University of Portsmouth
UCAS Code: B945 | Diploma of Higher Education - DipHE
Entry requirements
A level
112 points from A levels in Psychology, Psychotherapy or Sociology
Cambridge Pre-U score of 48, including a Principal Subject in Psychology, Psychotherapy or Sociology.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
English GCSE or equivalent at C and a maths GCSE or equivalent at D /GCSE English and Mathematics at grade 4 or above, or equivalent.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
25 points from the IB Diploma, to include 3 Higher Level subjects, including Psychology, Psychotherapy or Sociology.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
To include Psychology, Psychotherapy or Sociology at Higher level.
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
Must be in a relevant subject.
Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)
Must be in a relevant subject.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Must be in a relevant subject.
112 Tariff points from 3 Advanced Highers, in Psychology, Psychotherapy or Sociology.
UCAS Tariff
Students with A levels in Psychology, Psychotherapy or Sociology (112 UCAS points) will be considered on an individual basis subject to a successful interview and interpersonal skills role-play.
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
About this course
If you have a background in counselling or psychology and want to gain the practical knowledge and interpersonal skills you need to pursue a career as a humanistic therapist, this Humanistic Counselling DipHE is ideal.
Humanistic therapy focuses on the whole person. Humanistic counselling encourages people to think about their feelings and take responsibility for their actions. It focuses on helping them reach their potential rather than highlighting their problems.
In year 1, you'll develop foundational counselling skills and explore all the counselling approaches available to practitioners, including gestalt counselling and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT).
In your second year, you'll focus on developing the practical skills you need as a humanistic counsellor, putting what you learn into practice by conducting 100 hours of supervised counselling. You'll also learn about mental health issues and develop skills you need to work with different types of clients.
When you complete the course, you could top up your diploma to a Bachelor's degree. You could also work as a humanistic counsellor in areas such as education, the police service, the prison service and the voluntary sector.
**Alternative courses**
This course shares the same 1st year modules as our DipHE Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and DipHE Gestalt Counselling.
It's simple to switch courses at the end of year 1 if you change your mind about which counselling specialism to study.
**Location**
This course takes place at South Hampshire College Group - Eastleigh Campus. While studying here, you can access the University's student support services and community including study support, the Students’ Union and our library's online resources.
**What you'll experience**
On this course you'll:
- Learn from experienced, industry-trained staff who've worked in organisations or run their own private practices
- Study modules that give you a strong foundation for your studies and future career, covering topics including counselling skills, ethics, counselling theory and professional skills and development
- Focus on developing specialist humanistic counselling skills and knowledge in year 2
- Apply your knowledge and skills with at least 100 hours of supervised counselling on a placement in the community
- Build a foundation to help work towards a further professional accreditation with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) following completion of the course
- Learn research skills, which you can apply in your career and in degree-level study after the course
- Develop transferable skills you can apply in all aspects of your life and career in areas such as problem solving, communication, group working, planning, effective feedback and IT
- Study at South Hampshire College Group - Eastleigh Campus with access to University of Portsmouth support and services
- Apply for membership of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and get access to member resources including journal subscriptions, free courses and job boards
**Careers and opportunities**
Humanistic counselling can help people deal with difficulties including anxiety, depression, stress, self-confidence issues, bereavement, relationship difficulties or family problems.
Public, private and charity sector settings you could work in after the course include:
- Education
- Alcohol and drug services
- Eating disorder services
- Mental health services
- GPs
- Police and prison services
You could also top-up your diploma to a Bachelor's degree on our BSc (Hons) Humanistic Counselling top-up course.
When you complete the course successfully, you can sit the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Certificate of Proficiency to become a registered member of the BACP.
Modules
Year 1:
Core modules in this year include:
- Development of Counselling Skills (40 credits)
- Developments in Counselling Theory (40 credits)
- Personal Development (20 credits)
- Professional Issues for the Counselling Practitioner (20 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year.
Year 2:
Core modules in this year include:
- Counselling Specific Clients' Groups (20 credits)
- Humanistic Counselling Skills (20 credits)
- Humanistic Counselling Theory (20 credits)
- Introduction to Research Methodologies (20 credits)
- Mental Health Issues (20 credits)
- Professional Development (20 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year.
Changes to course content:
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, course content is revised and regularly reviewed. This may result in changes being made in order to reflect developments in research, learning from practice and changes in policy at both national and local levels.
Assessment methods
On this counselling diploma, you'll be assessed through:
Essays
Live skills assessments (role play scenarios)
Individual and group presentations
Portfolios of evidence
Case studies
Personal learning journals
Professional requirements (a 'Fitness to Practice' assessment)
Supervised work-based learning
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
Feedback is central to this course. You'll get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future, as well as on your application for the 'Fitness to Practice' assessment. You'll also practice giving feedback during live skills assessments, where you'll receive feedback from your peers, as well as the assessment tutor.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
South Hampshire College Group - Eastleigh Campus
Faculty of Science and Health
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£29k
£24k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
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It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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