Counsellor Course Guide

Explore the possibilities….

40 courses covering a variety of mental health topics. The following is a comprehensive list of courses that can be taken individually or applied to the Diploma and Certificate programs.

If you are a practicing mental health counsellor, you may apply any of the individual courses toward credits for Professional Development.
See the course catalogue for detailed information about program requirements, and course descriptions.

AAR-400 Addictions & Recovery

Discussion Topics: Understanding the effects, symptoms, and types of addictive substances, effective treatment options, and community resources.

Skills: You’ll learn to identify risk of substance abuse and addictive behaviours, family intervention, provide support for the client who is entering residential treatment. Relapse prevention. (Course Details)

ACS I-400 Applied Counselling Skills I – Assessment and Listening

This course is the first of a series of three modules directed at the application of clinical counselling skills, which allows students to practice counselling skills with other students in the class. Skill development will focus on: the assessment interview, building safety and therapeutic relationship, using reflective listening skills, creating a treatment plan, and setting goals based on person centered theory. (This course is designed as an exercise in skill development, and not meant to be a substitute for therapy. Students with serious personal issues are encouraged to seek professional counselling outside of the school program). (Course Details)

ACS II-400 Applied Counselling Skills II – Case Management, Goals and Interventions

This course is the second in a series of three modules focused on the application of clinical counselling skills, which allows students to practice and deepen their counselling skills. Under supervision of the instructor, students apply counselling interventions to problems presented by volunteer “clients”. Students practice the assessment interview, building safety and therapeutic relationship, reflective listening & empathy, creating a treatment plan, setting goals, maintaining case files and progress notes. (Just a reminder-- this course is designed as an exercise in skill development, and not meant to be a substitute for therapy. Students with serious personal issues are encouraged to seek professional counselling outside of the school program). (Course Details)

ACS III-400 Applied Counselling Skills III – Integrative Approach

This course is the last of three modules directed at the application of clinical counselling skills, which allows students to develop and implement various counselling techniques, using a combination of personality theories learned throughout the program. Students apply the integrated counselling approach to the assessment interview, building safety and deepening the therapeutic relationship, treatment plan, goal setting, maintaining case files and progress notes. Ethical guidelines and the need for each counsellor to implement a personal wellness plan will be stressed. (Just a reminder-- this course is designed as an exercise in skill development, and not meant to be a substitute for therapy. Students with serious personal issues are encouraged to seek professional counselling outside of the school program). (Course Details)

ACS-IV-400 Applied Counselling Skills IV ELECTIVE

Discussion Topics: Is an elective course available to students for professional development. The course focuses on case management, documentation, professional collaboration, referrals, and case conferencing. Students will integrate a variety of counselling techniques into one approach which reflects the student’s personality style, values, and choice of therapeutic modality.
Skills: You’ll apply the assessment you developed in the third module of applied counselling skills, and concepts and procedures from the entire cycle of practice management to in-depth case studies. ( Course Details )

ACT-600 Advanced Couples Therapy I & II, advanced ELECTIVE

Discussion topics: In depth exploration of cognitive, emotional and behavioral problems within the context of a couple’s relationship. A wide selection of videos demonstrate evidence-based theories, concepts and techniques applicable to the assessment and treatment phases of couple therapy.

Skills: Students learn and practice techniques geared to helping heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual couples resolve interpersonal conflicts resulting from maladaptive communication patterns learned from original family systems. Students also develop assessment tools and outcome criteria. (Course Details)

ADV-400 Abuse, Trauma, and Domestic Violence

Discussion Topics: Various types of trauma, sexual and physical abuse, violent crime, and natural disasters. Assessment tools and treatment strategies symptoms affecting individuals and family relationships; secondary victimization; and ethical and legal reporting requirements.

Skills: You’ll learn counselling and interviewing techniques to assess for scope of practice; how to build safety and provide support; identify symptoms of trauma, PTSD, abuse and/or domestic violence; and how to develop primary, secondary and tertiary intervention plans.

APD-400 Assessment of Psychological Disorders

Discussion Topics: How to identify and classify symptoms of psychiatric disorders identified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel (DSM IV-TR) in order to remain within the counsellor’s scope of practice.

