Diploma of Counselling by Open Colleges is the perfect course for anyone looking to kickstart your career in Counselling. This course is a nationally recognised qualification.
A counsellor is a trained professional who provides guidance and support to people experiencing emotional or psychological challenges, such as anxiety, depression, addiction, grief, or difficult relationships. Unlike other therapists, counsellors cannot prescribe medication. Their main role is to help clients talk through their difficulties and encourage them to bring about positive change and healing through the use of various techniques and modalities.
Counselling could be the right career if you love helping people and are passionate about creating positive change in people’s lives. Your career as a counsellor would involve listening to people, encouraging them to discuss their feelings, and suggesting solutions.
The main role of a counsellor is to provide objective emotional and psychological support to people experiencing various difficulties in their lives. These may be in relation to career, relationship, stress, health, crisis, or drug addiction. On any given day, a counsellor may come across clients with unique problems that require personalised and careful attention.
Their primary duties include:
There are many different counselling courses available in Australia. The field of counselling is diverse and you can specialise in a field that appeals to your interests and skill level. The best counselling course will be one that targets the particular area of counselling that you want to work in. For example, you may choose to become a:
Whichever area you choose to specialise in, counselling is a rewarding career. However, it’s important to complete a counselling course that equips you with essential skills and knowledge so you can offer the best services to those in need. The best counselling courses in Australia are:
This nationally recognised qualification covers various techniques and skills required to serve your clients efficiently and professionally, including:
A minimum work placement of 160 hours is included in the course. This prepares you with practical real-life experience so you can start your counselling journey with confidence.
After the Diploma of Counselling you can apply for jobs like Case Worker, Counsellor, or Intake Counsellor.
If you want to work with people struggling with drug addiction or substance abuse, this is the best counselling course for you. You will be equipped with all the necessary skills to change lives by helping people through their struggles with alcohol and drugs, including:
A mandatory work placement of 120 hours is included in this course, allowing you to gain valuable real-world experience before embarking on your drug and alcohol counselling career.
After the Certificate IV in Alcohol and Other Drugs you can apply for job roles like Detoxification Worker, Community Support Worker, Drug and Alcohol Worker, Outreach Worker, and more.
The Certificate IV in Mental Health prepares you with the essential skills required to provide recovery-oriented mental health services. It’s the ideal course for those entering the community services sector with an interest in promoting mental health. You will learn valuable skills such as:
The course includes a 120 hour work placement to help you develop your practical skills in a real community setting.
After completing the Certificate IV in Mental Health, you can apply for roles like Community Support Worker, Mental Health Intake Officer, Mental Health Outreach Worker, or Community Rehabilitation and Support Worker.
According to current resources, the average annual salary for a counsellor in Australia is $94,489, or $48.46 per hour. Entry-level counsellors can earn $84,631 while more experienced positions can offer up to $114,745 per year.
This is an example of a career pathway to becoming a counsellor in Australia:
Counsellors play an important role in promoting happiness and wellbeing in their clients by helping them work through various challenges. To be effective in their roles and provide a high degree of support, they’re required to have specific skills and attitude. These include:
Good communication is essential for a counsellor, as counselling is a form of ‘talk therapy’. You must be able to communicate your thoughts and explain concepts to clients clearly and easily. It’s also important to be able to listen carefully and make clients feel heard and understood.
This is more of an attribute than a skill, but it’s vital for counsellors to display objectivity and be non-judgemental in all their sessions. Counsellors accept people for who they are and in their existing condition without judging them for their choices.
Empathy is an important skill for clients. This means you can feel what your clients are going through. This helps foster compassion and understanding and allows clients to feel understood.
As counsellors exist to assist clients in working through their issues, problem-solving is essential. It allows you to develop strategies to help clients overcome their problems and choose the right modality to serve their unique needs.
Counselling is an extremely rewarding job, but it can also be very challenging for some people. It is an extremely emotionally demanding job and you must have the patience, compassion, and emotional space to help your clients navigate through crisis, trauma, or distress. It’s important for counsellors to know how to manage the emotional toll of the work they do and stop it from affecting their life outside of work.
It’s essential to take a counselling course as it prepares you with all the essential skills and knowledge to offer personalised, effective care to your clients. You will learn how to work with people from various diverse backgrounds, how to manage crisis and stressful situations, how to apply different counselling theories, and help people navigate mental health issues.
Yes! Online study is the best way to study counselling. There are many benefits to online counselling courses, including:
Counselling is such a rewarding career that has a positive impact on people’s lives. If you are passionate about helping create a better world, then counselling is an excellent career for you.
There are many online counselling courses available in Australia that will prepare you to be a professional counsellor. Browse these courses on our website and study online as soon as tomorrow!
Learn more about Counselling Courses in your area.