Humanistic Counselling

University of Portsmouth
Undergraduate DipHE Full-time 2 Years MedicineCounselling, psychotherapy, and occupational therapy

A-Level Entry

BBC

UCAS Points

112 points

About this course

If you have a background in counselling or psychology and want to gain the practical knowledge and interpersonal skills you need to pursue a career as a humanistic therapist, this Humanistic Counselling DipHE is ideal.

Humanistic therapy focuses on the whole person. Humanistic counselling encourages people to think about their feelings and take responsibility for their actions. It focuses on helping them reach their potential rather than highlighting their problems.

In year 1, you'll develop foundational counselling skills and explore all the counselling approaches available to practitioners, including gestalt counselling and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT).

In your second year, you'll focus on developing the practical skills you need as a humanistic counsellor, putting what you learn into practice by conducting 100 hours of supervised counselling. You'll also learn about mental health issues and develop skills you need to work with different types of clients.

When you complete the course, you could top up your diploma to a Bachelor's degree. You could also work as a humanistic counsellor in areas such as education, the police service, the prison service and the voluntary sector.

Alternative courses This course shares the same 1st year modules as our DipHE Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and DipHE Gestalt Counselling.

It's simple to switch courses at the end of year 1 if you change your mind about which counselling specialism to study.

Location This course takes place at South Hampshire College Group - Eastleigh Campus. While studying here, you can access the University's student support services and community including study support, the Students’ Union and our library's online resources.

What you'll experience On this course you'll:

  • Learn from experienced, industry-trained staff who've worked in organisations or run their own private practices

  • Study modules that give you a strong foundation for your studies and future career, covering topics including counselling skills, ethics, counselling theory and professional skills and development

  • Focus on developing specialist humanistic counselling skills and knowledge in year 2

  • Apply your knowledge and skills with at least 100 hours of supervised counselling on a placement in the community

  • Build a foundation to help work towards a further professional accreditation with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) following completion of the course

  • Learn research skills, which you can apply in your career and in degree-level study after the course

  • Develop transferable skills you can apply in all aspects of your life and career in areas such as problem solving, communication, group working, planning, effective feedback and IT

  • Study at South Hampshire College Group - Eastleigh Campus with access to University of Portsmouth support and services

  • Apply for membership of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and get access to member resources including journal subscriptions, free courses and job boards

    Careers and opportunities Humanistic counselling can help people deal with difficulties including anxiety, depression, stress, self-confidence issues, bereavement, relationship difficulties or family problems.

    Public, private and charity sector settings you could work in after the course include:

  • Education

  • Alcohol and drug services

  • Eating disorder services

  • Mental health services

  • GPs

  • Police and prison services

    You could also top-up your diploma to a Bachelor's degree on our BSc (Hons) Humanistic Counselling top-up course.

    When you complete the course successfully, you can sit the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Certificate of Proficiency to become a registered member of the BACP.

  • Entry Requirements

    A-Level Grades BBC
    UCAS Tariff Points 112 points
    BTEC DMM

    Career Prospects

    Graduates from this course typically go into the following occupations:

    3219 Health associate professionals
    1172 Social services managers and directors
    2229 Therapy professionals
    1231 Health care practice managers
    3214 Complementary health associate professionals
    2224 Psychotherapists and cognitive behaviour therapists

    Course Details

    Qualification
    Diploma of Higher Education - DipHE
    Study Mode
    Full-time
    Duration
    2 Years
    Start Date
    2025
    Academic Year
    2025
    Campus / Location
    Eastleigh
    Scheme
    Undergraduate
    Subjects
    Medicine, Counselling, psychotherapy, and occupational therapy