Skills: You’ll learn interview techniques and skills to identify symptoms which require a referral to a specialist; develop treatment plans, and establish goals. (Course Details)

ASD-400 Advanced Skill Development/Final Project (ELECTIVE)

The purpose of the Advanced Skill Development/Final Project is to allow students to work in a mentored position while demonstrating their abilities to apply concepts, theories, and skills to counselling-related situations. As part of this on-the-job experience, students will research and develop a project which has practical application to the work setting. In order to enroll in this course, students must first organize a mentored position in one of the following:
--Administrative Assistant- administrative experience in a counselling-related agency or business.
--Counselling Assistant- job shadowing a professional counsellor.
--Course Facilitation Assistant to an instructor in a counselling-related education program.
( Course Details )

APT-400 Application of Personality Theories

Discussion Topics: Examine the major theories of personality development and the application of the related counselling techniques and treatment approaches; assessment procedures, goal setting, and outcome measures to monitor the effects of treatment.

Skills: You will learn and practice specific skills from each personality theory. Combining your knowledge of the various theories, you’ll develop your own unique counselling style. ( Course Details )

ATC-400 Applied Thesis Course ELECTIVE

At the completion of all required courses for the Diploma and Certificate programs, students have the option to incorporate the concepts and skills learned throughout the program into a comprehensive, career-related final project. This written project serves as a measure of the student’s level of competency in the area of clinical interest, and will be evaluated by the instructor for practical relevance and professionalism. Students choose from a list of topics relevant to their career direction. ( Course Details )

CBC I-400 Community-Based Counselling Part I ELECTIVE

Discussion Topics: This two part course covers the role of the community counsellor in various types of community settings, outreach programs, cultural diversity, special-needs populations, funding, and networking.

Skills: You will learn to identify your managerial strengths which are part of the skill set that will benefit you in finding employment with a mental health agency. Additional job related skills learned in this course include: developing community outreach programs, becoming a “change agent” to influence public policy, advocating for clients, and the application of the community-based counselling theory in an actual agency setting. ( Course Details )

CBC II-400 Community-Based Counselling Part II ELECTIVE

Pre-requisite: CBC-I

CCP-600 Challenges of Clinical Practice, I & II advanced ELECTIVE

Pre-requisite: Introduction to Applied Psychology and Ethics or equivalent.

Discussion topics: the importance of incorporating ethics, multiculturalism, social responsibility, researched outcomes, and professional writing skills into the clinical practice of psychotherapy.

Skills: You’ll discover personal insights by completing a series of self-awareness exercises related to the challenges of becoming a therapist: explore your own hopes, fears, and expectations to help build a personally satisfying career plan, and counter the potential for burnout. Part II of this course focuses on refining your research and writing skills; design a thesis project based on APA guidelines; establish ‘evidence-based’ support for your unique approach to the practice of psychotherapy. (Course Details)

CPD I-400 Career Planning & Development Part I ELECTIVE

Discussion Topics: The major theories used by career counsellors in the assessment interview and treatment planning. Exposure to the Holland Personality Inventory and other tests used to determine career direction.

Skills: You will learn to conduct assessment interviews which incorporate the major career counselling theories. You will practice evaluating this information by writing a treatment plan for yourself and for a volunteer client. ( Course Details )

CPD II-400 Career Planning & Development Part II ELECTIVE

Pre-requisite: CPD-I

Discussion Topics: The major theories used by career counsellors in the assessment interview and treatment planning. Exposure to the Holland Personality Inventory and other tests used to determine career direction.

CSE-400 Conflict, Suicide & Emergency Interventions

Discussion Topics: Understanding dynamics in domestic violence, conflict, trauma debriefing, crisis management, and suicide intervention.

Skills: You’ll learn techniques useful in diffusing anger, assessing the degree of suicidal and homicidal risk, suicide contracting; plus counselling victims of crime and other types of trauma. (Course Details)

CSI-400 Culture, Sex and Intimacy ELECTIVE

Prerequisite: UHS-400
Culture, Sex and Intimacy (CSI-400), the second course in the series focuses on culture influences intimacy in relationships.

Discussion topics: Students learn how cultural influences, styles of communication, and family background contributes to the level of intimacy and resulting sexual problems in straight, gay, lesbian and bisexual relationships.

Skills: Students learn how to- identify and resolve cultural influences, communication, and irrational beliefs that inhibit intimacy in straight, gay, lesbian and bisexual relationships; conduct appropriate assessment procedures and counseling techniques to restructure the ‘rules’ of the relationship specific to sex and intimacy issues. (Course Details)

CYF-400 Collaborative Youth and Family Counselling

The Collaborative Youth and Family Counselling course is designed for students who wish to develop proficiency in the use of a collaborative approach to assessing and treating behavioral and emotions problems in children and adolescents, and addressing parental concerns. (Course Details)

ECD-400 Ethics and Career Development ELECTIVE

Discussion Topics: Understanding professional ethics, application of ethics, and ethical dilemmas. Self-care, professional skill development, career opportunities, and developing a private practice.

Skills: Students will begin to learn how to approach ethical decision making, when and how to seek out clinical supervision, how to gauge self-health, learn the warning signs of burn-out, and how to develop and maintain a healthy perspective on a career in the helping professions. ( Course Details )

ETP-600 Evidence-based Treatment and Psychopharmacology, I & II advanced ELECTIVE

Pre-requisite: Assessment of Psychological Disorders, APD-400, or equivalent.

Discussion topics: Identify clusters of symptoms relating to DSM diagnostic criteria; case management, report writing, and advanced treatment strategies for DSM disorders.

Skills: You’ll learn how to develop systematic treatment plans and make referrals for medication evaluation based on factors related to psychopharmacology; incorporate comprehensive factors including matching clients’ needs with therapists’ characteristics into evidence-based treatment plans for DSM disorders. (Course Details)

GDW-400 Group Dynamics & Workshop Design

Discussion Topics: The processes and working stages relating to four categories of groups including: task groups, psycho-educational groups (also called workshops or seminars), support groups, and counselling groups; the uses for various types of group counselling in community agencies as well as private practice.

Skills: You will learn to identify the stages of group dynamics and use appropriate techniques for each stage. You will practice leading or co-leading at least one type of group. By understanding when and why to apply the appropriate techniques, students will be prepared to develop their own style in facilitating group work. In addition you will learn the concepts involved in the proposal, design, and presentation of psycho-educational workshops. (Course Details)

IAP-400 Introduction to Applied Psychology & Ethics

Discussion Topics: Initial stages of the counselling relationship, ethical considerations, characteristics of effective counsellors.

Skills: In this course you learn basic interview and assessment procedures, listening skills, ways to build trust and safety, overcome client’s resistance, and ethical decision making. (Course Details)

ICC-400 Introduction to Couples’ Counselling

Discussion Topics: Problems commonly reported in a couples’ relationship. Various approaches used to evaluate a couple’s interpersonal processes. Impact of cultural and personal variables from original family systems on current marriage dynamics.

Skills: You will learn to use various techniques commonly used in couple counselling, i.e., genogram, empathic listening, problem solving. (Course Details)

ICP-600 Introduction to Clinical Psychopharmacology

Pre-requisite: APD-400 or equivalent

Discussion Topics: Identify scope of practice; recognize clusters of symptoms related to DSM diagnostic criteria; when and how to request medication evaluation and other correspondence with professional colleagues.

Skills: You’ll learn to recognize symptoms related to psychopharmacology; formulate speculative diagnoses and case studies; compose referral letters for medication evaluation and other factors related to psychotropic medication. (Course Details)

ITC-400 Introduction to Cinematherapy ELECTIVE

Discussion Topics: The four-step technique, theory, and intervention skills necessary to develop and facilitate a counselling program; contemporary films as a therapeutic intervention; treatment of various mental health issues relating to clients’ presenting concerns; therapeutic settings including psycho-educational workshops, counselling groups, individuals, and couples counselling.

