation for assignments

Time spent on the above activities will vary from student to student but all of the above must be included in the process.

There are additional costs related to most counselling programmes, such as professional body membership fees, supervision if not provided by the placement, and personal therapy costs. For a breakdown of expected additional costs on this programme, please see the 'Fees' tab on the FdA page of the Iron Mill College website.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The teaching is delivered by experienced practitioners who are registered with MBACP, and/or UKCP, and who are also in ongoing supervised practice as therapists. The academic team aim to create a colourful and varied learning experience, combining up to date theory, experiential activities, practical work, and reflective opportunities. All lecturers associated with the course have teaching qualifications and substantial teaching experience at HE level, with three members of the team being Fellows of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). You can learn more about our staff by visiting our Staff Profiles on the Iron Mill College website.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to enhance and assess understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or 'formative' assignments. Each module has one or more formal or 'summative' assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade.

Assessment methods include essays, presentation, portfolios, interviews, creative exhibition, case studies, oral exams, and skills assessment. There are no written exams on this course. 

Year 1

• Written Assignments (1500 + 4000 words)
• Reflective Skills
• Interview
• Presentation
• Portfolio work

Year 2

• Written Assignments (2500 + 4000 words)
• Case Study
• Portfolio Work
• Presentation
• Poster
• Oral Exam

In addition, students will need to complete and evidence 100 counselling placement hours, 40 hours of personal therapy, and undertake Work Based Learning (approx. 30-50 hours per year in both Year 1 and Year 2).

Feedback

Feedback is an important aspect of your learning. We provide opportunities for you to receive feedback in the following forms:

• Verbal documented feedback provided in your 1:1 tutorial sessions
• Written comments from your tutor, usually attached to your assignments
• Verbal comments from your tutor associated with your work
• Generic feedback from tutors covering particular strengths/ weaknesses found in the work of a particular student group
• Comments from other students about your work (peer feedback)
• Your own comments and reflections on your work (self-assessment and feedback)

You will receive feedback on your assignment and a provisional mark within twenty working days from the submission date.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification.