Bachelor of Counselling
and Psychotherapy

This subject, the first in a developmental sequence of study, sets the foundation for your knowledge and skills in counselling and integrative arts therapy practice. You will be introduced to a comprehensive theoretical framework for your practice encompassing person-centred and experiential psychotherapy, Eastern and Indigenous practices and psychodynamic interpersonal therapy originating in the work of Carl Rogers, Eugene Gendlin and significant humanistic-existential and psychodynamic theorists and practitioners.

Key concepts within this framework, such as the actualising tendency, the significance of developing ‘therapeutic relational depth,’ and the differentiation between the ‘real’ self and the externally constructed ‘false’ self, are examined. Additionally, you’ll explore ‘Dadirri’ deep listening, therapeutic presence, and engagement as foundational elements for your work, while also exploring the differences between the therapeutic relationship with ‘relational depth’ and the ‘therapeutic alliance.’ The ultimate objective is to enable you to integrate experiential relational theory into your practice.

Subject Code: SOC101
Credit Points: 6
Co-Requisite: Integrative Psychotherapy in Practice

The second subject in the developmental sequence of integrative psychotherapy practice focuses on building the essential knowledge and core skills required for counselling and therapeutic practice. Through one-to-one therapeutic interactions with peers, you will share and work with your own ‘lived experience’ in sessions. Using interventions and processes, you will build and strengthen therapeutic relationships and support clients to access and explore inner experiences. You will also apply foundation and intermediate counselling skills in various situations, observe counselling practice interactions and engage in thoughtful reflection on your practice of micro skills in integrative counselling and psychotherapy.

Subject Code: COU102
Credit Points: 6
Co-Requisite: SOC101 Integrative Psychotherapy in Theory

You will develop an understanding of the main theoretical perspectives and models that influence therapeutic practice and facilitate therapeutic change. This covers various approaches such as psychodynamic, humanistic-existential, experiential-emotion-focused therapy, cognitive behavioural, transpersonal and soul centred, post-modern, and integrative schools. You will also learn to recognise major theoretical perspectives, concepts and explanatory frameworks used in counselling and psychotherapy. The different approaches will be examined, including their underlying theory and techniques. The models studied will be contextualised within an integrative conceptualisation framework and you will have opportunities to apply theory in practice through case scenarios.

Subject Code: COU103
Credit Points: 6

This subject is designed to develop your awareness and understanding of the ethical and legal issues critical to counselling and psychotherapy practice. You will learn about ethical principles, theories and frameworks that guide behaviour and decision making, including relevant legislation and professional codes of ethics within the Australian professional landscape. By analysing scenarios, you will identify ethical and legal issues and recommend solutions to common dilemmas in therapeutic practice, such as those related to confidentiality, informed consent, power dynamics and managing professional boundaries. You will also explore how your personal, social and professional values may influence your decisions and actions.

Subject Code: COU104
Credit Points: 6

This subject explores the varied experiences of consumers using mental health services in Australia and assesses the current system’s strengths and weaknesses. It provides an understanding of the cultural evolution of perceptions regarding ‘normal and abnormal behaviour’ over time, as well as the historical emergence of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for diagnosis, including its rationale and criticisms. You will learn to identify key terms and major categories of the current classification systems in psychopathology, while also developing skills to effectively respond to clients in mental health crises and those experiencing suicidal tendencies.

Subject Code: COU105
Credit Points: 6

In this subject, you’ll explore the ethical foundations of individual worldviews which can unconsciously shape prejudices and biases. You will gain the knowledge, skills and awareness required to engage in ethical and culturally mindful therapeutic practices. Through a curriculum focused on culture and diversity, independence, autonomy and philosophy, you will examine the versatility of embedded identities and their influence on beliefs, values and biases, both positive and negative. Awareness of stereotyping, privilege, poverty, racism, ageism, misogyny, homophobia and other forms of oppression will prepare you for addressing the worldviews and challenges of specific client groups.

Additionally, you will explore how minority stress can contribute to trauma, shame, interpersonal difficulties, self-criticism, lack of personal agency, anxiety and depression and how these experiences may influence the therapeutic relationship. You will also develop cross-cultural skills essential for working with diverse populations such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families and communities, learning how to approach their therapeutic needs and healing.

Ultimately the subject aims to foster an understanding that ethical behaviour and cultural competence extend beyond having an awareness of individual and cultural differences, embracing a commitment to eliminate unconscious bias and discrimination in therapeutic practice.

Subject Code: COU106
Credit Points: 6

This subject will introduce you to the practice of case conceptualisation in clinical settings, guiding treatment planning and interventions during your supervised practice in Supervised Practice A. The emphasis will be on short-term treatment planning, helping you to articulate a clear theoretical understanding of the client’s situation, background, challenges, patterns, and distress from various theoretical perspectives and through an integrative approach. You will also learn to develop hypotheses about the client’s reasons for seeking therapy and their underlying needs. The subject focuses on developing treatment plans to facilitate change, encouraging therapists to deeply consider the client’s circumstances. You will be expected to bring your own client data to the workshops, whether obtained during placement or from peer practice.

