- Language, dignity and autonomy
- Trauma-informed principles
- Choice, consent and pacing
- Avoiding victim-blaming
top of page
Professional Diploma in Working Therapeutically with Survivors of Abuse
A live-online, trauma-informed programme supporting safe, ethical and survivor-centred work with adults affected by abuse, coercion, exploitation and complex relational trauma.
Professional Diploma
Professional Diploma in Working Therapeutically with Survivors of Abuse
A live-online, trauma-informed programme supporting safe, ethical and survivor-centred work with adults affected by abuse, coercion, exploitation and complex relational trauma.
At a Glance
Course Details
30 hrsLive Zoom Teaching
30 hrsSelf-Directed Learning
60CPD Credits
DiplomaProfessional Award
Overview
Course Description
This programme develops a professionally bounded understanding of the psychological, relational and social effects of abuse. It supports practitioners and students to respond to disclosures with care, avoid victim-blaming and premature interpretation, and work in ways that protect dignity, autonomy, choice and safety.
Learners consider trauma responses, shame, guilt, dissociation, attachment disruption, coercive control and the long-term effects of betrayal. Contemporary trauma-informed and relational perspectives are integrated with reflective psychodynamic thinking where appropriate.
Applied discussion, case formulation, skills practice and supervision-focused reflection help learners connect theory with safe professional action. The course emphasises scope of competence, safeguarding, referral, documentation, cultural humility and practitioner wellbeing.
Professional Learning
Course Highlights
- Survivor-centred and trauma-informed principles
- Power, coercion, grooming, exploitation and betrayal
- Safe responses to disclosure and first-line support
- Shame, guilt, self-blame and social stigma
- Dissociation, grounding and emotional regulation
- Attachment, trust and the therapeutic relationship
- Safeguarding, risk, documentation and referral
- Transference, countertransference and supervision
- Cultural, identity and systemic considerations
- Practitioner wellbeing and vicarious trauma awareness
Programme Structure
Ten-Module Programme
- Patterns of power and control
- Grooming and exploitation
- Barriers to leaving or disclosure
- Social and relational context
- Threat responses and survival adaptations
- Traumatic memory
- Hyperarousal, shutdown and dissociation
- Stabilisation before processing
- Listening without interrogation
- Validation and emotional containment
- Immediate safety and safeguarding
- Documentation and referral pathways
- Internalised blame
- Protective meanings and defences
- Compassionate and non-stigmatising communication
- Restoring agency
- Recognising dysregulation
- Grounding and orientation
- Window of tolerance
- Collaborative coping plans
- Betrayal and relational trauma
- Boundaries and consistency
- Rupture and repair
- Dependency and autonomy
- Confidentiality and its limits
- Capacity, consent and information-sharing
- Risk escalation
- Multidisciplinary consultation and referral
- Transference and countertransference
- Repetition and relational patterns
- Avoiding imposed interpretation
- Using supervision effectively
- Integrated case formulation
- Cultural humility and identity
- Vicarious trauma and burnout
- Sustainable professional practice
Assessment Breakdown
Assessment & Course Completion
Your overall course mark is calculated from four assessment components, totalling 100%.
- Class Attendance — 10%: A minimum of 80% attendance at live online classes is required. Attendance is recorded automatically through Zoom and reconciled by the Registry.
- Skills Assessment — 30% (Mandatory): A demonstrated skills assessment is observed by the lecturer. A minimum passing grade of 80% in the skills assessment is required to receive the course award. Learners who do not achieve 80% at their first attempt will be offered a resubmission opportunity.
- Moodle Activity & Lecture Viewing — 20% (Mandatory): Engagement is evidenced through Moodle activity logs, including lecture recordings viewed in full, resources accessed, module tasks completed and consistent weekly participation. Passive enrolment without activity will not meet this requirement.
- Case Studies — Modules 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 — 40%: Six case-study submissions are completed across Modules 5–10, applying course concepts to practice. The six submissions collectively account for 40% of the overall course mark and are assessed against the published marking rubric on Moodle. This is the largest single component of the final grade.
Total Percentage Achievable: 100%. The minimum attendance requirement and mandatory skills and Moodle engagement requirements must also be met.
Regular attendance, sustained Moodle engagement and timely assessment submissions support successful progression through the course. If you fall behind or have any concerns about your progress, contact the Registry early for support.
Good to Know
Professional Requirements & Support
Professional Boundaries
The programme is educational and does not replace specialist trauma, medical, psychiatric, legal or statutory training. Learners must practise within their qualifications, role and competence.
