International Counselling and Coaching Diploma Course. Academy for Counselling and Coaching.

In 2008 we started our succesful Diploma Course for counselling and coaching also in English. All the studymaterial is in English, in the training English is spoken and the examination will be in English. You can be part of our international classes with people from all over the world.

You can gain valuable skills and experience that may make a positive difference in your personal and professional sphere. This course provides ample opportunity for personal and professional development and can be a starting point for setting up your own practice.

The training for Counselling and Coaching is given in The Hague and Amsterdam. Your trainer is Els Barkema - Sala (The Hague), an international professional in counselling and coaching or Lya Young-Afat (Amsterdam).

What do you learn in this Professional Counselling & Coaching course?
Just to mention the goals for learning to work as counsellor or coach, that you can achieve within that year:

learn to work safely and in a well-organised way
learn to develop a trusting relationship with clients within the boundaries of a sound ethical and professional code
gain sufficient knowledge of legal issues pertaining to counselling & coaching
acquire a working knowledge of counselling and coaching theories and methods
learn to work with diverse views, values and norms and with people from different cultures and backgrounds
learn to work with the personal experiences of clients, fellowstudents and of yourself
achieve personal growth that can be expressed in increased openness, honesty or being straightforward, personal integrity and authenticity
learn to work independently as counsellor or coach
learn to work creatively while maintaining an eye for coherence
being able to express fully and coherently what counselling and coaching actually means: what it is, how you do it, how it can work for people, what it is not, if/how it differs from other helping approaches, etcetera.

In addition to that, a whole range of topics and concepts will be explored, such as: safety and confidentiality / feedback / personal convictions, beliefs and values / feelings and emotions / congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy / time and energy / resistance / personal and professional vision or mission / identity / systems / psychiatric conditions and diagnoses / culture / power& authority / ethics / autonomy /last but not least: self presentation.

Course requirements include:

full attendance of the 10 training days - a total of 60 hours (or making up for lost time by attending relevant, accepted workshops)
participating in studygroups with fellow students to practice skills and/or discuss literature or relevant issues - at least 30 hours
being counselled or coached - minimum of 3 hours
counselling/coaching of individuals with not too complex problems - minimum of 15 hours
getting supervision on this clientwork - minimum of 3 hours
case study of part of actual clientwork - minimum of 10 hours
studying the required literature
Tallying this shows that training and practice hours will be a minimum of 121 hours, but may well exceed this total. Study time depends largely on previous education/experience level.

Fees are requested upon registration and entitle the student to:

the complete studymap
10 training days
evaluation of your two extended essays (one on personal growth and one on professional development)
an oral exam by an external examiner (a 2nd try would cost 125 euro)
award of the Diploma upon meeting all requirements

Because we are a 'not-for-profit' organisation, we can be 2 to 3 times less costly than similar courses. We offer the maximum attainable for a minimal price. This is because we save on expensive advertising, overhead costs and luxury packaging. We go for quality and content. (Prices do not include the required literature, counselling and supervision. Price changes may occur. Diploma per level.) Temporary price reduction:
Level 1 - Introduction to Counselling and Coaching    € 990,-
Level 2 - Specialisation - Choose from 20 Specialisations € 990,-
Level 3 - Promotion - Expand on your specialisation € 350,-
Level 4 - Mastery - Dissertation € 350,-

Temporary anniversary offer for all levels together           € 1999,-
(You receive € 681,- discount !)

Literature Level 1
After the approval of your registration you can start with the latest edition of the literature we use. The price is approximately. At bol.com you can get 10% discount. And you can also buy or sell your books second hand. But Amazon or other bookstores can be cheaper. It can help to shop around. Book prices are subject to change.

1 - The skilled helper: A problem management and opportunity development
   approach to helping - Gerard Egan
     Paperback | 416 Pages | Thomson Learning | International ed
     ISBN10: 0495127957 | ISBN13: 9780495127956 - € 54,99

2 - Approaches to psychology - William E. Glassman & Marilyn Hadad
     Paperback | 544 Pages | Open University Press | 4th Revised edition
     ISBN10: 0335213480 | ISBN13: 9780335213481 € 49,99

3 - An introduction to counselling - John McLeod
     Paperback | 464 Pages | Open University Press | 3rd Revised edition
     ISBN10: 0335211895 | ISBN13: 9780335235445 - € 54,18

4 - Person-centred counselling in action - Dave Mearns & Brian Thorne
     Paperback | 264 Pages | SAGE Publications Ltd | 3rd Revised edition
     ISBN10: 1412928559 | ISBN13: 9781412928557 - € 33,99
     Sage Review - Video about the 3rd revision.

5 - Handbook Coaching - Rudy Vandamme
     Paperback | .... Pages | Entos | The 'Print on Demand Edition' is out now.
     Not yet available in the bookshops !!
     (We will order this book exclusively for our students when the training starts.)
      ISBN10: ............. | ISBN13: .............. - € 40,00
     This book will be published in English soon. The Dutch edition is a great succes.
     The Dutch version: Handboek Ontwikkelingsgericht Coachen - Rudy Vandamme
     Paperback | 365 Pages | Uitgeverij Nelissen | 4th edition
     ISBN-10: 9024416302 | ISBN-13: 9789024416301 - € 40,00