Course Description

The Professional Diploma in Advanced Therapeutic Skills for Complex Clients is a specialist live-online programme designed for experienced counsellors, psychotherapists, trainees and allied mental-health practitioners. It develops a structured and professionally bounded understanding of complex client presentations, advanced formulation and relational therapeutic practice. The programme combines conceptual teaching, clinical reflection, applied skills, case discussion and ethical decision-making so that learners can connect theory with real-world therapeutic and helping contexts.

Teaching begins by establishing the principal concepts and language used in complex client presentations, advanced formulation and relational therapeutic practice. Learners examine how biological, psychological, relational, social and cultural influences shape presentation and recovery. The course then moves progressively into assessment, formulation, communication and intervention, with careful attention to what falls within the learner’s role and when specialist referral, multidisciplinary consultation or medical input is required.

A psychodynamic strand runs throughout the programme. Freudian concepts such as unconscious conflict, defence, repetition, transference and countertransference are used to deepen formulation, while Lacanian ideas concerning language, desire, the symbolic order and the subject’s relationship to the Other are introduced where they illuminate the course theme. These perspectives are integrated alongside contemporary evidence-informed approaches rather than presented as stand-alone doctrine.

Practical application is central. Learners participate in structured skills practice, case formulation, reflective exercises and scenario work designed to strengthen professional judgement. The programme emphasises relational safety, informed consent, scope of competence, cultural humility, safeguarding awareness, appropriate boundaries and the use of supervision. Learners are encouraged to notice their own emotional responses, assumptions and countertransference so that self-awareness becomes part of safe practice.

The live-online format supports direct lecturer engagement and peer discussion while Moodle provides structured resources for independent learning, revision and assessment preparation. The wider learning hours are used for reading, reflective practice, skills rehearsal and engagement with supplementary academic material. The overall design therefore combines live teaching with disciplined self-directed study rather than treating online delivery as passive distance learning.

By completion, learners should be able to discuss complex client presentations, advanced formulation and relational therapeutic practice with greater conceptual clarity, formulate relevant presentations using an integrated framework, communicate safely and respectfully, and apply course-specific skills within appropriate professional boundaries. The qualification is intended to strengthen continuing professional development and reflective practice; it does not replace statutory, medical, diagnostic or specialist training where those functions are legally or professionally restricted.

Additional Information

This programme provides a broad professional foundation in complex client presentations, advanced formulation and relational therapeutic practice. It should be applied within each learner’s existing role, competence, training background and ethical responsibilities. Where a presentation involves acute risk, safeguarding, complex medical questions, severe dissociation, statutory intervention or specialist assessment, learners are expected to follow appropriate referral and escalation pathways rather than practise beyond competence.

Live sessions are lecturer-led and may include demonstrations, reflective work, case discussion, skills rehearsal and breakout-room activities. Students are expected to participate actively and to maintain confidentiality when discussing practice material. Any case material brought to class should be sufficiently anonymised. The College may provide recordings of appropriate teaching segments for revision, while routine breakout rooms are not normally recorded.

Students are expected to engage consistently with Moodle, directed reading and assessment preparation. Professional learning in counselling and psychotherapy can evoke personal material; learners should use supervision, personal therapy or other appropriate supports where relevant. ICPS College also expects respectful communication, dignity, inclusivity, a non-judgemental attitude and adherence to College policies, procedures and codes of conduct throughout the programme.

Completion of the Professional Diploma in Advanced Therapeutic Skills for Complex Clients does not in itself confer a protected professional title or authority to diagnose, prescribe, provide statutory assessment or undertake specialist interventions outside the learner’s existing competence. Students seeking clarification about accreditation, attendance, assessment, progression or professional scope should contact the Registry Office at registry@icps.ie.