Graduate Diploma
Our Graduate Diploma of Counselling will provide you with essential knowledge and skills in counselling required to effectively and compassionately support individuals with mild or moderate mental health problems and normal developmental issues. You will undertake 100 hours of valuable counselling placement during your course which will equip you with practical counselling experience and enable you to develop relationships that will support your future employability.
Want to enter a career in counselling and be equipped to support the mental health of individuals?
The Graduate Diploma of Counselling will be a perfect fit for you if you've considered a career related to counselling or would like to develop counselling expertise to support your current role and expand your career opportunities (i.e. support workers, social workers, teachers, student advisors, nurses, supervisors, managers, doctors, occupational therapists etc.).
The course has a particular focus on telecounselling and counselling diversity, both of which are of increasing importance and experiencing higher demand in Australia and globally. As a graduate you will be armed with practical knowledge and expertise relating to counselling micro-skills, mental health issues, professional practice issues, human development, multicultural counselling, counselling therapies and ethics.
By studying counselling with Deakin, you will be joining a university ranked well above world standard for our Psychology and Cognitive Sciences research.*
*Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) 2018
The course has been designed to foster practical counselling skills that can be applied in-person, over the phone or online via videoconference. There is a growing demand for these skills across a range of occupations related to mental health, disability, allied health and social support services with an expected very strong increase in demand over the next five years.*
As a counsellor you will provide advice and information on relationships, social, educational, occupational and a range of other every-day life difficulties. You will develop rapport and a healthy therapeutic relationship with people to help them to identify and define their emotional issues through a range of therapies including cognitive behaviour therapy, interpersonal therapy and other talking therapies.
The course has been designed to meet the requirements of the Australian Counselling Association, so you will be eligible for membership upon graduation, increasing opportunities for employment.
*Australian Government Job Outlook
To complete the Graduate Diploma of Counselling, students must attain 8 credit points. The course is structured in two parts:
1. Foundations of Counselling (4 credit points)
2. Fundamentals of Counselling (4 credit points)
Depending upon prior qualifications and/or experience, you may receive credit for the Foundations of Counselling units.
All commencing Faculty of Health Undergraduate and Postgraduate course work students are required to complete DAI001 Academic Integrity Module (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first trimester of study.
You can complete the 8 units in any order, though you must complete two essential units that have been designed to prepare you with the knowledge and skills to begin placement (HPY730 Principles of Counselling and Telehealth; HPY734 Ethical and Legal Issues in Counselling), before undertaking HPY737 Counselling Placement 1. Although, you could begin sourcing a placement earlier.
Course completed over 2 trimesters of full-time study (Trimester 1 intake only) or 3 to 4 trimesters of part-time study.
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.