Diploma in Aged Care & Community Support Course Guide

In this course, you will work through different aspects of ageing and theories of human development and retirement.  By the end of this course, you should understand how to:

• Discuss theories of ageing
• Develop an understanding of the different stages of human development. 

In this course, you will work through changes in relationships, sexuality, cognitive changes and depression people experience in retirement. By the end of this course, you should understand how to:

• Describe the psychological impact of changes which occur as a person reaches old age.

In this course, you will work through physical changes and chronic health problems people experience in old age, and important nutritional factors that influence health.  By the end of this course, you should understand how to:

• Outline the effects of physical health problems on older people.

In this course, you will work through sections on counselling, alternative treatments and other support services for older people.  By the end of this course, you should understand how to:

• Give examples of support services, including counselling, for older people.

In this course, you will work through risks for older people and techniques to maintain a quality of life and rehabilitation.  By the end of this course, you should understand how to:

• Identify solutions that can enable an older person to adapt to changed circumstances to continue performing tasks or pursuing interests that are increasingly difficult for them.

In this course, you will work through sections on psychological aspects of long term grief, grief counselling and counsellor’s responses and interventions for people experiencing grief.  By the end of this course, you should understand how to:

• Explain how a variety of counselling techniques can be applied to specific grief and loss situations for counselling older persons.

In this course, you will work through sections on neurocognitive disorders (NCD), terminal illness, preparing for approaching death and emotional responses of the dying.  By the end of this course, you should understand how to:

• Develop a strategy for counselling an older person who has been diagnosed with a debilitating or terminal illness.

In this course, you will work through sections on aspects of loss, counselling strategies and special therapeutic considerations.  By the end of this course, you should understand how to:

• Develop a strategy for counselling an older person who has lost a loved one.

In this course, you will work through sections on barriers to aged care counselling, common legal  and ethical issues in aged care, and informed consent and confidentiality.  By the end of this course, you should understand how to:

• Determine when and how to intervene in the life of an older person.

This course will provide an introduction to various methods of learning and identifying essential micro- skills. It will include but not be limited to the function and purpose of counselling, psychoanalytic techniques, key concepts of humanistic therapy and key counselling skills.

This course will provide an introduction to the skills of commencing the counselling process, including but not limited to the unique relationship between the counsellor and client, the role of listening in the counselling process and the importance of a good environment.

This course will provide an introduction to the notion of reflection of content and feelings, including but not limited to the five basic responses of non-directive counselling, paraphrasing, the process of reflection on thoughts and feelings and responses to reflection.

This course will provide an overview of different questioning techniques and their usefulness in the counselling process. It will include but not be limited to the importance of restricting questioning, the difference between open and closed questions, questions that should be avoided and the various ways questions are used in crisis counselling.

This course will take a look at various micro-skills such as summarising, confrontation and reframing. It will include but not be limited to the effects such micro-skills can have on the client, when it is appropriate or inappropriate for a counsellor to use each micro-skill and a look at Carl Rogers’s perspective on effective counselling.

This course will provide an introduction to the negative impact of self-destructive beliefs and the value of normalising in the counselling process. It will include but not be limited to the reasons for self-destructive beliefs, the components and benefits of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, case studies of normalising and the symptoms and treatment for depression.

This course will take a look at how a client can make choices, overcome psychological blocks and facilitate actions. It will include but not be limited to ways to find solutions, the process of creating, making and reviewing choices, the components of the Gestalt awareness circle and ways to overcome psychological blockages.

This course will provide an overview of effective ways to close the counselling session, arranging further meetings and overcoming dependency. It will include but not be limited to the three stages of a counselling session, the importance of time management in a counselling session and how dependency can be managed.

This course will provide an introduction to the different stages of the counselling process, and how the use of the different micro-skills can be integrated into the process. It will include but not be limited to the preparation required before a counselling session and the stages of the counselling session.

This course will provide an introduction to the dynamics of the counselling process including such phenomenon as present experiences, feedback, transference, counter-transference, projection and resistance. It will include but not be limited to the benefits of focussing on present experiences, methods to direct client focus to present experiences and ways to overcome common counselling problems.

This course will provide an introduction to the major differences between telephone counselling techniques and face-to-face counselling, and the specific skills and responses of the telephone counsellor. It will include but not be limited to the importance of boundaries and debriefing when conducting telephone counselling, techniques used to deal with problem callers and the application of telephone counselling to a psychiatric disorder.

This course will provide an introduction to the nature of crises, including but not limited to their potential effect on the equanimity of the individual and appropriate emotional and practical responses.

This course will provide an introduction to the nature of aggression in the counselling process and ways of encouraging the client to explore and refocus it. It will include but not be limited to the causes of anger and effect it has on the body, how to assist the expression of anger and methods for controlling anger.

This course will provide an overview of different types of depression that a client may bring to the counselling process and will include but not be limited to the three forms of depressive disorders and how to determine them, the relationship between blocked anger and depression, counselling techniques for chronic depression and alternative treatment approaches.

This course will provide an overview of stages of the grieving process and strategies for dealing with a client’s grief. It will include but not be limited to key skills in grief counselling, how the grieving stages can be overcome, complicated grief reactions and the strategies used to counsel a grieving child or teenager.

This course will explore the different strategies of dealing with suicide, including but not limited to assessing risk, the ethical issues involved and the different approaches to counselling a suicidal client and their advantages.

This course will provide an introduction to psychoanalytic counselling theory, including but not limited to its origins and applications and an in-depth look at the work of Sigmund Freud, Albert Jung and Erik Erikson.

This course explains the principal differences between Adlerian and Freudian theory including but not limited to key concepts of Adlerian theory, the four stages of the Adlerian counselling process and the pros and cons of Adlerian therapy.

This course describes the chief elements of the Gestalt approach to counselling, including but not limited to its application to the resolution of problems, Gestalt therapy techniques and the pros and cons of Gestalt therapy.

This course explains the principles, goals and appropriate applications of person-centred approach to counselling, including but not limited to the necessary personal attitudes of counsellors, the function and purpose of person-centred therapy and its pros and cons.

This course will take a look at Albert Ellis’s views and the evolution of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), including but not limited to the different techniques and principles of REBT, Ellis’s assumption of human nature and the ABC model for personality.

This course describes characteristics of contemporary behavioural therapy and different problem-solving techniques adopted by behavioural therapists. It includes but is not limited to the characteristics of the behavioural approach, the function and purpose of behavioural therapy as well as techniques and pros and cons.

This course discusses the role of solution-focussed counselling in modern therapy, including but not limited to the sequence followed by solution-focussed counselling, the strategies and stages used and the pros and cons.

This course explains the differences and similarities between Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and REBT, including but not limited to the cognitive disorders encompassed by CBT, key elements of Cognitive Behaviour Modification and the constructivist counselling approach.