Safeguarding & Referral
Acute risk, child or vulnerable-adult safeguarding concerns, serious mental-health presentations and matters requiring statutory intervention must be escalated through appropriate organisational and professional pathways.
Practitioner Support
Work with abuse can evoke strong personal and professional responses. Supervision, reflective practice, appropriate personal support and attention to vicarious trauma are essential.
Safe, Ethical & Survivor-Centred Learning
Case material used in teaching should be sufficiently anonymised, and participants must maintain confidentiality and respectful professional communication throughout the programme.
Students should contact the Academic Registry Office to confirm current dates, fees, entry requirements, assessment arrangements and accreditation pathways before enrolment.
Live Delivery
Zoom Delivery
All live online classes are delivered via ICPS College's secure enterprise Zoom platform, providing a stable, professional and confidential environment for lecturer-led teaching, discussion and skills practice. Students are expected to engage fully with live sessions, including breakout room discussions and applied skills practice, to gain the maximum benefit from the programme.
Given the personal and reflective nature of some of the material covered in this course, students are encouraged to attend live sessions from a private, confidential space and to take breaks or seek support where needed. Students experiencing technical difficulties should contact the College promptly so that alternative arrangements can be made where possible.
Learning Platform
Moodle LMS
Students are provided with access to the College's Moodle Learning Management System, where lecture notes, reading materials, module resources and assessment guidance are made available throughout the course. The Moodle LMS supports independent study and allows students to revisit key concepts, review recorded material where applicable, and prepare thoroughly for assessment.
Students are expected to engage regularly with the Moodle LMS as part of their self-directed learning hours. The platform is updated throughout the course to reflect the content covered in live sessions and to support consistent, structured academic progression.
Professional Accreditation & Important Information
Professional pathway and membership options may be available through the Irish Counselling, Psychotherapy & Allied Healthcare Professionals Association (ICPHAA) and recognised continuing-professional-development structures, subject to the current criteria of the relevant body. Students should confirm any specific pathway requirements with the lecturer, course leader or Registry Office.
By enrolling, students agree to comply with ICPS College policies, procedures and codes of conduct. Official course/cohort WhatsApp groups are College-moderated. Unofficial or unmoderated course/cohort groups should not be created for College-related communication without prior College knowledge and consent. These arrangements support student welfare, confidentiality, professional boundaries and protection from bullying, harassment, intimidation, exclusion and reputational harm.
Professional Diploma
Professional Diploma in Working Therapeutically with Survivors of Abuse
A live-online, trauma-informed programme supporting safe, ethical and survivor-centred work with adults affected by abuse, coercion, exploitation and complex relational trauma.
At a Glance
Course Details
30 hrsLive Zoom Teaching
30 hrsSelf-Directed Learning
60CPD Credits
DiplomaProfessional Award
Overview
Course Description
This programme develops a professionally bounded understanding of the psychological, relational and social effects of abuse. It supports practitioners and students to respond to disclosures with care, avoid victim-blaming and premature interpretation, and work in ways that protect dignity, autonomy, choice and safety.
Learners consider trauma responses, shame, guilt, dissociation, attachment disruption, coercive control and the long-term effects of betrayal. Contemporary trauma-informed and relational perspectives are integrated with reflective psychodynamic thinking where appropriate.
Applied discussion, case formulation, skills practice and supervision-focused reflection help learners connect theory with safe professional action. The course emphasises scope of competence, safeguarding, referral, documentation, cultural humility and practitioner wellbeing.
Professional Learning
Course Highlights
- Survivor-centred and trauma-informed principles
- Power, coercion, grooming, exploitation and betrayal
- Safe responses to disclosure and first-line support
- Shame, guilt, self-blame and social stigma
- Dissociation, grounding and emotional regulation
- Attachment, trust and the therapeutic relationship
- Safeguarding, risk, documentation and referral
- Transference, countertransference and supervision
- Cultural, identity and systemic considerations
- Practitioner wellbeing and vicarious trauma awareness
Programme Structure
Ten-Module Programme
- Language, dignity and autonomy
- Trauma-informed principles
- Choice, consent and pacing
- Avoiding victim-blaming
- Patterns of power and control
- Grooming and exploitation
- Barriers to leaving or disclosure
- Social and relational context
- Threat responses and survival adaptations
- Traumatic memory
- Hyperarousal, shutdown and dissociation
- Stabilisation before processing
- Listening without interrogation
- Validation and emotional containment
- Immediate safety and safeguarding
- Documentation and referral pathways
- Internalised blame
- Protective meanings and defences
- Compassionate and non-stigmatising communication
- Restoring agency
- Recognising dysregulation
- Grounding and orientation
- Window of tolerance
- Collaborative coping plans
- Betrayal and relational trauma
- Boundaries and consistency
- Rupture and repair
- Dependency and autonomy
- Confidentiality and its limits
- Capacity, consent and information-sharing
- Risk escalation
- Multidisciplinary consultation and referral
- Transference and countertransference
- Repetition and relational patterns
- Avoiding imposed interpretation
- Using supervision effectively
- Integrated case formulation
- Cultural humility and identity
- Vicarious trauma and burnout
- Sustainable professional practice
Assessment Breakdown
Assessment & Course Completion
Your overall course mark is calculated from four assessment components, totalling 100%.