Skills: You will learn to choose therapeutically appropriate films; facilitate discussion of the characters and events in the film using basic counselling skills; identify irrational beliefs, family dynamics, maladaptive life patterns, addiction and other symptoms depicted in the film that relate to clients’ presenting problem; develop outcome measures and needs assessment to test the efficacy of the therapy process. ( Course Details )

LSC-400 Life Skills Coaching ELECTIVE

Discussion Topics: Theories and concepts from the field of Life Skills Coaching applied to a wide variety of personal and business-related situations. How Life Coaching differs from to professional counselling.

Skills: You will learn the roles taken by Life Coaches including business consulting, and how to apply specific skills to interviewing, problem clarification, goal setting, education, and advising clients in a variety of specific problem situations. ( Course Details )

MCC-400 Multi-Cultural Competence ELECTIVE

Discussion Topics: The importance of understanding cultural diversity related to the religion, race, gender, socio-economic class, and sexual preference of the client will be addressed.

Skills: You will learn to administer a cultural assessment to target areas of diversity. You will explore your own cultural roots, and uncover any cultural biases which impact your ability to practice as a culturally sensitive and competent counsellor. (Course Details)

MPD-400 Milestones in Psychosocial Development

Discussion Topics: Chronological stages relating to emotional and social developmental tasks from infancy through very old age, and the role each stage plays in personality development.

Skills: You will learn to use assessment interview to identify incomplete developmental tasks from earlier stages that relate to clients’ current presenting problem, and include this information in treatment planning. You will investigate your own developmental history and chart milestones which played significant roles in your personal development. (Course Details)

PCE-200 Introduction to Professional Counselling and Ethics

Discussion Topics: Ethical considerations and characteristics of effective counsellors.

Skills: You will learn how ethical principles influence clinical intake assessment interviews and the development of therapeutic relationships, and the core characteristics of an effective counsellor. (Course Details)

POG-400 Psychology of Grief

Discussion Topics: Major theories of loss from a psychological perspective; recognizing symptoms of grief; assessing complicating factors leading to unresolved grief; types of complicated grief reactions, and appropriate counselling techniques for each; special types of losses.

Skills: You will learn assessment procedures, normalizing techniques, treatment planning, and interventions related to a wide variety of grief related situations. Techniques for working with individuals, children, adolescents, couples, families, and groups will be demonstrated. You will develop the therapeutic skills necessary to recognize and treat complicated grief reactions, and to support clients through the various stages of the normal grief process. (Course Details)

POL-400 Psychology of Learning ELECTIVE

Discussion topics: The Psychology of Learning course is intended to introduce the counsellor to the resources and protocol for determining a client’s preferred processing modality, as well as how factors like cognitive developmental stages, executive skill development, temperament, birth order, and IQ all impact the learning process. The course also provides the information, theories and counselling techniques to assess and support children, youth and parents struggling with deficits in basic learning skills.

Skills: The aim is to provide students with knowledge related to the interpretation, and assessment of developmental deficits and strengths in the context of learning. Students will learn how to recognize learning and temperament mismatches in both an educational context and family system; and how to apply appropriate counselling interventions for children, teens, and parents. ( Course Details )

PPR-400 Probation, Parole & Issues in Rehabilitation

Discussion topics: Assessment procedures, treatment planning, and intervention techniques will be discussed and demonstrated. Students will apply these concepts and techniques to a variety of justice related circumstances.

Skills: The general aim of this course is to provide students with knowledge related to the assessment, management and rehabilitation of clients in contact with the justice system. Opportunities will be provided for students to develop therapeutic skills for assisting clients to move through process of restorative justice, rehabilitation, and re-integration into society. ( Course Details )

SBC-400 Spiritual / Faith-Based Counselling ELECTIVE

Discussion Topics: Integrating spiritual and religious beliefs and concepts (such as Evil and Suffering) into the counselling process.

Skills: You will learn to use interview skills, discussion, and assessment forms to clarify spiritual beliefs relating to presenting problem, how to set counselling goals, and how to incorporate the basis of the 12 Step Programs with religious beliefs. You will explore your own belief system as it relates to your role as a spiritual or pastoral counsellor. ( Course Details )

SFC-400 Solution Focused Counselling ELECTIVE

Discussion Topics: Solution-focused model and cognitive-behavioural techniques applied to a wide variety of brief term counselling situations, common disorders, and outcome data.

