Graduate Diploma of Counselling

2023 Deakin University Handbook

Note: You are seeing the 2023 view of this course information. These details may no longer be current. [Go to the current version]

Year	2023 course information
Award granted	Graduate Diploma of Counselling
Course Map	Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central.
Campus	This course is only offered Online
Duration	Trimester 1 commencing students: 1 year over 3 consecutive trimesters, or part-time equivalent. The course is only available to students on a part-time basis.
Deakin course code	H658
Approval status	This course is approved by the University under the Higher Education Standards Framework.
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition	The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 8.
The final intake to this course version was in Trimester 1 2023. Students should contact a Student Adviser in Student Central for course and enrolment information. Further course structure information can be found in the Handbook archive.

Course sub-headings

Course overview

Our Graduate Diploma of Counselling will provide you with essential knowledge and skills in counselling required to effectively and compassionately support individuals with mild or moderate mental health problems and normal developmental issues. You will undertake 100 hours of valuable counselling placement during your course which will equip you with practical counselling experience and enable you to develop relationships that will support your future employability.

Want to enter a career in counselling and be equipped to support the mental health of individuals?

The Graduate Diploma of Counselling will be a perfect fit for you if you’ve considered a career related to counselling or would like to develop counselling expertise to support your current role and expand your career opportunities (i.e. support workers, social workers, teachers, student advisors, nurses, supervisors, managers, doctors, occupational therapists etc.).

The course has a particular focus on telecounselling and counselling diversity, both of which are of increasing importance and experiencing higher demand in Australia and globally. As a graduate you will be armed with practical knowledge and expertise relating to counselling micro-skills, mental health issues, professional practice issues, human development, multicultural counselling, counselling therapies and ethics.

By studying counselling with Deakin, you’ll be joining a university ranked well above world standard for our Psychology and Cognitive Sciences research.*
*Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) 2018

Indicative student workload

As a student in the Faculty of Health you can expect to participate in a range of teaching activities each week. This could include classes, seminars, workshops, online interaction and clinical placements. You can refer to the individual unit details in the course structure for more information. You will also need to study and complete assessment tasks in your own time.

All years of the course require a part-time commitment, with a substantive load of required learning activities and study time. Although the course is designed for working health professionals, students will on average spend 150 hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities per unit credit point.

Professional recognition

The Graduate Diploma of Counselling is accredited by the Australian Counselling Association (ACA).

Career opportunities

The course has been designed to foster practical counselling skills that can be applied in-person, over the phone or online via videoconference. There is a growing demand for these skills across a range of occupations related to mental health, disability, allied health and social support services with an expected very strong increase in demand over the next five years.*

As a counsellor you will provide advice and information on relationships, social, educational, occupational and a range of other every-day life difficulties. You will develop rapport and a healthy therapeutic relationship with people to help them to identify and define their emotional issues through a range of therapies including cognitive behaviour therapy, interpersonal therapy and other talking therapies.

The course has been designed to meet the requirements of the Australian Counselling Association, so you will be eligible for membership upon graduation, increasing opportunities for employment.

*Australian Government Job Outlook

Participation requirements

Students will be required to complete 100 hours of placement, composed of 40 hours of client contact, 10 hours of supervision, and 50 hours of non-contact counselling related activities.

Placement is an essential component of the course, required for Australian Counselling Association registration. When students complete the course, they may be asked to submit evidence of their placement with a detailed log book of hours attained.

Mandatory student checks

In order to undertake placement, students will be required to attain a police check. some placement opportunities may require students to also attain a "Working with Children" check, or equivalent based on their State of residence.

Students undertaking placement in any environment may be required to work with children, or incidentally exposed to children due to the nature of the counselling profession. Hence, the University has an obligation to ensure that students are suitable for placement and the children they work with are safe.

To gain professional accreditation with the Australian Counselling Association, students are required to disclose and explain any professional misconduct, formal complaints made against them as a counsellor, serious criminal offences, current investigations, or refusal of application to work with children.

Alternative exits

Graduate Certificate of Counselling (H558)

Fees and charges

Fees and charges vary depending on your course, the type of fee place you hold, your commencement year, the units you choose and your study load.

Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.

Use the Fee estimator to see course and unit fees applicable to your course and type of place. Further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods is available on our Current students fees website.

Course Learning Outcomes

Graduate Learning Outcomes	Course Learning Outcomes
Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities	Demonstrate specialist knowledge of counselling roles, skills, theory, interventions, ethics, and legal issues across the lifespan to a variety of audiences relevant to professional counselling.
Communication	Employ clear written and oral communication skills in order to effect therapeutic change in counselling. Convey complex counselling theories and ideas to a variety of audiences.
Digital literacy	Select appropriate digital tools to find, use, and disseminate information in counselling practice.
Critical thinking	Identify, synthesize, integrate, and critically reflect on research to inform counselling practice.
Problem solving	Appraise, select, and apply specialized counselling skills and knowledge to solve complex problems in the field of counselling. Initiate, plan, and implement counselling interventions that creatively solve problems.
Self-management	Demonstrate high-level self-management and awareness in learning and practice that reinforces the importance of responsibility, accountability, and ethics in professional counselling.
Teamwork	Work effectively in supervisory, leadership, and managerial capacities with diverse ethnic and cultural partners and teams. Communicate and collaborate with other mental health professionals to support clients.
Global citizenship	Evaluate and apply ethical principles to work productively in the field of counselling within diverse social, cultural and environmental contexts. Collaborate and communicate in a self-reflective and culturally sensitive manner.

Course rules

The Graduate Diploma of Counselling is part-time only and consists of the standard academic integrity module and 8 core units each worth 1 credit point (total 8 credit points).

All commencing Faculty of Health Undergraduate and Postgraduate course work students are required to complete HAI010 Academic Integrity in their first semester of study (0 credit point compulsory unit).

You can complete the 8 units in any order, though you must complete two essential units that have been designed to prepare you with the knowledge and skills to begin placement (HPY730 Principles of Counselling and Telehealth; HPY732 Professional Counselling Roles), before undertaking HPY737 Counselling Placement. Although, you could begin sourcing a placement earlier.

Course completed over 4 trimesters of part-time study depending on trimester start.

Students in the Graduate Diploma of Counselling can take an alternative exit once they have completed HPY730 Principles of Counselling and Telehealth (core to Graduate Certificate of Counselling) and any three other units in the course, except the placement unit.

Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.