TC-L4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling (BACP approved practitioner qualification) | Redlands Counselling and Training

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CPCAB Level 4
TC-L4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling (BACP approved practitioner qualification)

Select your Preferred location
BournemouthBournemouth
DorchesterDorchester
Duration
Day
Times
Course Dates
34 Days
Mon
9:15 am - 4:30 pm
Mon 22 Sep 2025 to 13 Jul 2026
34 Days
Thu
9:15 am - 4:30 pm
Thu 25 Sep 2025 to Tue 7 Jul 2026
34 Evenings*
Thu
4:30 pm - 9:15 pm
Thu 25 Sep 2025 to Tue 7 Jul 2026
34 Evenings*
Tue
4:30 pm - 9:15 pm
Tue 23 Sep 2025 to Mon 13 Jul 2026
34 Days
Mon
9:15 am - 4:30 pm
Mon 2 Mar 2026 to 8 Feb 2027
*Evening option includes 8 Saturday sessions. There will be breaks during the year which coincide with school holiday breaks.
34 Days
Tue
9:15 am - 4:30 pm
Tue 23 Sep 2025 to Sun 5 Jul 2026
34 Days
Mon
9:15 am - 4:30 pm
Mon 2 Mar 2026 to 8 Feb 2027
There will be breaks during the year which coincide with school holiday breaks.

Counselling session

UPDATE *We are delighted to announce that EVERY student we prepared

passed their external CPCAB exam in September 2024! *

 

The CPCAB Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling is a two-year part time course. It aims to enable students to provide therapeutic counselling from a humanistic integrative perspective, within the framework of an agency such as a Community Counselling Service, Doctor’s surgery, Community Mental Health Team, Treatment Centre etc; but not within independent practice.

Course Content

Course content will include modules on:

  • Ethics
  • Theory – Integrating humanistic approaches to counselling: Person Centred, Gestalt and Transactional Analysis – relationship and therapeutic relationship and process, self/history/relationship
  • Skills – Using skills creatively
  • Working with Difference & Diversity
  • Personal Development
  • Using supervision effectively
  • Mental Health Issues – including Depression, Anxiety and Diagnostic Statistical Manual
  • Developmental models – Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud
  • Evidence Based Practice
  • Introductions to:
    - CBT
    - Genograms
    - Working with Trauma
    - Eating Difficulties
    - Addictions
    - Domestic Abuse
    - Pre-trial therapy
    - Psychodynamic theory
    - Attachment theory
  • Suicide & Self-harm
  • Team working skills
  • Assertiveness
  • Grief & Loss
  • Professional Development
  • Counselling remotely online or by telephone

Learning Methods

You will learn through a variety of learning activities including: 

  • small and large group work
  • role plays
  • presentations
  • case presentations
  • exercises and seminars
  • lectures and workshops

Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning.

In addition to attending class, students must complete course work, attend supervision and their own therapy, and see clients outside of class time. They should therefore carefully consider the significant commitment and investment of time that will be required before embarking on the course.

Please note:  We will deliver at least 75% of the course face to face. Any remote delivery will be through the online interactive learning platform Zoom or other suitable online platform.

Progression to Year 2 is subject to successfully completing Year 1 assignments and tutor approval.

 

 

Entry requirements
Assessments
Placements
Fees & Costs
Additional costs
Application Process

Previous training

Students must have already undertaken counselling skills training of 90 hours or more, for example the CPCAB Certificate in Counselling Skills. They also must have completed study training of 90 hours or more e.g., CPCAB Certificate in Counselling Studies or its equivalent.

CPCAB Requirements

Students also need to meet the generic CPCAB requirements and be aged 19 years or older. The specific criteria for this course, based on CPCAB guidelines, will also be considered in selecting applicants for the course.

Assessments

Students need to pass the Internal Assessment to be considered proficient. Internal assessment includes audio and video recorded role plays, written assignments (including two case studies), presentations and feedback from peers, supervisor, and agency manager. This ‘evidence’ is collated into a Portfolio which is completed by the end of the course.

From September 2024 there will not be an External Assessment for the course.

 

Client Hours

Students need to complete a total of 100 client hours with at least 5 clients in a placement setting, and have their own weekly consecutive therapy for a minimum of 40 sessions whilst they are on the course. They will also need satisfactory supervisor and agency manager reports to pass the course. At least 51 of the client hours need to be face to face. Up to 49 client hours can be completed remotely.

Adjustments

Reasonable adjustments are available to students who need them e.g., non-native English speakers or students with learning difficulties.

Redlands Counselling Service

Successful enrolment on the course, enables you to apply for a placement with Redlands Counselling Service, subject to the following:

  • Satisfactory DBS check
  • Signed Placement Agreement with RCS
  • Agreeing to observe RCS’s Code of Conduct
  • Availability for client work
  • Confirmation from your personal tutor of your readiness to start client work, in term 3 of Year 1
  • Student membership of BACP
  • Personal Indemnity Insurance

Supervision

Once you start your placement in RCS you will be required to contribute £45 per month towards the cost of group fortnightly supervision. This is a cost for which you will need to budget for the duration of your client work. The number of clients hours required for the course is 100, but bear in mind that you may have ongoing clients in your placement at the point you reach 100 hours, when you will need to continue ongoing supervision.

Completing client hours

The period needed to complete your client hours will vary depending on your availability, client attendance etc. The maximum number of clients you will be asked to counsel at any one time in RCS will be 3. If you have an external placement in addition to a placement in RCS, the total number of clients you can counsel at any one time will 6 (including the 3 at RCS).

