General information

Seminar times will be from 10.00am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 4.00pm between Monday and Thursday.  Friday sessions usually divide up at 10.00am to 12.00pm and 1.00pm and 2.30pm (these sessions run until 4pm when specifically stated on the timetable). Tutorials may be arranged within staff office hours.

Attendance on the course is regularly monitored and registers are completed every morning and afternoon of teaching days. As the registers are taken at the start of class time (within the first 5 minutes), on occasions where you are late for a session it is your responsibility to ask for the register to be updated.  Late marks will be recorded and a Professional Conduct Review meeting may be requested to explain such occurrences. 

Trainees are required to attend all professional input and this is officially reviewed at the end of each semester. If you are unable to attend University for any sessions, please email in and let the year group tutor know the reason. Where a trainee misses more than 2 unauthorised hours of input during a whole day workshop, the trainee is required to clarify if joining the group is appropriate prior to attending. If a trainee misses 30 minutes of a morning or afternoon session then this will be counted as an absence.

Trainees may receive authorisation for an absence in exceptional circumstances, and authorised absences will be included as an attendant. Exceptional circumstances include bereavement or specific health problems. In these situations, a trainee is required to speak with a course tutor, and the absence is only authorised when the course tutor provides written confirmation of authorisation (e.g. email). This should happen ideally before the absence but if not then as soon as possible thereafter.

Trainees are not able to receive an authorised absence for professional training whilst on placement. The exception to this may be where a particular training is mandatory for the completion of a placement and cannot be re-arranged to be undertaken outside of University time. In this case, a written statement from the trainee’s Practice Placement Educator would be required prior to a course tutor authorising the absence.  The course team will make the final judgement as to whether this case will be accepted.

As noted above, attendance will be officially reviewed at the end of each semester. We consider attendance within a number of blocks or components, which are as follows:

1. Theoretical and practical input (either Mondays and Tuesdays or Wednesdays and Thursdays counted as one component)
2. Case discussion on a Friday morning*
3. Professional issues sessions on a Friday afternoon

*For first-year trainees, in their first semester of the programme, this element is counted within the theoretical and practical input as they are not involved in case discussion sessions.

Where it is found that a trainee has attended less than 80% in a given element of programme content, they will be required to complete work to make up this shortfall. The additional work required will be decided on a case by case basis (for example with reference to the specific number of sessions missed and reasons for absence). This may involve for example completing additional written work, oral examinations or retaking the unit in the following academic year (and therefore incurring additional costs). Any requirements given must be completed prior to the successful completion of the programme.

‘Internal’ evaluation with the TP group and a course tutor and/or Programme Director takes place at the end of December and in May. These provide an opportunity for TPs to feedback views on seminars, tutorials, placements and general arrangements. Additionally, the course tutors and Programme Director welcome feedback from groups or individual TPs at any point of the year and will make themselves available to receive, discuss and note this. The Counselling Psychology team considers all feedback and their considerations upon it are communicated back to the TPs via regular meetings between tutors and TPs.

All staff responses to formal TP feedback will be posted on the university’s e-learning facility (Blackboard) within the counselling psychology course materials. 

The course will be required to provide annual monitoring feedback to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in accordance with their Standards for Education and Training (SETs) and the British Psychological Society (BPS) in relation to their Standards for Doctoral Programmes in Counselling Psychology.

Every four years the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education inspects the School. 

The Curriculum Development Team (CDT) meets approximately once a month for two hours and twice a year for a whole day. Two TP representatives may attend with prior notification though may not be present for any discussions about individual TPs.  Minutes of the CDT meetings are available to any TP upon request.  Course units will be regularly monitored using the University student feedback systems (SET3.8).

On the first day of the programme, volunteers are sought to act as TP group representatives during the year.  These representatives may act/ speak with appropriate authority on behalf of the group on various occasions including within the annual D.Couns.Psych. Stakeholders’ feedback meetings held between June and September. This meeting serves as a kind of ‘governing body’ for the programme, advising upon its general development, operation management (SET3.5, 3.7, 3.8) and utilisation of programme resources (SET3.12).

Those TPs wishing to know more about representation opportunities within the Institute/School should contact the programme administrator for further information. Student representation at every level is very welcome.

Broad ground rules for the group working together will be discussed in the first sessions. These are intended to complement the professional codes of practice that are introduced in the first month (SET4.2).

Students will be allocated a personal tutor during the two week induction period in September and will be invited to a one to one welcome tutorial. The personal tutor will change annually and be their main point of contact for that year of the course – information on year group tutors is provided at the start of the academic year. This person will be responsible for monitoring the trainee’s practical and academic progress and provide support and advice. Trainees will also be made aware of the Faculty Tutor role at the University as listed in the Programme Handbook (SET3.13).

Please note that the rooms used by the D.Couns.Psych. students are ‘common user’ rooms and other students will sometimes be using it on days/times when we are not in.  Therefore it is very important that we leave them tidy – coffee cups, spare handouts and other effects should be cleared away at the end of each session.  However, we would positively encourage you to put posters and notices around the rooms in order to make them welcoming and enhance their potential to act as a central communication point. Please note that staff rooms are not to be used as communal spaces for students.

Coffee/ tea making facilities will be made available.  We have to be responsible for keeping rooms that we use clean and tidy.