Subject Code: COU107
Credit Points: 6
Pre-Requisites: All Year 1 subjects
Co-Requisite: COU108 Supervised Practice A

This subject is the first of two professional experience subjects designed to integrate coursework within a supervised work-based setting. It provides you with the first opportunity to apply theoretical and reflective learning to counselling and psychotherapy practice as you complete 120 placement hours at a host organisation.

The placement focuses on providing a combination of information and practical assistance to mental health service users, emphasising the early interactions between the service users, the student therapist, and the service organisation. This includes activities such as welcoming and engaging new clients, conducting intake and assessment, providing information about policies, services, and referrals, listening to client feedback, and when appropriate, leading, assisting or observing individual or group sessions.

For community health and support providers, direct client practice also involves activities such as providing meals or supplies, engaging in informal conversations for mental health and wellbeing check-ups, assisting clients with paperwork and digital processes, offering mentorship and companionship to those needing social support, accompanying individuals to outings/appointments, and facilitating skills-building exercises.

Credit Points: 6
Hours: 120
Pre-Requisites: All Year 1 subjects
Co-Requisite: COU107 Case Conceptualisation

This subject explores key issues, theories, and methods in developmental psychology and life span development. An interdisciplinary approach is taken to examine life development from both evolutionary and cultural perspectives. By studying themes of evolution, embryology, attachment, and cultural history, you will gain a deeper awareness of life development in relation to nature and nurture. The subject also provides an overview of abnormal development and important human developmental stages.

Subject Code: SOC201
Credit Points: 6

This subject introduces you to core concepts and principles of trauma-informed practice. Different types of trauma will be explored including single instance, multiple exposure and infant attachment trauma. Drawing on theoretical literature on trauma and attachment, you will learn to recognise causal factors, impacts, emotion dysregulation and trauma symptoms across various populations. This includes Indigenous peoples, children and young people, war survivors, refugees, and those affected by violence, floods and bushfires. You will also learn to recognise triggers to re-traumatisation and how to work within a client’s window of tolerance.

Subject Code: COU202
Credit Points: 6

This subject takes a systems perspective to psychotherapy, focusing on how people interact with their environment. It introduces the general systems theory which provides insight into the diverse systems that impact an individual’s wellbeing. The subject also covers the historical and contemporary understanding and use of systems thinking and approaches in psychotherapy. It begins with a broad overview of systems and covers a range of specific systems such as ecosystems, family systems, couple systems and individual psycho-biological systems. Emphasis is placed on developing a solid theoretical understanding, conceptualisation and application of a systems approach to psychotherapy practice and you are encouraged to reflect on your understanding of systems thinking and the influence of your family system on your development and wellbeing.

Subject Code: COU203
Credit Points: 6
Pre-Requisites: SOC101 Integrative Psychotherapy in Theory, COU102 Integrative Psychotherapy in Practice

This subject focuses on the stages and phases of therapeutic practice, integrating core advanced skills into effective integrative therapeutic practice. You will gain the confidence to lead progressive stages within each session and over time, improve your skills in early, mid, and late-phase treatment. Key areas covered include setting treatment goals, identifying and addressing client narratives, themes, patterns, changing perspectives, facilitating insight, modifying metacognitive beliefs, and managing emotional clusters while addressing emotional pain. While the advanced skills covered may exist in specific therapeutic models, this subject does not focus on a specific therapeutic model.

Subject Code: COU204
Credit Points: 6
Pre-Requisite: COU107 Case Conceptualisation

This subject explores the theory and practice of group work in counselling and psychotherapy. You will learn how to lead and engage in support groups, psychoeducation groups and therapeutic and interpersonal development groups within the mental health, wellbeing, and human services sectors. The focus is on facilitating groups, understanding issues that arise in groups, and resolving conflicts and powerplays. You will also develop expertise in recognising and working with group dynamics such as power, conflict, vulnerability, and connection and support. Consideration will be given to group processes, roles of group members, stages of group development, and both implicit and explicit communication in groups. You will be assessed on the attitudes, tasks, and responsibilities of the group work leader. Furthermore, you will integrate the knowledge and skills developed in Integrative Psychotherapy Theory, Integrative Psychotherapy Practice, and Integrative Treatment Skills to facilitate personal change for group work participants. Classes will be a combination of lecture and interpersonal training group sessions to connect theory to real-world application and reflective and deliberate practice.

Subject Code: COU205
Credit Points: 6

Elective 1

See the ‘Electives’ tab for current elective options available.

