This course is designed to help people with little or no previous experience of counselling to develop a repertoire of skills and tactics to deal with counselling situations in the workplace.

Personnel practitioners and line managers regularly have to help staff deal with personal problems. Counselling is a practical, structured way of assisting people to stay on top of their jobs and their lives, and can benefit everyone involved. This course provides an introduction to counselling and is an opportunity for participants to practise some of the skills involved.

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• evaluate what counselling is and how it relates to other forms of helping relationships
• identify the key skills necessary to be an effective counsellor
• prepare and conduct a counselling interview
• analyse typical counselling situations and determine appropriate ways of dealing with them
• identify when and how to refer someone on to more specialised help.