Counseling courses can change your life - and other people's lives, too. Here's why.

The shocking news about today's problems...

Depression, divorce and sexual problems are all on the increase.

Sadly, that's good news for you as a would-be counselor. It means the demand for counselors can only grow.

Date:
From: Kit Sadgrove

Life is more complex than it used to be. Which means there's an increasing demand for counselors Let's take just four examples:

1.     Many people no longer have a network of family members or a community. So they have no one whom they can turn to for help. A counselor can provide the advice and support that others can't bring.

2.     Women are no longer willing to tolerate abuse or bad behavior from their partners. They often require their partners to seek advice. 66% of mid-life divorces are initiated by women. Counselors can help bring partners together.

3.     Old people are separated from the family, and have no one to turn to. After a busy life, they can become lonely and troubled. Counselors can provide real solutions.

4.     Because their parents work, children often lack the detailed care and support given by parents. Some turn to drugs. Other children have problems at school, and stop going. Again a counselor can help.

And that means more people are seeking the support of a counselor So there's a bigger opportunity for you to become a professional counselor

You can be the person who, day by day, helps the world become a slightly better place.

We created the course to help people like you become a counselor Other counseling courses were either too academic, too brief, or lacking in interactivity to do the job. Which is why we had to prepare our own.

And for the past eight years we've been improving it, revealing to students the methods used by counselors, and showing them how they can apply these techniques in their own lives.

These days, people like you lead lives that are simply too hectic and unpredictable to be tied down to attending class on pa particular day, or to log into a website at a particular hour.

It's great value for money

The Diploma in Counseling course offers great value for money. We don't have to pay for classrooms all year round, and our lecturers work from home, so this it means we keep the cost down. As a result, you get a course that is of high quality but modest in cost. You save money, without sacrificing any excellence in learning.    

The counseling course is highly interactive  

When you sign up, you'll get a lot more than just a set of books.

1. You'll be able to work with other students on the counseling course, and discuss common issues with them. You can also get a 'study buddy', with whom you can practice your counseling techniques. In fact you can have as many study buddies as you want. This gives you the convenience of independent study, plus the advantages of working with other students.

2. You get a Student Advisor, whom you can ring at any time during work hours. Your Student Advisor will be able to help you if you have any problems or queries about the course.  

3. You'll also have a personal tutor. This will be a working counselor who is committed to helping you succeed. Our tutors are specially chosen to be caring, supportive and experienced.

4. You'll send in assignments to your tutor, who will carefully assess them and return them to you with helpful comments. The assignments help to ensure that you have absorbed the lessons.  

5. You'll complete regular self-assessment exercises that help you check that you understand the issues involved.

Life as a counselor is very satisfying. You get to resolve people's problems, and you get paid for it. Here are some of the situations that counselors get involved in.

• Save marriages by helping both sides to understand the other

• Help parents of adolescents to understand their child better, perhaps dissuading the child from leaving home or taking to drugs or the street.

• Give lonely older people the gift of friendship

• Help suicidal people feel that there is a purpose in life

• Let people who were abused as a child explore their feelings towards their abuser, and perhaps attain peace of mind or closure.

• Give angry people tools that let them control their anger, thus making life better for those around them

• Allow the bereaved a forum in which they can express their hurt, safely explore their feelings, and ultimately come to terms with their pain.

• Help people who regularly get into bad relationships to understand their patterns of behavior, and give them new ways of handling other people.

• Give people techniques to understand destructive patterns of behavior (like alcohol or drug abuse) and stop it.

Our accreditation

We're accredited by the Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODLQC). Set up by the government to assess standards in distance education, they check out our tutors, our finances, our management systems - the works. We're proud of our accreditation, which is why we're keen to maintain it.

And that's why we work so hard to keep our students happy. If for any reason you were unhappy with our service, you can contact them by clicking on this link: ODLQC.

We are also registered with the Department for Education and Skills on its Register of Education and Training Providers.

And we're recognized by the Better Business Bureau, and by E-Public Eye, among others.

Let me briefly tell you about the theory behind our course   We use a person-centered (sometimes called client-centered) approach in our course. We believe that the client is the right person - indeed the only person - who can understand and resolve their own concerns.   Many clients also need support and guidance in order to help them see alternative views of a problem, and the counselor can help them explore problems in a non-confrontational, non judgmental and non-directive counseling session. This gives them the freedom to safely explore their emotions and background, leading them to resolve their problems.   And these are all subjects that you'll learn about on the course.

What you'll get when you receive the counseling course

Check out the link on the left of this page to see the full contents list. In brief, it includes:

• The large-sized ring binder
• Text book
• Study guide
• Quick Start Guide
• '49 ways to promote your own Practice' booklet

Plus

• Your own personal tutor
• A course advisor
• The opportunity to have one or more 'study buddies'
• Discussions with other students

And when you complete the counseling course...

Once you successfully complete your course, you get a Diploma in Counseling qualification. This tells your clients that you have been properly trained, and gives them the confidence to hire you as their counselor You also get the following:

- The right to use the letters Dip C(Inst.NH) after your name. This is the recognition that you need and merit.

- A printed Diploma for your walls.

- 'Approved Counselor logo on your website and stationery.

- A press release to your local press, if you want

- Continuing support from your tutor (for a fee)

Register today. Delaying only increases the length of time you have to wait - time you could be putting towards your new career as a counselor

Here's what you bring to your clients:

You have so much to offer your clients. Here are just a few of them:

-       Inner peace - because you help them let go of their anger

-       A future - because you liberate them from the torment of the past.

-       Joy - when they are freed to discover a better life

And you'll bring experience, too. Many of our counseling students have had troubled or challenging times in their past. Many have spent sessions with a counselor themselves, and recognized the benefits it brought.

Perhaps you have suffered in the past? If so, you'll be able much more to empathize with your clients much better than someone who has led a sheltered life. And you'll know what techniques help or hinder people who need therapy. You'll bring your practical experience of life to aid your work.

Is the course right for you?

You probably already have many of the skills a counselor needs. You're probably a good listener. And people approach you with their problems, because they see you as a sympathetic person.

Now you can use those skills, and (with our help) overlay them with professional counseling skills, to become a counselor in your own right.

It's such worthwhile work

What work could be more worthwhile? All around us people are troubled, suffering inner turmoil that they dare not reveal to their friends or neighbors, for fear of being told to 'pull yourself together', or being dismissed as being obsessive, boring, or making 'a fuss about nothing'.

If not repaired, each generation hands down its hurt to the next, infecting their children and those around them with their toxic behavior That's why a counselor is so important - they break the vicious circles, and help people create new and positive life styles. So your work can continue to weave its magic long after you retire or die. It's your unique gift to the world.

There are many fascinating specialties.

-       You can work with couples, and deal with marital problems, including being a socio-sexual counselor

-       You can work with your people, whether toddlers or adolescents

-       You can work with old people, exploring their concerns and worries

-       You can specialize in problems of addiction, whether alcohol or drug abuse. Or shyness. Or anger management.

And expertise in counseling is an ideal foundation for any field of work. Every area of work benefits from understanding people's needs and motivations.

How do other jobs compare?

What kind of job are you doing at present? If you're like most people, you're stuck in an office, doing repetitive work you don't enjoy. You may be working for a dull organization, or running about for a boss that that doesn't respect you.

Or maybe you're at home, trying to decide how to earn a living?

You probably want an ethical life, one where you put something back into society.

And you want to put your healing powers to work. You probably know that people turn to you for advice – and that's a very special gift. To turn your back on that skill, knowing that you alone of your friends posses it in such abundance, that would be a criminal waste.

Arguably, you have a responsibility to use your special powers to spread harmony, the way that only a counselor can do.

With best wishes

Kit Sadgrove
Institute of Natural Healing

PS. Is your career path blocked? Many people choose to study with us when they find their road to the counseling profession is blocked by their lack of experience, lack of theory, or lack of formal qualifications. Our Diploma course opens the way, creating a smooth (but demanding) route to becoming a working counselor

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