Counselling is usually focused on a specific issue for a limited amount of time while therapy helps a client understand himself/herself and his/her patterns of thought, feelings, and behaviors. Counselling and therapy are often used interchangeably, but there are some key difference between them. 

Counselling involves working with a mental health counsellor or clinical mental health counsellor on a specific issue for a limited amount of time. For example, counselling can help a client if s/he has difficulty managing stress and want guidance on tools s/he can use when being stressed out. Usually, counselling focuses on a specific issue for a limited amount of time. In this program, trainees will be introduced to Gerard Egan’s Skilled Helper model. 

Therapy can be more long-term and focuses on a client as an individual – how a client sees himself/herself and the world, his/her thoughts, and his/her behaviors, as well as the underlying patterns of why the client does the things s/he does. For example, if a client was suffering from depression, s/he and his/her mental health therapist can explore how depression impacts his/her everyday life and how to develop better coping strategies so that the client can feel better. The client usually goes to therapy sessions on a more long-term basis. There are many types of therapies which include mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, rational emotive behavioral therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, etc.

In this 10 modules of 30 hours each covering the entire programme, learners will be taught both child and adolescent counsellling and therapy. Every learner has to cover all the 10 modules without any exemptions. This programme constitutes the foundation of child and adolescent counselling and therapy.

This one-year programme provides learners without prior knowledge to embark a career as a child and adolescent counsellor. The programme represents practical knowledge, skills, capabilities and competencies. The programme is accredited by the International Association of Therapists. Graduates could gain module exemptions of the Practising License Programs with the renowned professional body International Association of Counselors and Therapists (IACT) based in the United States of America (USA). 

The IACT is a prestigious professional body that admit any member who have fulfilled the rigorous Practising Licence Programmes and requirements to obtain practising membership as a counselor and therapist. Membership with the IACT is a mark of high standard and excellence. Practising members are not only knowledgeable, skilled but are also highly respected as well. They are eligible to set up therapy or special education needs centres globally, and provide intervention and therapy programs from children, adolescents to adults with special education needs. 

The modules of the programme are: