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This online qualification is a good introduction to counselling skills. It is important to note that it does not give you the license to practice as a counsellor. 

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This online qualification is a good introduction to counselling skills. It is important to note that it does not give you the license to practice as a counsellor. 

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This Padlet was updated on 19/06/2025. It has sources from the course learning materials and additional sources to enhance your professional development. 

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This Padlet was updated on 19/06/2025. It has sources from the course learning materials and additional sources to enhance your professional development. 

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What to expect in your first therapy session

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News from BACP | Watch BACP member Dr Mish Seabrook talk about what happens the first time you meet your therapist

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When a client and therapist are engaged in another relationship or interaction outside of the role of therapist and client, this is known as a dual relationship. Dual relationships can manifest in a number of ways:

A family/friend connection

A business relationship

Online interaction, e.g. social media

A collegial relationship

Neighbours

Same religious congregation, shared group, hobby or club

The BACP ethical framework states:

"...any dual or multiple relationships will be avoided where the risks of harm to the client outweigh any benefits to the client." (BACP, 2018).

This guidance asks that we use sound ethical decision-making in any situation where dual relationships might present themselves, and that we proceed with caution, avoiding dual relationships wherever possible. It is important to use supervision when there is a possibility of a dual relationship, and ethical bodies, including the BACP will also offer advice and guidance to their members.

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Boundaries in Counselling * Counselling Tutor

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Boundaries in Counselling What are Boundaries in Counselling Boundaries are the perimeters of the therapeutic relationship - the frame within which the work takes place. Clear boundaries promote trust in the practitioner and provide clarity about the purpose and nature of the relationship. All interpersonal relationships have boundaries, often unspoken, which are mutually understood limitations...

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Termination in Therapy: The Art of Gently Letting Clients Go

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This article examines how to plan for termination in therapy.

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The Psychodynamic Approach to Counselling • Counselling Tutor

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The psychodynamic approach to counselling is a form of psychotherapy with its roots in traditional psychoanalysis which was pioneered by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud as a clinical method for treating psychopathology, a term meaning mental disorders.

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Person-centred counselling is one of the humanistic modalities or approaches. It was founded in the 1940s by the American psychologist Carl Rogers who believed that, given the right conditions, a person can reach their full potential and become their true self, which he termed 'self-actualisation'. This actualisation process is innate and accessible to everyone.

To help you achieve self-actualisation, the person-centred therapist will offer:

unconditional positive regard (UPR) - accepting and valuing you

congruence - being honest and transparent in how they experience you and your world

empathic understanding - seeing your viewpoint as if they were you

When you're attending counselling sessions with a person-centred counsellor, you'll be encouraged to bring your own issues to the session - the counselling is led by you and not directed by the counsellor.

Many clients, with no prior knowledge of counselling, believe that the counsellor will sort their problems out for them. A person-centred counsellor will help you to explore your own issues, feelings, beliefs, behaviour, and worldview, so you can become more self-aware and achieve greater independence.

Discover your own abilities

Your therapist will help you to realise what resources and support are available to you that you can use to work through your own issues, build your self-confidence and appreciate that you always have options. They will treat you as the expert on yourself, as no-one else knows exactly what it's like to be you.

They will not judge you, no matter what you bring to the session. This helps build a trustworthy relationship in which you can feel free and supported to disclose whatever is troubling you. Eventually it will lead you to discover your own abilities and autonomy, so that you can cope with current and future problems.
If you have any comments or would like to share your story, please email us atengage@bacp.co.uk

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What is person-centred counselling? Types of therapy

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Person-centred counselling is one of the humanistic modalities or approaches. It was founded in the 1940s by the American psychologist Carl Rogers who believed that, given the right conditions, a person can reach their full potential and become their true self, which he termed 'self-actualisation'. This actualisation process is innate and accessible to everyone.

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Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that looks at your thoughts, feelings and behaviours and helps to change some of these to manage your problems.

A key part of this is identifying the negative thinking patterns that you may feel trapped in, helping you to break free from these and to feel better.

CBT focuses on equipping you with the tools to address current problems in your life and relieve the symptoms you're facing, before making links to your past and how your beliefs started.

Elaine Davies, a cognitive behavioural counsellor and BACP accredited member, says: "CBT is a model of therapy where you learn to understand your feelings and emotions about events in your life, to identify and examine the thinking patterns that are taking place and how they may impact on your behaviour.