See the ‘Electives’ tab for current elective options available.

This subject will help you to develop a sound understanding of clinical processes involved in addressing grief, loss and bereavement in psychotherapy. You will acquire skills, knowledge and an understanding of suitable interventions to help people deal with various aspects of grief and loss including complicated grief, childhood bereavement and continued bonds. You will also learn to map and present a ‘loss history graph’ based on your lived experiences. 

The subject will also focus on the cultural, sociological, and ethical aspects of working with these themes. The learning experience will involve interactive face-to-face delivery within a flipped classroom approach.

Subject Code: COU207 
Credit Points: 6

This subject explores core concepts and practices focused on self perception, agency, autonomy, identity and narrative within psychotherapy. Using an interdisciplinary approach, you will learn how these critical aspects of human experience can be applied in a clinical setting. This subject is structured in two distinct phases. The first phase is theory-based and draws from the philosophy of mind, neuroscience, neuro-psycho-pathological studies and cognitive science. The second phase connects these theories into clinical practice, integrating them with narrative therapy and mentalisation-based psychotherapy. You will participate in skills-based practice sessions during class where you are required to apply these approaches to demonstrate your metacognitive and mentalisation skills. 

The subject is delivered in a format that comprises tutorials, practical sessions and reflecting on classwork. The assigned readings will help you to actively contribute to class discussions, practice and develop your skills. 

Subject Code: COU208
Credit Points: 6
Pre-Requisites: COU202 Trauma Informed Practice, COU204 Integrative Treatment Skills

This subject provides an introduction to psychodynamic psychotherapy using the evidence-based approach of psychodynamic-interpersonal therapy. You will learn about the theoretical concepts, principles, and core competencies of the conversational model. You will develop both theoretical knowledge and skills in assessment, case formulation and therapeutic intervention planning using this approach. You will also critically evaluate your use of psychodynamic interpersonal therapy in supervised practice sessions.

Subject Code: COU301
Credit Points: 6
Pre-Requisites: All Year 2 core subjects.

This subject examines the pain, distress and post-traumatic challenges experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples due to systemic racism, colonisation and de-colonisation, loss of country and community in kinship systems, assimilation policies, intergenerational trauma, and the enduring impact of historical hardships.

You will learn to identify and develop skills in Indigenous healing practices that aim to address and heal this trauma through interconnected relationships and self reflection to address unconscious biases. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of identity, resilience a sense of belonging within the family, country and community, and the implementation of a holistic community healing model. Key elements of Indigenous healing practice such as song lines, ceremonies, rites of passage, dreaming and storytelling will also be explored. Furthermore, creative arts such as music, dance, drama and visual arts will be used to connect song lines, ceremonies, rites of passage, kinship, dreaming and storytelling as fundamental elements of Indigenous healing practice.

Subject Code: SOC302
Credit Points: 6

See the ‘Electives’ tab for current elective options available.

This subject introduces focusing-oriented psychotherapy, an experiential therapeutic process based on research into effective therapy methods. Studies have shown the importance of clients’ in-session inner processing during therapy.

You will gain hands-on experience in understanding how this process taps into human resources such as inner knowing, inner experience, felt-sense, insight, problem solving and self-realisation. You will learn to facilitate client inner processing and the resulting changes in states of consciousness. As a trainee therapist, you will develop and hold the’ focusing attitude’ and use ‘presence language’. You will also learn to track the client’s inner process and apply the stages of experiential focusing to allow deep experiential processing. Additionally, emphasis will be placed on facilitating a compassionate relationship with your current emotional experiences.

Subject Code: COU304
Credit Points: 6

This subject builds on Trauma Informed Practice to extend your understanding of the theories and practices in the emerging area of trauma-focused and somatic-informed psychotherapy. You will learn about the neurobiology of trauma and its impact on the brain leading to bodily symptoms, reactions and memory issues. There is a focus on multiphasic treatment approaches and the necessary skills for each phase of trauma treatment and practice. You will learn to create an integrative approach to trauma treatment that combines ‘bottom-up’ approaches such as sensory motor processing and somatic experiencing, as well as ‘top-down’ approaches such as mentalisation. Using a phenomenological approach, you will gain a thorough understanding of the inner experience of trauma for specific populations.

Subject Code: COU305
Credit Points: 6
Pre-Requisites: COU202Trauma Informed Practice, COU301 Psychodynamic Interpersonal Therapy

This subject explores the issues of knowledge, research, and self within psychotherapy practice. It examines the foundational questions of ontology and explores epistemic implications for research practice. We aim to develop your critical skills for understanding research practices and methods and support you in developing skills in conducting literature reviews and establishing sound research questions. The subject concludes with an exploration of the self and the role of wisdom, setting the foundation for your life-long pursuit of wisdom.

