Description

This 30-hour course provides an intensive introduction to the basic concepts, ethical and clinical knowledge and skills needed for telephone and online counselling. This course will be strictly online and all that is needed is knowledge and exposure to basic skills in counselling.

Rationale

The course in telephone and online counselling is designed for trainee and professional counsellors and other mental health professionals to enable them to counsel clients online or by telephone in the context of growing opportunities for distance counselling.

Objectives

As a result of taking this course, participants should be able to:

1. Explain the nature of telephone and online counselling and their
   differences from face-to face counselling
2. Discuss the benefits and challenges of telephone and online counselling
3. Review basic counselling skills such as active listening, attending, asking questions, reflection, challenging and paraphrasing and goal setting
4. Discuss ethical and legal considerations associated with telephone and online counselling including informed consent, establishing ground rules and boundaries, managing risks.
5. Describe the core skills needed for getting started in telephone and online counselling, the measures of assessment, contacting clients, communicating with clients and providing clients with supplementary materials.
6. Outline telephone and e-counselling skills including stages, process, micro skills, problems-solving in the development of the therapeutic relationship
7. Practice core skills including micro skills, developing informed Added: religious functions such as church socials, communion service, auxiliary group consent, managing boundaries, the use of non-verbal and verbal communication and developing counsellor-client relationship in pairs on the telephone and via Zoom/Skype.