- Class Attendance — 10%: A minimum of 80% attendance at live online classes is required. Attendance is recorded automatically through Zoom and reconciled by the Registry.
- Skills Assessment — 30% (Mandatory): A demonstrated skills assessment is observed by the lecturer. A minimum passing grade of 80% in the skills assessment is required to receive the course award. Learners who do not achieve 80% at their first attempt will be offered a resubmission opportunity.
- Moodle Activity & Lecture Viewing — 20% (Mandatory): Engagement is evidenced through Moodle activity logs, including lecture recordings viewed in full, resources accessed, module tasks completed and consistent weekly participation. Passive enrolment without activity will not meet this requirement.
- Case Studies — Modules 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 — 40%: Six case-study submissions are completed across Modules 5–10, applying course concepts to practice. The six submissions collectively account for 40% of the overall course mark and are assessed against the published marking rubric on Moodle. This is the largest single component of the final grade.
Total Percentage Achievable: 100%. The minimum attendance requirement and mandatory skills and Moodle engagement requirements must also be met.
Regular attendance, sustained Moodle engagement and timely assessment submissions support successful progression through the course. If you fall behind or have any concerns about your progress, contact the Registry early for support.
Good to Know
Professional Requirements & Support
Professional Boundaries
The programme is educational and does not replace specialist trauma, medical, psychiatric, legal or statutory training. Learners must practise within their qualifications, role and competence.
Safeguarding & Referral
Acute risk, child or vulnerable-adult safeguarding concerns, serious mental-health presentations and matters requiring statutory intervention must be escalated through appropriate organisational and professional pathways.
Practitioner Support
Work with abuse can evoke strong personal and professional responses. Supervision, reflective practice, appropriate personal support and attention to vicarious trauma are essential.
Safe, Ethical & Survivor-Centred Learning
Case material used in teaching should be sufficiently anonymised, and participants must maintain confidentiality and respectful professional communication throughout the programme.
Students should contact the Academic Registry Office to confirm current dates, fees, entry requirements, assessment arrangements and accreditation pathways before enrolment.
Live Delivery
Zoom Delivery
All live online classes are delivered via ICPS College's secure enterprise Zoom platform, providing a stable, professional and confidential environment for lecturer-led teaching, discussion and skills practice. Students are expected to engage fully with live sessions, including breakout room discussions and applied skills practice, to gain the maximum benefit from the programme.
Given the personal and reflective nature of some of the material covered in this course, students are encouraged to attend live sessions from a private, confidential space and to take breaks or seek support where needed. Students experiencing technical difficulties should contact the College promptly so that alternative arrangements can be made where possible.
Learning Platform
Moodle LMS
Students are provided with access to the College's Moodle Learning Management System, where lecture notes, reading materials, module resources and assessment guidance are made available throughout the course. The Moodle LMS supports independent study and allows students to revisit key concepts, review recorded material where applicable, and prepare thoroughly for assessment.
Students are expected to engage regularly with the Moodle LMS as part of their self-directed learning hours. The platform is updated throughout the course to reflect the content covered in live sessions and to support consistent, structured academic progression.
Professional Accreditation & Important Information
Professional pathway and membership options may be available through the Irish Counselling, Psychotherapy & Allied Healthcare Professionals Association (ICPHAA) and recognised continuing-professional-development structures, subject to the current criteria of the relevant body. Students should confirm any specific pathway requirements with the lecturer, course leader or Registry Office.
By enrolling, students agree to comply with ICPS College policies, procedures and codes of conduct. Official course/cohort WhatsApp groups are College-moderated. Unofficial or unmoderated course/cohort groups should not be created for College-related communication without prior College knowledge and consent. These arrangements support student welfare, confidentiality, professional boundaries and protection from bullying, harassment, intimidation, exclusion and reputational harm.
bottom of page