It is in your interests to look after your belongings carefully.  In the past, there have been several thefts.  Never leave anything unattended in the seminar room.

It is a good idea to use your library card/ student card as a visitor’s badge on placement visits.  This will also allow you to access effectively a number of learning resources at the University.  Primarily this includes access to the IT services and the library.

The course has an accompanying electronic resource called Blackboard.  This is an online resource that you will be able to access through the University’s student portal.  The site will act as a place to store relevant course materials such as PowerPoint slides that are used during sessions.  Additionally, students can use the space to communicate with one another and the core teaching team through this space.  This is an essential part of the programme and therefore regularly checking this space will be necessary.  It is recommended that students do not set up alternative electronic resources to communicate with each other through freely available social networking software. 

Trainees are required to encrypt any files which refer to client material, these include:

1. Documentary evidence files (client logs/supervision logs)
2. Videos/audios of skills work done at University
3. Audio recordings of client work
4. Consent forms for research
5. Research data

To encrypt Word documents please be aware that most word processing packages now have the facility within them to easily protect your documents.

To encrypt files that are not Word documents (e.g. the audio and video files you submit) you please see the accompanying course policy on Blackboard. 

Not complying with this policy will be viewed as a fitness to practise issue.

Please see the University handbook for PGR students for details.  Further, signs around the building provide up to date information.

A fire alarm test is carried out each Wednesday at 11.30am.

These are occasional fire drills when the building must be evacuated calmly and at once.  Please read the emergency exit procedure posted near the teaching rooms commonly used.

The Faculty has a Health and Safety policy available upon request from Faculty office and training sessions are provided at regular intervals at a University level.  Please request the dates from the programme administrator if you are interested in attending.

Please let the Programme Director know of any additional or special needs that you have which may affect your ability to access learning, assessment or social opportunities during the year.  We will make every effort to address all such needs.

When applying for placements as Counselling Psychologists, please feel free to put down the name of one of your Programme Team as your referee. For additional references (i.e. those not for placements for the programme), we would ask that you confirm with the team member prior to nominating them.

Trainees may wish to become members of the British Psychological Society during their training to access a number of benefits (which are outlined on the BPS website, and upon successful completion of the programme can apply for Chartered Status as a Psychologist.

Information on becoming a member of the British Psychological Society can be found at http://bps.org.uk/what-we-do/benefits-belonging/membership/membership

In line with HCPC and BPS standards, trainees are required to understand the complex issues associated with, and potential problems arising from dual relationships. Course staff are unable to act as practice placement educators, clinical supervisors or personal therapists for trainees, and current trainees are also unable to act in these roles with fellow trainees.

Where current contracts are ongoing all efforts have been made to ensure that dual relationships are appropriately managed and that no issues arise from this.

All trainees are required to have indemnity insurance cover while on practice placements. This is a prerequisite for trainees to enter a placement. It is recommended that you consider taking out your own personal indemnity insurance policy to address any shortfall or lack of cover that may exist within specific placements. The BPS has negotiated reduced premiums with insurance companies who offer individual indemnity insurance to its members. Please be aware of this issue and check that the placement you are considering applying to does cover your work with them under their policies.

It is imperative, both from ethical and public service standpoints, that all clients and colleagues understand unambiguously the status as that of a trainee counselling psychologist who is working under the supervision of a registered and fully qualified practitioner. At the same time, we understand that it is important to avoid undermining confidence in the services that trainees will be providing. In this respect, previous trainees/supervisors have sometimes found it useful to explain the Trainee Counselling Psychologist’s professional/ training background to clients and colleagues, which serves to illustrate that they have been training in psychology for a number of years. Only the following titles can be used to describe trainee counselling psychologists:

• Trainee Counselling Psychologist
• Counselling Psychologist in Training
• Counselling Psychologist in Professional Training

It is also important to ensure that service users consent to trainee counselling psychologist involvement, as clients do have the right to request the involvement of a fully qualified practitioner (see HCPC, 2016).

Whilst on the programme students will have a number of nominated staff available to them to monitor their progress and support them in their studies with us.

On arrival, each trainee will be assigned a personal tutor and will meet with them in the first two week induction period for a welcome tutorial. Following this, their personal tutor will be responsible for:

• monitoring the trainee’s practical and academic progress;
• support and advice.

Personal tutorials are available to students throughout the year and are available by booking into the office hours which will be outlined by staff at the start of each year. Where possible tutorials should be recorded in e-prog. It is recommended that tutors and trainees take joint responsibility for clarifying the exact timing and agenda of the next tutorial at the end of each tutorial.

Tutors aim to respond to emails within three working days of receipt and will let you know when they are on annual leave. 

Personal tutors will change annually to reflect the core staff related to the year of the programme. This change will come into effect at the start of September.

Trainees will be assigned a thesis research supervisor prior to March of their first year on the programme. This is following submitting a research proposal outline document to the programme director and having individual research meetings. Research supervisors are allocated on the basis of availability of staff, and alignment of research topic and methodology. Trainees will typically have a counselling psychologist as either their primary or second supervisor.

For academic work in the first and second year of the programme trainees’ main point of contact will be their course tutor for that year. For assignments please see course tutors, and for the thesis please see your research supervisor. Prior to the allocation of research supervisors, trainees should speak to either the year 1 tutor or programme director about their thesis ideas.