Subject Code: COU306
Credit Points: 6

This final placement subject is designed to enhance your skills through an integrated approach that combines theory, knowledge, and practical experience in a safe, supported and supervised work-based setting. As part of this capstone subject, you will manage a small client case as part of a 240-hour supervised placement experience. You will collaborate with clients to plan and facilitate positive changes tailored to their needs, goals and the diversity of the individual, group or community. Your responsibilities involve client briefings, assessing presenting issues, completing case conceptualisations and planning suitable interventions using theoretical knowledge. This experience will enhance your clinical judgement and decision-making skills to engage in ethical and culturally sensitive therapeutic practices with a focus on therapeutic relationships, client presentations case conceptualisation and teamwork. Through the integration of theory and practice, along with clinical supervision and reflective practices, you will refine your skills and establish your professional identity as a graduate practitioner.

Credit Points: 12
Hours: 240
Pre-Requisites: All Year 1 subjects, and all Year 2 and Year 3 core subjects.

This subject explores the integration of movement into multimodal arts practice. You will explore the historical and philosophical foundations of societal perceptions of the body and their current implications. Fundamental concepts of body-psychotherapy and movement-based therapies will be part of your learning. You will gain hands-on experience with movement-based interventions, integrate them into psychotherapeutic and arts-therapeutic settings, and examine the ethical considerations involved with these interventions.

Subject Code: COUE201
Credit Points: 6

This subject explores the historical development of using various sand and miniatures for expressive purposes, providing insight into symbolic thinking and meaning making, mythology, archetypes and complexes and the therapeutic progression of Jungian psychology. In preparation for working with children in a Jungian way, you will become familiar with Erich Neumann’s child developmental stages and examine case material of child sandplay to observe and analyse Neumann’s stages in the sand. You will learn how to facilitate an adult sand and symbol process by experientially engaging with the sand, water, and figurines, examining the case material of adult sandplay, and exploring the archetypal meaning of symbols. Creating four sand trays in a ‘safe and protected space,’ you will have the opportunity to connect with emotional experiences and life narratives through the sand pictures. You will also learn to engage with six levels of reflection from empathic to transcendent (Carroll & Gilbert, 2011, p.115) as a structure for evaluating your clinical work.

Subject Code: ARTE202
Credit Points: 6

This subject equips you with the skills to integrate ecopsychotherapy into your practice by linking human psychological wellness to the ecological system. Through an experiential retreat in a natural setting, you will receive training in ecopsychotherapy techniques and theoretical frameworks, including mindfulness practices, Indigenous wisdom, and depth psychology. This retreat focuses on reconnecting with nature and addresses fundamental issues such as safety, confidentiality, and the need to acknowledge the traditional peoples of the lands where the retreats are held.

Ecopsychotherapy acts as a means to dissolve the perceived separation between individuals and nature, offering exercises to facilitate reconnection to the natural world. The subject also highlights the post-colonial need to acknowledge the traditional peoples of the retreat lands and engage in reciprocal relationships with Aboriginal Australians, including the importance of respecting Elders and Traditional Owners past, present and emerging. Your success in this subject will be determined by your motivation to engage with the core concepts of ecopsychotherapy practice.

Please note: Due to the delivery style for this subject, extra costs may be incurred to cover travel, accommodation and food.

Subject Code: COUE203
Credit Points: 6

This subject focuses on the knowledge and skills required to apply therapeutic techniques when working with young people. It will help you understand child and adolescent development, including the challenges young people face in today’s society, common issues that they may bring to therapy, evidence-based engagement strategies for engaging them in therapy, and the processes involved in working with young people as a specific demographic. You will have the opportunity to practice therapeutic approaches for building positive therapeutic relationships with young people.

The subject also focuses on the personal and professional competencies and attributes required to work effectively with children and young people, including understanding relevant legislation; confidentiality; informed consent; duty of care for those under the age of 18, and effectively engaging families, parents, and caregivers in therapeutic process.

Subject Code: COUE301
Credit Points: 6

This subject aims to deepen your understanding of the science and research behind dream work and the resources of the human psyche that produce dreams. It looks at how the dreaming function can use internal resources to address problem-solving, stress management, knowledge and understanding, change management and psychological development. The subject explores experiences in dreaming, liminal, conscious imaging, and metaphoric states of consciousness. You will also learn to use various methods, including Jungian and archetypal processes, in both individual and group settings, to tap into these states of consciousness. These methods are developed as part of your integrative symbol and dreamwork skillset.

Subject Code: SOCE302
Credit Points: 6

This subject explores the themes of personal growth and awakening. It follows an intensive format with a structured program involving personal reflection, practice and lectures, exploring themes related to the organisation of the mind. You will begin learning about early developmental factors in mind formation, and progress towards transpersonal psychology and Eastern philosophies and practices.

Subject Code: COUE303
Credit Points: 6