Montage of CPCAB logo and photographs of counselling studentsMontage of CPCAB logo and photographs of counselling studentsCPCAB, the only awarding body run by counsellors for counsellorsStudent Update

Client: ‘I seem to have a bit of a problem with remembering things’.

Therapist: ‘and when did you first notice the problem?’

Client: ‘what problem?’

A woman made an appointment with a therapist. She said, "Doctor, I'm so depressed and lonely. I don't have any friends, no one will come near me, and everybody laughs at me. I’m beginning to feel I must be really ugly. Can you help me?"

"I'm sure I can" the therapist replied. "Just go over and lie face down on that couch."

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CPCAB core qualifications now on QCF!

CPCAB is delighted to announce that we have migrated our core qualifications to the QCF. These will be available for delivery from September 2010. We are in the process of preparing new qualification documents and will make these available on our website as soon as possible. In the meantime eager beavers can visit NDAQ to see the details and look at the new criteria.

In the process of making the necessary changes for the move to the QCF we have also taken the opportunity to update and revise our qualifications to take account of the latest research findings on the principles of effective counselling and the likely requirements for regulation by HPC. We have successfully argued for retaining the CPCAB model and for restricted units which will be unique to CPCAB.

Effective Listening Skills (ELSK-L2) - interesting feedback

The following message was emailed to us by a teacher in a secondary school;

‘I taught an effective listening skills course for the first time to year 12 students in the 6th form.  Since finishing the course many of those students have made a point of telling me that they really have appreciated their learning on the course.  One student told me that all his friends go to him whenever they need to talk about sensitive issues.  Several have asked me to supply a reference about the ELSK course for their UCAS applications because they feel that they have gained some valuable skills from it.  Our school is keen to run the course again this year because of the positive feedback from students.  I would definitely recommend it for the 16-19 age group.’

We hope your own experiences, whatever level of course you are taking, match the ones outlined above. In the drive towards gathering the qualifications needed to practice as a counsellor in the post-regulation world, it can be easy to forget that CPCAB courses are also a means of self-discovery and a way to acquire skills that will help you in many walks of life.

The Open University - joint Foundation Degree in Counselling

As you may know, the OU/CPCAB joint foundation degree comprises three components:

The Open University has now added a new module to the third category, giving candidates a wider range of options. This is “The science of the mind: investigating mental health” (SDK228) – 30 credit points. Full details are available from the OU's website.

Word count - guidelines for students

We would just like to remind all of you who are working on case reviews for level 4 and 5 about the conventions for defining word count.

In common with standard academic convention, the word count does not include the bibliography or any brief footnotes, but it does include all other material submitted with the case review, including appendices, tables, quotations etc. Writing within the word count is part of the discipline formulating the case review and encourages you to be focused and specific in your explanations. It is important to keep this in mind, as any essays with differences of more than 10% in the recommended word count are likely to be returned unmarked.

We hope you will find this useful.

WorldSkills UK 2009/10 is open!

UK Skills is a not-for-profit organisation. It champions skills and learning for work through the delivery of innovative, high profile competitions and awards which showcase excellence and demonstrate how exceptional performance improves individual and organisational success. Last year, around 4,000 people registered their interest in a WorldSkills UK competition.

You may like to speak to your tutors about entering a competition; this message is from the WorldSkills website:

In October 2011, come and join us in London for the largest international vocational skills competition in the world - WorldSkills London will be held at the ExCeL exhibition and conference centre in London’s docklands from 5th - 8th October 2011.

There are lots of opportunities to get involved in the most exciting, inclusive and inspirational WorldSkills Competition ever. So if you want to support your country’s team, try your hand at hairdressing or learn about robotics, WorldSkills London 2011 could be just what you are looking for.

This is the last chance to enter (for most competitions) in order to be in with a chance of competing at WorldSkills London 2011; entries must be received by 19 March 2010. For full details see the WorldSkills London 2011 page at the WorldSkills website.

A step by step guide to registering for Worldskills 2009/10

Regulation of counselling

At the time of writing the anticipated follow-up meeting of the Health Professions Council has still not been given a date. We will, of course, keep you up to date with further developments as they happen.