If you are considering completing client hours in an external placement you will need to ensure that it is a placement approved by RCS, and obtain agreement from your tutor (and RCS supervisor if you have started your placement at RCS) before being able to count client hours in the external placement.

Client ages

This course qualifies you to counsel 18-year-olds and older.

If you are considering an external placement for counselling 11-18-year-olds, you will also first need to complete the Redlands short 5-day course ‘Working with Young People’. You can count 30 hours of client work with this age group towards the 100 client hours required to pass the course.

2025/2026

Tuition fee: £3250 per year, plus

CPCAB registration fee: £375 per year

 If Year 1 fees and CPCAB registration fees are paid in full on or before 29th July 2025, a £300 discount will be applied, reducing the tuition fee to £2950.

 

A payment plan is available for this course – please contact us for further details

 

BACP Membership

You will need to become a student member of the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP).
The cost of this is currently £90 per year.

Textbooks

Students will need to buy course textbooks which can be ordered from bookstores such as Waterstones, as well as Amazon.co.uk. The total cost of the course textbooks is approximately £140.

Therapy

Weekly personal counselling will also be required for a minimum of 40 sessions. The cost of this can vary between £30-50 per session.
You need to have started your own therapy before you can start client work. You must obtain written prior approval of your proposed counsellor, from your course tutor for your hours to count.

Client work

Depending on your readiness to start client work you can expect to start client work by the end of year 1. Once you start client work you will need to arrange your own personal indemnity insurance.
If you are taking up a placement with the Redlands Counselling Service (RCS) you will need to budget for fortnightly supervision (see the section headed ‘Placement’ below) and before your placement starts, we will need to obtain a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (formerly Criminal Records Bureau – CRB) check.
This will cost £65 which will need to be paid before the check is carried out.

You will also need to budget for 2 SD cards for digitally recording role play sessions.
Approximately £10 in total

Application Process

  1. Complete the ‘Register Your Interest’ form at the bottom of this page and we’ll send you the application form.
  2. Fill in the online application form with your personal statement.
  3. If you meet the initial entry requirements we will offer you a conditional place on the course and send you a Training Contract.
  4. To accept your offer of a place you will need to sign and return your Training Contract together with a £625 non-refundable* deposit.
  5. We will then seek a reference from your Level 3 course tutor and arrange an interview with one of our Level 4 tutors.

* The deposit is non-refundable unless either i) the course is cancelled or ii) The Level 3 course reference is not satisfactory/the interview is not successful. In these cases a refund will be issued.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use this course towards an OU degree?

Yes, our Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling can be used towards the Stage 1 (120 credits) OU Bsc (Hons) Counselling Degree.

What are the specific CPCAB guidelines?

Criteria considered important in selecting applicants for a programme leading to Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling:

  • Identify reasons for training beyond just personal development.
  • Be aware of the time and other resources required to meet demands of the course.
  • Provide 1 personal and 1 professional reference.
  • Be academically and emotionally able to cope with this level of training.
  • Ability to work with difference and diversity.
  • Possess personal qualities, imagination, intuition, openness, and ability to benefit from self-development.
  • Possess the ability to form a helping relationship.
  • Have self-awareness, insight, honesty, and the ability to make links.
  • Possess emotional stability and the absence of personality disturbance.
  • Ability to challenge and be challenged.
  • Ability to respond sensitively and empathically to others.

What are the generic CPCAB requirements?

These are the requirements which apply to all CPCAB courses and are set out as follows:

Potential trainees must possess a level of literacy and numeracy that is sufficient for the programme concerned. Applicants should be aware that the qualification is not suitable for those who are currently in a state of severe emotional difficulty and/or severe psychological confusion, and that if this entry requirement is not adhered to, he/she will normally be asked to leave the training programme and seek professional support. This includes, for example, those:

  • Currently experiencing – without ongoing and appropriate professional support – a recent, major life crisis such as marital breakdown or a close bereavement.
  • Currently experiencing moderate to severe mental health problems including, for example, clinical depression, severe anxiety disorders, eating disorders, personality disorders or any form of psychosis.
  • Currently involved in substance misuse.

You need to be aware that the course involves experiential elements which will involve some personal disclosure and associated personal development activities.

Where applicable, we would also advise applicants against joining the same training group as their partner or a close member of the family.

Is there funding for the course, including the Advanced Learner Loan?

As Redlands is an independent training provider, we are not part of the Government-Funded Advanced Learner Loan scheme. For this reason, our learners are self-funded. 

We do aim to keep our costs at a level which make all our courses accessible, whilst maintaining excellent quality.  There is an early payment discount for this course, and the details and deadline for this is on the Fees and Costs section of the webpage.

Can I apply for this course if I haven’t done counselling training but have relevant work experience?

Unfortunately we cannot take relevant work experience to meet this entry requirement. Our qualifications are awarded by the CPCAB, and it is their requirement that entry to the Level 4 Diploma course is dependent on having completed the Level 3 Counselling Studies course, which in turn is dependent on having completed the Level 2 Counselling Skills course.

However we are able to accept qualifications from other awarding bodies, as long as they consisted of 90 hours counselling skills and were provided as classroom-based training. (ie not online training)

Can I pay the course fees in instalments, or do you offer an early payment plan?

We do not offer a fees instalment plan; however we do have an early payment discount for this course, and the details and deadline for this are on the Fees and Costs section of the webpage.

What do the initials CPCAB stand for?

CPCAB stands for the Counselling & Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body. This is the Body which awards the qualification to students who are assessed as proficient at the end of the course. CPCAB is the only national Awarding Body which specialises in counselling qualifications.

    Register your Interest

    To register your interest in applying for this course please complete the details below and a member of our team will be in contact to discuss more details.

    I am interested in studying