Level 5 Diploma in counselling children aged 4-11

We are delighted to announce that our Level 5 CPCAB Accredited Diploma in Counselling Children Aged 4-11 will commence this October 2024!

About this course

This robust Level 5 Diploma is for counsellors who hold a Level 4 or above counselling qualification and would like to specialise in counselling children aged 4-11.

This Level 5 Diploma will equip you in delivering specialised counselling working with younger children. With the demand and need for more qualified child counsellors, this robust qualification will allow you to work in a number of settings with children, providing much needed and specialist support. Counselling children of this age is working at the cutting edge of child development and you can make a huge difference to the mental health outcomes for children.

The Diploma runs once a month on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and is a face-to-face training. The course will run once a month from October 2024 to May 2025 .

The course will be hosted at Langley Therapy & Training in Soulbury (LU7 0JL).

Candidate requirements

Interview and references are required. Due to the high demand for our course, you will be interviewed for a place on the course. We ask that you have an up-to-date DBS check and that you can supply two reference contacts, one must be from a previous Counselling Tutor at Level 4. You must hold a minimum Level 4 Diploma in Counselling that included at least 20 hours of personal therapy and a minimum of 100 client hours.

Other course requirements - in addition to course work

You will be required to undertake a placement in a junior school in order to complete 70 hours of voluntary child counselling over the duration of the course. This can be a school within your local area or if you reside in our locality we can provide the details of several schools which we partner with. Schools will be required to meet our placement specifications to ensure you are supported appropriately.

You will also require a minimum of 1.5 hours of supervision per month with a supervisor who has experience in counselling children.

What you will learn

Working safely, legally and ethically with children. Consider the differences in this client group from supporting teens or adults. The course aligns with the BACP & NCPS core competencies in counselling children.

You will deepen your knowledge in: 

• Skills required when working with children of differing ages, developmental stages backgrounds and communication styles.
• Key professional issues concerning risk factors, safeguarding responses and professional, ethical and legal frameworks relevant to this area of work.
• The contextual and organisational factors in terms of delivering counselling and psychotherapy services, e.g., multi-disciplinary settings, school counselling, voluntary/third sector agencies, and statutory services.
• The mental health needs of children, how mental health difficulties can emerge and present in children.
• Working in the counselling relationship with key issues that impact children.
• Understand confidentiality when working with disclosures and safeguarding.
• Understand how to work with other professionals and agencies as part of safeguarding children
• Application of theory, research and theoretical developmental models.
• Develop self-awareness when counselling children.
• You will consider the application of theories and their drawbacks.
• You will apply theory to self and understand attachment patterns, how this impacts your work and ways of relating.
• You will explore creative ways of working therapeutically with children.
• Use of theory and skills to facilitate a therapeutic relationship with children.
• You will learn how to use yourself in the therapeutic relationship and apply theory.
• You will consider self-care with this client group and needs in your own development.
• Learning to work with challenges, boundaries, conflicts and ruptures in the counselling relationship.
• Learning how to work with parents, carers, schools and agencies
• Work with diversity and support children in different support structures.
• Understand the factors and economic/societal factors affecting children and their mental health.
• You will consider mental health presentations in children.
  learning how to work with parents, carers, schools and agencies. understand and apply an assessment framework. contracting and confidentiality.
• Barriers to accessing support and referral needs.
• Manage own effectiveness and development in counselling children.
• Effective use of supervision.
• Limits of competency and utilising other professionals and supporting parents/carers.
• Managing conflicts of interest.
• Endings and transitions in counselling children.

Course dates and timings

The course will be run in chapters – Friday, Saturday, Sunday from 10am to 4.30pm approximately once per month excluding school holidays, from October 2024 to May 2025. There will be a total of seven Chapters.

This year October 2024- May 2025 the dates are as follows :

Days are 10.00am- 4.30pm

• Fri, Sat and Sun - 4/5/6 Oct 2024
• Fri, Sat and Sun - 15/16/17 Nov 2024
• Fri, Sat and Sun - 13/14/15 Dec 2024
• Fri, Sat and Sun - 17/18/19 Jan 2025
• Fri, Sat and Sun - 14/15/16 Feb 2025
• Fri, Sat and Sun - 14/15/16 March 2025
• Fri, Sat and Sun - 16/17/18 May 2025

Course costs

Course fee 24/25 -£2,700 which includes your CPCAB certification costing £189.

We require a £500 deposit to secure your place. We offer a 5% discount if paid in full.

You can choose to pay in full or monthly instalments. On receipt of the £500 deposit, monthly fees commence from August 2024 for 10 months equalling £220 per month.

Please don’t delay in sourcing an application form which you can source via our website.

Course interviews will be during June, July and August 2024.

We require a minimum of 10 candidates to run the course, if for any reason the course cannot proceed you will be refunded your deposit.