"You and your therapist work together on understanding your thoughts and behaviours using techniques that will bring eventual change."

Some counsellors may predominantly use CBT, while others may use techniques or skills from CBT along with approaches from other models of therapy too.

What can CBT help with?

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which provides guidance for the treatment of mental ill health in the NHS, recommends CBT for anxiety, depression, panic attacks, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), health anxiety and schizophrenia. Some therapists who undergo extra training are able to use it with their clients as an early intervention for psychosis and a treatment for personality disorders.

There are also CBT interventions for people who are struggling with anger issues, sleep problems, chronic fatigue and other long-term health conditions, such as diabetes, chronic pain and cancer.

How does CBT work?

Elaine describes how CBT works as an "education on understanding thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours triggered in certain environments and situations".

CBT starts by looking at your negative automatic thoughts.

"Negative automatic thoughts can be fleeting, but disturbing when a client is distressed," says Elaine.

"Early therapy sessions help clients to identify these thoughts and look for evidence to support or dismiss them."

As therapy continues, behavioural experiments will help to test out longstanding assumptions that you may hold about yourself.

"We test different techniques. It's quite scientific in that respect," adds Elaine.

CBT also works on your core beliefs.

"Clients have held beliefs about themselves since early childhood," says Elaine. "In therapy the aim is to find evidence that doesn't support the belief and to help them build a new belief - such as moving from thinking 'I am unlovable' to 'I am loveable'."

The aim of CBT is that through the sessions, homework and practice you will find out what skills and techniques help you to have a better quality of life.

Elaine adds: "It's a collaboration; a guided discovery. As therapists we're just the facilitators."

What are the techniques used in CBT?

There are a variety of techniques used in CBT - including keeping thought records, relaxation and breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, identifying and challenging your style of thinking and behavioural experiments.

One technique is behavioural activation which looks at how you engage in certain activities, such as hobbies and socialising, and how you can increase your chances of enjoying them and getting a sense of achievement from life.

Another is exposure therapy which helps you learn to face your fears in a methodical and structured way.

How is CBT delivered?

CBT can be delivered in a variety of ways - online, by telephone, through text or messenger services or in face-to-face appointments.

How long does CBT take?

CBT is a short-term model of therapy. People tend to have it over a period of weeks or a few months, rather than years.

You'll usually discuss the number of sessions with your therapist at your first appointment. It may depend on the setting or how your sessions are funded, for instance if they are paid for by your employer or you're having them through the NHS.

How to choose a CBT therapist

Take a look at the therapist's website or our Therapist directory listing to see whether they have detailed training or qualifications that are specific to CBT.

Choosing a therapist who is a member of a body with an accredited register, such as BACP, means you know that are highly qualified and adhere to high ethical and practice standards.

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What is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)? Types of therapy

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Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that looks at your thoughts, feelings and behaviours and helps to change some of these to manage your problems. A key part of this is identifying the negative thinking patterns that you may feel trapped in, helping you to break free from these and to feel better.

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Discrimination can affect your confidence, well-being and mental health. We share more about finding support for discrimination.

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The Human Rights Act allows you to defend your rights in UK courts and ensures that public organisations respect and protect your human rights.

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Counsellor Online Resources and CPD * Counselling Tutor

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Counselling Tutor Helping counsellor's and counselling students with academic resources and online continued profesional development (CPD) - Click to see

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As human beings, we make judgments every day about how to behave. We leave room on the escalator for hurried people to race by, we hold the door open for strangers at the store, and we give our bus seat to a person having difficulty standing.

As small as they might seem, all of these are reflections of our personal beliefs, values, and attitudes - guiding principles that govern how we experience and interact with the world. Both beliefs and values influence our decision-making, impacting both how we perceive others and how they perceive us.

If those expectations were handed down to us, we might feel trapped by them or stuck in a certain role. But we don't have to be. We're allowed to break free of expectations and set goals based on our own beliefs and core values.

The first step is to understand how beliefs and values work. Then we can ask ourselves: where do we fit in the equation?

Let's review what beliefs versus values are, and some beliefs and values examples.

The importance of knowing our place

Knowing the difference between values and beliefs is essential to our personal growth. As we'll see, these concepts influence us in invisible ways. When we peel back the curtain, we can choose whether we accept the beliefs prescribed to us or whether our personal values align with our environment.

Having a clear understanding of the beliefs and values that guide you offers a level of self-awareness that helps you organize your life in a way that benefits you. If you've ever tried to work with a leader who didn't have clear values , you know that it's hard to follow their example or identify what they're trying to accomplish.

If you're trying to be a leader but don't know what values you follow, you might not be as effective.

To honor your beliefs and values, you could change careers to pursue something more purposeful , make time for the important people in your life, and live with a new sense of meaning.

All of this can improve your mental health and overall wellbeing . It can also make it clearer to your team what matters to you, making you a more compelling leader. When managing others, your actions speak much louder than your words.

What are beliefs?

Beliefs are things that we believe to be true, regardless of the evidence. They're the assumptions we make about the world. They influence our thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes in significant ways.

For example, let's consider dogs. Some people believe that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners. Others might believe that not all dogs are inherently good. These belief systems dictate how you navigate the world - or in this case, how you approach dogs.

We often make these assumptions based on what we see, hear, read, and experience growing up. Many of our beliefs are rooted in our religious or cultural background.

Types of beliefs

Each set of beliefs measures how a specific behavior benefits us or others within our society, culture, or community. Here is a list of common types of beliefs:

Social beliefs: How we think people's personal lives should be structured in relation to the rest of society

Religious beliefs: We're likely all familiar with several dominant religions, but w can categorize religious beliefs in two ways. Monotheistic religions believe in a singular deity. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism fall into this category. Polytheistic religions believe in multiple deities, like Hinduism, Taoism (or Daoism), and Confucianism.

So what are values?

Value systems dictate how we judge what's considered "good" or "bad" in our community, culture, or society. They're unwritten rules that set the standards of behavior in our daily life.

Everyone has their own core values . But we're heavily influenced by our environment.

For example, someone who grew up in a small town might place a higher value on their neighborhood community than someone who grew up in a city. The small-town person grew up in an environment where they knew all of their neighbors and could turn to them for help.

The city person still has a community, but it might be made up of people from other areas of their life - not the people living down the block.

We learn values through a combination of background, experience, and our sense of self. We might start with our culture's or religion's values, but we can adjust them as we experience more.

When we become aware of our values, we can apply them to all facets of our life.

The types of values

There are four types of values we can find in our environment. Each measures how a behavior benefits us or others within our society, culture, or community.

Here are some examples of values that fall into different categories:

1. Functional value: Does this behavior or item provide a useful service?

2. Monetary value: Is this behavior capable of generating money?

3. Social value: Does this behavior help us connect with others, or help others connect?

4. Psychological value: Does this behavior allow us to express ourselves more clearly?

5. Cultural value: Do people in my community share this value with me? Does it share a custom or ritual with the people in my group?

The connection between beliefs and values

What you believe guides your values and how you conduct yourself. Remaining committed to your beliefs can lead them to form values in your life. Strong beliefs can turn into values, but not all values translate into beliefs. Things like integrity or honesty are values that guide our decision-making. However, honesty isn't a belief system.

Our values often don't influence our beliefs, since they're more tangible. In actuality, our beliefs tend to inform our values. If we believe that all people are inherently good, our values are more likely to center around kindness and altruism.

How does culture affect our beliefs and values?

We often acquire our beliefs and values through our culture's reward and punishment system.

When we go against a society's values, we're ostracized for misbehaving or not adhering to what's considered "good." As long as we behave in accordance with societal values, we're rewarded, praised, or left alone.

Similarities and differences

Here are the main similarities and differences between beliefs and values.
Differences:

1. Beliefs are our assumptions about the world. Values are how we attribute worth to objects and behaviors.

2. Beliefs stem from our life experiences, spiritual learnings, and culture. Our beliefs heavily influence our values.

3. Beliefs can teeter into prejudice, and values can manifest that prejudice.

4. Beliefs affect our morals. Values are how we live our morals through behavior, character, and personality.

Similarities:

1. External environments influence both beliefs and values.

2. Beliefs and values influence our behavior and how we experience the world

3. Both provide a shared sense of identity and community

4. Beliefs and values can change over time

Making beliefs and values work for us

We acquire beliefs and values from the day we're born. We learn to treat others in a certain way. We might be encouraged to go to college or told to live a certain lifestyle.

