Counselling Fundamentals
UndergraduateTAS-PSY2352025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
An online counselling course that offers an overview. You’ll explore counselling skills and theories that form the foundation of professional practice. Lock in the counselling basics and get ready for advanced counselling courses.
Enrol today with instant approval and no entry requirements
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 16 Feb 2025
- Entry requirements
- No ATAR needed, No prior study
- Duration
- 14 weeks
- Price from
- $2,830
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Counselling Fundamentals
About this subject
Upon successful completion of this subject, the student should be able to:
- Explain the major theoretical perspectives, principles, and ethical considerations which underlie counselling practice.
- Apply basic counselling microskills to a variety of counselling contexts.
- Describe how values, culture, and individual factors can influence counselling practice.
- The history of counselling
- Critical thinking, evaluating evidence, and research in counselling
- The nature of counselling
- Counselling micro-skills I - Active listening and non-verbals
- Counselling micro-skills II - Empathy
- Counselling micro-skills III - Prompts, probes, and summarising
- Counselling micro-skills IV - Challenging skills
- Psychodynamic approaches to counselling
- Humanistic approaches to counselling
- Behavioural approaches to counselling
- Cognitive Behavioural approaches to counselling
- Ethics in the helping professions
This subject provides an overview of foundational counselling concepts, theories, and skills. In this subject you will be introduced to the main theoretical perspectives and values that underlie counselling practices. You will learn to apply counselling microskills that underpin effective communication in counselling practice. The importance of ethics, critical thinking, and evaluating evidence in counselling are also a key focus in this subject. Completion of this subject does not qualify you to practice counselling, however, it will provide you with a foundation for further study in this area.
- Online Quizzes (30%)
- Critique (40%)
- Role Play Journal (30%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
Wherever you are, the University of Tasmania brings its island campus to you through a growing range of online programs across art and design, business, education, health, science, sustainability, technology, and more. It’s never too late to switch things up. Kickstart that career you’ve been dreaming about, or upskill for the one you’re in. You’ll also become a part of the world's leading university on climate action.
Learn more about UTAS.
Explore UTAS courses.
- QS Ranking 2024:
- 20
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 19
Entry requirements
No entry requirements
Additional requirements
- Other requirements - Teaching Arrangement: All unit materials are available through MyLO. Module content is released weekly and comprises of multiple web pages containing written and audio-visual information. Independent Learning 10hrs weekly
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
Student feedback
7 student respondents between 27 May - 17 June 2024.
85%of students felt the study load was manageable
85%of students felt this subject helped them gain relevant skills
Why study a single subject?
Bite sized study
Try studying a particular area to see if online study suits you, or upskill in just a few months with a single subject that you’re interested in.
Pursue a dream
With thousands of single subjects to choose from, you can find topics that get you on the path to your higher education goals fast.
Gain Uni credit
Most single subjects are part of a full degree. That means if you’re keen to keep learning, you can gain credit for the subjects you’ve successfully completed.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
UndergraduateTAS-COU-DIP
Single subject FAQs
What’s a single subject?
Single subjects are the individual components that make up a degree. With Open Universities Australia, you’re able to study many of them as stand-alone subjects, including postgraduate single subjects, without having to commit to a degree.
Each of your subjects will be held over the course of a study term, and they’ll usually require 10 to 12 hours of study each week. Subjects are identified by a title and a code, for example, Developmental Psychology, PSY20007.
How can I use single subjects to get into a full degree?
First, find the degree that you would like to study on our website.
If that degree allows entry via undergraduate subjects, there will be information about this under the Entry Requirements section. You will find a list of 2-4 open enrolment subjects you need to successfully complete to qualify for admission into that qualification.
Once you pass those subjects, you will satisfy the academic requirements for the degree, and you can apply for entry.
Our student advisors are here to help you take that next step, so don’t hesitate to reach out when you’re ready! We’ve also made it easier to figure out the right way to get started on our pathways page.
Can anyone help me choose a subject?
Our student advisors are more than happy to help you plan your online study. Get in touch with an advisor by:
How do I pay for my subjects?
You can pay up front with your credit card, or you may be eligible for a HELP loan from the Australian government depending on your citizenship status and where you’ll live during your studies.
For more information about how to pay for your studies visit our fees page or contact a student advisor.
How do I enrol?
When you’ve made your choice, click ‘Enrol now’ on the relevant course page and follow the prompts to begin your enrolment. We’ll ask you to supply some supporting documentation, including proof of your identity, your tax file number, and a unique student identifier (USI) during this process.
Your university will get in touch with you via email to confirm whether or not your application has been successful.
If you get stuck at any time, reach out to us and we’ll talk you through it.
You can also take a look at our online self-service enrolling instructions.
When is the cut-off date for enrolling?
Close of enrolment times vary between universities and subjects. You can check the cut-off dates for upcoming study terms by visiting key dates.