Welcome

Welcome back, everyone at the start of another academic year. We hope it holds the right amount of challenges for you and many rewards as well!

At CPCAB we are celebrating 21 years of our qualifications, which have been described as ‘life changing’ ... it's an inspiring thought. We've seen many changes along the way, met our own fair share of challenges and are proud to count so many of you as friends.

As part of the celebrations, CPCAB staff will be spending an ‘awayday’ together next Tuesday, 30th September, so there will be no telephone support on that day. We hope you'll be able to manage without us for one day! And look forward to returning to our desks even better prepared to do our best for you all.

CPCAB website

There's a wealth of information for current, new and potential CPCAB students on our website ... in fact there is much to interest anyone with an interest in counselling and counselling training. We've put together a short selection of links to video clips etc that you might like to see and we hope you find it useful.

Re-sits

This is a gentle reminder that arrangements for re-sits must be put in place by your tutors, not by individual candidates directly. This is because of contract and the relationship is with your centre not with you. At every assessment window we receive a number of calls from candidates: it's understandable that you may be anxious to get on with things but please can we encourage you to go to your tutors rather than contact us directly.

Counselling Skills & Studies: a new book from CPCAB published by SAGE

Exclusive 25% discount for CPCAB students and tutors - UK14AF77 at checkout on SAGE's website, www.sagepub.co.uk.

Packed full of inspirational activities and written in a supportive conversational style Counselling Skills & Studies is a book for anyone wanting to learn counselling skills or embarking on their first stage of training to become a counsellor.

Written by CPCAB authors Fiona Ballantine Dykes, Barry Kopp and Traci Postings, with an introduction by Anthony Crouch, it provides you with an ideal “way in”, showing you what counselling is all about.

The book is in three parts:

Part 1: Counselling Skills introduces students to the underpinning knowledge and practical tools needed to develop a range of helping skills for use in a variety of helping roles, showing them what it means to work safely and ethically.

Part 2: Counselling Studies helps students take their understanding further by considering in detail important theories and professional issues, preparing them for work as a professional counsellor.

Part 3: Counselling Study Skills offers practical advice, and hints and tips to help students make the best start on their counselling portfolio, including journal and essay writing skills, research skills and how to get inspired and overcome blocks to their learning.

“This book is the ultimate reference tool – like having a tutor present outside the classroom! It's the book I've been waiting for – for 20 years!”

Nigel Cooper-Fowkes
Counselling Co-ordinator, Vision West Nottinghamshire College

“This book speaks wise words, in an engaging, practical and conversational style. It provides essential information, covers all the basics with clarity, whilst also stretching readers to think more deeply and consider their own responses to questions and answers. It will be an excellent resource for all counselling learners (and their tutors) where ever they are training.”

Sally Openshaw

“Counselling Skills and Counselling Studies is written by a team from CPCAB (Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body), the largest Awarding Organisation for counselling and counselling skills courses in the UK. This book will be especially useful, if not essential for students on CPCAB courses as it clearly explains the model of counselling taught in all courses. The third section provides clear and helpful guidance to any student on the specific study skills needed in counselling courses. The question and answer format guides readers to issues they may not have thought about. The entire book is written in clear accessible language and avoids psychobabble and jargon.”

Sally Aldridge
Fellow of BACP

Please note that 'Counselling Skills & Studies', whilst helpful, is not a requirement for any candidate studying for any CPCAB qualification.

University of Warwick MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy

This new qualification may be of interest to tutors and Level 5 students with requisite experience: please note that CPCAB has no link with the University of Warwick so if you would like to know more, please contact them direct.

For more information read this pdf.

Humour

The tutor told the applicant that she would need to do some voluntary work as part of the course. 'Voluntary work?' she replied. 'I wouldn't do that if you paid me!'

Husband: “My wife's redecorating our house, but painting everything gold. What's going on?”
Therapist: “Hmm, looks like she has a gilt complex.”