But in reality, we don't have to follow all the rules prescribed to us. As we meet people and gain new experiences, we might find a better path.

Unfortunately, as we go through life, we might also pick up limiting beliefs about ourselves. We think we're not good enough, incapable, or unloveable. But we don't have to accept these thoughts.

Here's how we can live life per our own values and beliefs.

Identify our core beliefs and values. Identifying what moral values are important to us compared to the people around us can help us find our purpose and guide our life plans.

hat would our lives look like if we were in tune with our beliefs and values? When we have our answer, we can Make a plan. Wplan how to get there .

Evaluate the consequences. If we make this change, how will others react? What will people in my community think? Some changes will elicit a stronger reaction than others. We should decide if it's worth it to hold firm to this value.

Embracing your beliefs

It's not easy going against the grain, but it's possible. We can change careers , prioritize our loved ones, or travel for a year before college. As long as we have a realistic plan, we can set goals that are right for us - and no one else.

If you need help setting goals that balance your beliefs vs. values, BetterUp can help you be the person you want to be .

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Beliefs versus Values: How to Know What They Bring to Your Life

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Understanding beliefs versus values can set you free of expectations and help you become your best self.

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Use of Self in Counselling * Counselling Tutor

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Use of self in counselling refers specifically to the ways in which the therapist draws upon their own feelings, experiences or personality to enhance the therapeutic process.

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The starting point is usually at the top - identifying one's own learning needs, often with the support of your clinical supervisor (and/or managerial supervisor, perhaps as part of your annual performance review).

However, it could happen that unplanned learning occurs at a different point of the cycle. Either planned or spontaneous CPD can be included in the minimum of 30 hours' CPD required for BACP registrants.

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Continuing Professional Development * Counselling Tutor

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Continuing professional development (CPD) is an ethical imperative of a number of professional organisations on counselling and psychotherapy.

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CPCAB is the UK’s leading awarding body specialised in counselling. Forming part of the Counselling Psychology Services Group (CPS), we offer vocational qualifications in over 200 training centres throughout the UK and overseas with over 13,000 candidates registering with us each year. We are the only awarding body run by counsellors for counsellors.

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The Counselling Channel produces videos about self-help, counselling, psychotherapy and a range of other talking therapies. We are sponsored by CPCAB, the only awarding body run by counsellors for counsellors.

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Easily create surveys and polls to collect customer feedback, measure employee satisfaction, and organize team events.

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Did you know that one in four British adults experiences at least one diagnosable mental health problem each year?

The most common is mixed anxiety and depression, but there are so many other issues which have a huge impact on a person's life and the people around them.

This course is designed to help those who work around people with mental health problems to understand each condition fully. It would also be beneficial to anyone who has seen someone experience mental health problems and would like to find out more about the meaning, causes, effects, symptoms and management of the condition.

This is an online course. You will receive your welcome email with further details within 48 hours of enrolment. Once you have enrolled, you will be asked to provide a copy of an official form of ID, such as passport, before receiving your login details.

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Awareness of Mental Health Problems | Level 2 | P15900

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Did you know that one in four British adults experiences at least one diagnosable mental health problem each year? The most common is mixed anxiety and depression, but there are so many other issues which have a huge impact on a person's life and the people around them.

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Certificate in Awareness of Men’s Mental Health | Level 2 | P13582 | Burton and South Derbyshire College

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This course will provide you with an understanding of what is meant by mental health and mental ill health with a particular focus on men’s mental health. 25% of the British population experiences a mental health problem each year.
10% of men are diagnosed with postnatal depression.
2x as many men now have suicidal thoughts compared to 2009
75% of suicides are men

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Completion of the Level 3 Counselling Qualification gives 24 UCAS points, leading to progression to a Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling and / or a Foundation Degree in Counselling.

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Counselling Skills | Level 3 | P13558 | Burton and South Derbyshire College

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This course delves into the effective use of counselling skills and techniques to assist individuals in a meaningful way. It provides valuable insights into managing interactions, the importance of self-reflection, feedback, and guidance. You will also discover opportunities to enhance self-knowledge through the study of counselling theory. This course is designed to support learners that are using counselling skills as part of their functional role in a wide range of sector areas or can be used as a foundation if you are looking to progress towards accredited counsellor status with one of the counselling professional accrediting bodies.