Format: Live-online Lecturer Led Classes (Virtual-Classroom) via Zoom

Duration: 1 Evening Every Week 6pm to 9pm

Online Live Attendance: 30 Hours

Self-Directed Learning: 30 Hours

Total CPD Credits: 60 Credits

Assessment: Written Assignment +/- Viva Voca Assessment

Award: Accredited Professional Diploma

 

Course Accreditation:

- Professional Development Consortium

- Provider of Excellence

- CPD Standards Office

- Irish Counselling & Psychotherapy Association (ICPA)

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​Course Description

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The Professional Diploma in Applied Neuroscience for Counselling & Psychotherapy is designed for practitioners who want to understand what is happening in the brain and nervous system during distress, healing, and change, and to translate this knowledge into practical therapeutic work. The course bridges neuroscience and frontline practice, making complex ideas accessible, relevant, and immediately usable in sessions with clients.

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You will explore the structure and function of the brain, the stress response system, and key concepts such as neuroplasticity, memory, emotion regulation, and the role of the body and nervous system in mental health. The programme looks at how early experience, attachment, trauma, habits, and environment shape brain development and patterns of responding across the lifespan.

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A central focus is on applying neuroscience to enhance assessment, formulation, and intervention. You will consider what current research tells us about anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction, compulsive behaviours, and relational difficulties, and how to use this understanding to inform psychoeducation, therapy planning, and moment-to-moment clinical decisions. Particular emphasis is placed on regulation and safety: helping clients move from survival states towards greater flexibility, connection, and wellbeing.

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The course introduces a range of brain-informed strategies and ways of working, including body-based and sensory approaches, regulation skills, attention training, and the use of metaphor and imagery. You will also learn how to talk about the brain with clients in clear, non-pathologising language that supports hope, motivation, and self-compassion.

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Teaching methods typically include lectures, case examples, experiential exercises, and reflective practice. This diploma is suitable for counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, mental health and social care professionals, and others in helping roles. By the end of the course, you will have a solid grounding in applied neuroscience, increased confidence in integrating brain-based ideas into your work, and a richer framework for understanding and supporting change at emotional, cognitive, relational, and physiological levels.

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Learning Outcomes

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By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

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1. Explain key principles of human neuroscience
   Describe the basic structure and function of the nervous system, including major brain regions, neural networks, and neurotransmitter systems, in language appropriate for clinical application.

2. Differentiate between neuro-myths and evidence-based knowledge
   Critically evaluate common claims about the brain and mental health, and distinguish between popular “brain myths” and robust, empirically supported neuroscience.

3. Link brain systems to emotional and behavioural presentations
   Relate the roles of the limbic system, prefrontal cortex, autonomic nervous system, and key neural networks to patterns of emotion, cognition, impulse control, and behaviour commonly seen in clinical practice.

4. Apply a developmental and attachment-informed neuroscience lens
   Explain how early attachment experiences, developmental stages, and relational environments shape brain development, stress reactivity, and patterns of relating in adulthood.

5. Formulate stress and trauma responses neurobiologically
   Describe the neurobiology of stress and trauma (including fight/flight/freeze/fawn responses, HPA axis involvement, and memory fragmentation) and apply this understanding to case formulations and treatment planning.

6. Integrate memory and learning mechanisms into therapeutic work
   Differentiate between implicit and explicit memory systems and demonstrate how principles of learning, neuroplasticity, and memory reconsolidation can be used to support lasting therapeutic change.

7. Develop brain-informed formulations of common clinical presentations
   Construct concise, neuroscience-informed formulations for presentations such as anxiety, depression, OCD-type difficulties, and emotional dysregulation, in a manner that complements participants’ primary therapeutic modalities.

8. Adapt practice for neurodivergent clients using a strengths-based approach
   Describe key neurocognitive features associated with conditions such as ADHD and autism, and adjust therapeutic communication, pacing, and structure to better accommodate different neurotypes.

9. Use psychoeducation about the brain ethically and effectively
   Communicate brain-based explanations to clients in a clear, non-deterministic, and non-pathologising way that enhances hope, agency, and self-compassion rather than blame or stigma.

10. Incorporate lifestyle and somatic factors into brain-informed interventions
    Discuss how sleep, movement, stress regulation, mindfulness, and other lifestyle and somatic factors influence brain functioning, and collaboratively incorporate relevant practices into clients’ support plans within professional boundaries.

11. Embed nervous-system regulation strategies into sessions
    Select and facilitate appropriate bottom-up and top-down regulation strategies (for example, grounding, breathwork, interoceptive awareness, attentional shifting) based on an understanding of nervous-system states and client needs.

12. Integrate applied neuroscience with existing therapeutic models
    Synthesize neuroscience concepts with participants’ core therapeutic orientations (for example, CBT, psychodynamic, humanistic, integrative) to refine assessment, formulation, intervention, and evaluation of outcomes.

13. Reflect on the therapeutic relationship as a driver of neural change
    Articulate how attuned, safe, and consistent therapeutic relationships can shape neural pathways over time, and critically reflect on their own relational style and presence in the therapy room.

14. Demonstrate ethical, culturally sensitive, and trauma-informed application
    Apply neuroscience concepts in a way that respects diversity, avoids reductionism, and maintains professional and ethical standards, including awareness of power, context, and potential impacts on clients’ identity and self-understanding.

 

Course Outline

 

Week 1 – Foundations of Suicide Prevention

• Lecture: History, epidemiology, global and local data

• Workshop: Challenging myths and stigma

• Readings: WHO Live Life Strategy, SAMHSA Suicide Prevention Toolkit

• Assessment: Reflective journal on language and stigma (500 words)

 

Week 2 – The Psychology of Suicide

• Lecture: Theoretical frameworks (Interpesonal Theory, IMV Model, Psychache)

• Case study: Analyzing pathways from ideation to action

• Workshop: Understanding lived experience narratives

• Assessment: Short essay (1000 words) applying theory to case

 

Week 3 – Risk and Protective Factors

• Lecture: Epidemiological risk profiling

• Workshop: Creating biopsychosocial formulations

• Assessment: Risk formulation exercise (graded practical)

 

Week 4 – Assessment and Crisis Recognition

• Lecture: Tools and structured professional judgment

• Practical Workshop: Conducting simulated suicide assessments

• Guest Speaker: Clinical psychologist or crisis service professional

• Assessment: Recorded role-play (pass/fail competency)

 

Week 5 – Intervention & Safety Planning

• Lecture: Overview of intervention models

• Workshop: Safety plan development in triads

• Reading: Stanley & Brown (2012) Safety Planning Intervention

• Assessment: Safety plan submission & rationale (750 words)

 

Week 6 – Working with Special Populations

• Lecture: Culturally safe and inclusive approaches

• Panel Discussion: Voices from diverse communities

• Assessment: Group presentation – targeted prevention strategy

 

Week 7 – Ethics, Law, and Professional Practice

• Lecture: Legal duties, documentation, and ethical dilemmas

• Workshop: Scenario-based decision making

• Assessment: Case-based legal/ethical analysis (1000 words)

 

Week 8 – Postvention and Recovery

• Lecture: Bereavement care, trauma responses, organizational postvention

• Workshop: Designing a postvention protocol

• Assessment: Draft organizational postvention plan (graded)

 

Week 9 – Community & Systems Prevention

• Lecture: Population-level approaches, national strategies

• Workshop: Policy analysis and prevention campaign design

• Assessment: Capstone project proposal

 

Week 10 – Integration, Reflection & Capstone

• Lecture: Integration of learning and professional identity

• Workshop: Supervision, resilience, and self-care strategies

• Assessment​