Depression Counselling Diploma

Course Fee: $855 (Canadian currency)

This diploma course in Depression Counselling will equip you with the concepts and skills required for working more effectively in this field. It is ideal for professionals such as nurses, doctors, teachers, pastors, social workers and counsellors – or for those with an interest in depression counselling.

Specifically, this course is designed to enrich your understanding of the following: counselling depressed clients; understanding depression; acquiring and using basic microskills; the role of medicine and other strategies when working with depressed individuals; the relationship between shame and depression; practising self-compassion; acceptance and commitment therapy; ethics in depression counselling; identifying, challenging and changing clients’ faulty thoughts and beliefs; understanding common cognitive errors; the role of rules in faulty, maladaptive thinking; the role of homework in CBT; the ABC model; how to use CBT constructs and tools such as a DRDT, the Downward Arrow Technique, the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, Socratic Questioning and Guided Discovery, and the use of self-monitoring and graded task performance..

SYLLABUS

Part 1

Module 1: Introduction to Counselling Depressed Clients

Topics Studied

  • Defining counselling
  • The decision to embark on counselling
  • Trust and the counselling relationship
  • What is a therapeutic relationship?
  • Communicating understanding through validating feelings
  • Helping clients to identify their feelings
  • The Johari window

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • Summarise the essential qualities in a therapeutic relationship.
  • Communicate effective understanding to the client.
  • Describe the Johari window.

Module 2: Understanding Depression

Topics Studied

  • The role of diagnosis
  • The role of paradigms in diagnosis and treatment
  • Major depressive disorder/ clinical depression
  • The worst things to say to a person who’s depressed
  • Bipolar depression
  • Being alert to the potential risk of suicide
  • What you should do when a client’s suicidal
  • Advice on how to handle a suicidal caller

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • List the main categories of major depressive disorder/ clinical depression.
  • Outline the key symptoms associated with bipolar depression.
  • Suggest techniques for handing a suicidal caller.

Module 3: Essential Counselling Skills

Topics Studied

  • The central importance of active listening
  • The role of skilled questioning
  • Guidelines for effective questioning
  • Examples of poor listening
  • A brief look at counselling microskills
  • Medication and depression
  • Some practical approaches to dealing with depression

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • Describe the key components of active listening.
  • Apply basic counselling microskills.
  • Suggest some practical approaches for dealing with depression.

Module 4: Social Constructionism and Depression

Topics Studied

  • Social constructionism and human nature
  • Social constructionism and the therapeutic relationship
  • The solution-focused approach
  • Visitor, complainant or customer?
  • The stages of solution building
  • Therapeutic techniques and processes (A solution-focused approach)
  • A narrative approach
  • Therapeutic techniques and processes (A narrative approach)
  • Reauthoring the story

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • Paraphrase the main elements in the narrative and solution-focused approaches
  • Relate the different techniques and skills associated with each approach
  • Justify the use of key narrative or solution-focused counselling skills

Module 5: Shame, Self-Compassion, and Action and Commitment Therapy

Topics Studied

  • Exploring shame
  • Developing shame resilience                                            
  • The fundamental importance of self-compassion
  • Self-compassion exercises for depressed clients
  • Introducing action and commitment therapy (ACT)
  • Applying action and commitment therapy

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • Discuss strategies for building shame resilience.
  • Explain what is meant by “self compassion”.
  • Describe action and commitment therapy.

Module 6: Ethics in Depression Counselling

Topics Studied

  • Developing an ethical framework for good practice in counselling   
  • Ethical principles for good practice in counselling      
  • Counsellor personal moral qualities
  • Providing a good standard of practice and care         
  • Counselling supervision           

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • Defend the ethical principles associated with good practice.
  • Describe the personal moral qualities associated with good practice.
  • Critique what is meant by a good standard of practice and care in counselling.

Part 2

Module 1: Introduction to CBT

Topics Studied

  • The basic premises of CBT
  • Differentiating between thoughts and beliefs
  • How automatic thoughts develop
  • Tracking our automatic thoughts
  • Common cognitive errors
  • Schemata, or core beliefs
  • Playing by the rules
  • Introducing the ABC model
  • Correcting thought distortions
  • Distancing and decentring
  • CBT’s triadic structure
  • Brushing up skills: Confronting prejudice

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • List common cognitive errors.
  • Describe the ABC model.
  • Distinguish between automatic thoughts and core beliefs.

Module 2: Cognitive Techniques and Skills

Topics Studied

  • CBT and the counselling relationship
  • Key counselling microskills
  • Understanding and applying cognitive techniques
  • The Daily Record of Dysfunctional Thoughts (DRDT)
  • The Downward Arrow Technique
  • The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale
  • Socratic questioning and guided discovery

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • Identify the key counselling microskills.
  • Explain how to use a DRDT.
  • Apply the Downward Arrow Technique.

Module 3: Behavioural Techniques and Skills

Topics Studied

  • Understanding and applying active listening skills
  • Teaching clients problem-solving skills
  • The therapeutic use of behavioural tasks       
  • The value of self-monitoring
  • The use of homework assignments
  • Reviewing homework: Blocks and failures
  • Graded Task Performance

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • Outline the steps involved in self-monitoring.
  • Explain the purpose of homework assignments.
  • Describe Graded Task Performance.

Module 4: CBT and Relationships

Topics Studied

  • A cognitive perspective on relationships                                                
  • Mind reading in relationships
  • Misreading the signals
  • The role of expectations in relationships
  • Symbolism in relationships
  • The negative effects of prejudicial thinking
  • Changing our perspective
  • Brushing up on skills: Effective listening

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • Discuss mind reading in relationships.
  • Describe how we “misread the signals”.
  • Explain the role of symbols in relationships.

Module 5: CBT and Depression

Topics Studied

  • Depression and loss
  • Cognitive responses to loss                                              
  • The depressive chain reaction
  • Working towards cognitive reorganisation
  • Applying CBT techniques and strategies in your work with depressed clients  

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • Outline the relationship between depression and loss.
  • List common cognitive responses to loss.
  • Describe the depressive chain reaction.

Module 6: CBT, Anxiety and Hostility

Topics Studied

  • The symptoms of anxiety
  • Phobias
  • Psychosocial fears
  • Generalised anxiety disorder
  • The problem of egocentric thinking
  • The hostility sequence  
  • Self-esteem, self-image and CBT
  • Self-esteem, anger and hostility

Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives

Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:

  • Explain the relationship between thinking and psychosocial fears.
  • Describe the hostility sequence.
  • Outline the relationship between self-esteem, anger and hostility.

Suggested textbooks for the course (to be purchased by the student)

Part 1: Murphy, D. (2019). Person-centred experiential counselling for depression. (2nd Ed.). London: Sage.

Part 2: Trower, P., Jones, J., & Dryden, W. (2016). Cognitive behavioural counselling in action.(3rd Ed.). London: Sage.