Skills: You will learn to apply solution-focused techniques to the initial interview, treatment planning, and counselling process with individuals, children, adolescents, couples, and families. You will practice solution-focused skills during role play exercises that can readily applied to common disorders found in counselling situations. ( Course Details )

SIC-400 Sex and Intimacy Counselling ELECTIVE

Pre-requisite: UHS-400
Sex and Intimacy Counselling, (SIC-400), the third course in the series focuses on building intimacy in relationships.

Discussion topics: focus on the latest theory and methods used to assist couples and/or individuals who are experiencing difficulties related to sexuality and intimacy. Treatment of these types of presenting complaints is found to be more effective when the counsellor maintains this dual focus.

Skills: focus on assessing symptoms of sexual dysfunction related to intimacy issues, and applying the appropriate treatment techniques according to research-based theories. (Course Details)

TDA-400 Treatments for Depression & Anxiety Disorders

Discussion Topics: Practical information and cognitive-behavioural techniques that can be readily applied to a wide variety of anxiety and depression disorders typically found in brief-term counselling situations.

Skills: You will learn to apply the cognitive-behavioural model to interviewing, assessment, goal setting, contracting, and treatment of symptoms related to depression and anxiety in adults, children, and adolescents. (Course Details)

TPP-600 Theory and Practice of Psychotherapy, I & II advanced ELECTIVE

Pre-requisite: Applied Counselling Skills, ACSI-400, or equivalent.

Discussion topics: An overview of advanced psychotherapeutic techniques and related theories which comprise the foundation of the mental health profession. A series of training videos demonstrate the major evidence-based psychotherapeutic approaches.

Skills: You’ll learn to implement key factors in treatment planning, goal setting and choice of therapeutic approach; refine your therapeutic orientation; and practice techniques related to the psychotherapeutic modalities. (Course Details)

TSD-400 Treatments for Sexual Dysfunction ELECTIVE

Pre-requisite: UHS-400 and SIC-400
Treatments for Sexual Dysfunction (TSD-400), the fourth course in the series focuses on theories and techniques used to alleviate specific problems related to arousal and sexual function.

Discussion topics: Insight oriented counseling theories, coaching, and cognitive behavioral techniques; discussion of couples’ dynamics specific to intimacy and healthy sexual functioning.

Skills: Students learn techniques to address the assessment and treatment of the most common types of sexual dysfunctions: sexual arousal difficulties for men and women, (previously referred to as impotence for men, and frigidity for women); female orgastic dysfunction, vaginismus; difficulty achieving or sustaining erections; retarded ejaculation and premature ejaculation. (Course Details)

UHS-400 Understanding Human Sexuality ELECTIVE

Understanding Human Sexuality (UHS-400), the first course in this 4 part series focuses on human sexuality.

Discussion topics: Students will gain a basic understanding of physical anatomy as it relates to sexual response; gender differences; what’s ‘normal’ in terms of sexual desire and behavior.

Skills: Treatment of sexual complaints requires a dual focus on both sexuality and intimacy. Students will learn how to- take a sexual history; chart stages of sexual development; apply general information related to sexual health; identify counter-transference issues.
(Assessment to determine scope of practice is emphasized throughout the program. Counselors are trained to assist couples and/or individuals who are experiencing mild to moderate difficulties related to sexual dysfunction and intimacy. Clients who manifest symptoms outside the student’s scope of practice must be referred to the appropriate specialist.) (Course Details)

YFC-400 Youth & Family Counselling

Discussion Topics: The focus is on a child-centered, family approach for counselling children and adolescents, emphasizing the interaction between family members during the counselling process.

Skills: You’ll learn practical information and skills that can readily apply to counselling youth and families including: assessment of problems related to unmet emotional needs and developmental delays; trust building, treatment planning, parenting strategies, play therapy, and art therapy. (Course Details)

View / Download our KCPC Course Catalogue (PDF).