Counselling BSc (Hons)

University of East London

Would you like to study for an undergraduate degree leading to a professional career in mental health? A course packed with transferable skills relevant to so many careers? A course with an integral placement, working alongside clients as they explore life’s troubles and life’s meaning?

Then our BSc Counselling course is what you are looking for!

We’re offering you an exciting and inclusive British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) accredited professional and academic training and education in counselling. Our course integrates theory, therapeutic competencies, self-awareness, professional development, skills work, and placements, so that you’re prepared to become skilled, competent and reflective practitioners and life-long learners.

On the course, we'll give you in-depth knowledge of three major psychotherapeutic approaches:

Person-centred therapy

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

Psychodynamic therapy

You will develop your understanding of a key feature of counselling: the therapeutic relationship between counsellor and client. In order to achieve this, you'll experience personal therapy yourself, starting in year one. You'll also practise what you've learned in lectures through video-recorded counselling sessions with your peers in the UEL labs.

Once you've passed a Readiness to Practice assessment, you'll progress into supervised clinical placements, meeting with clients bringing a range of life experiences - such as loss and bereavement, violence and abuse, depression and anxiety. We'll prepare you to think about work with clients, and learning at university, with regard to intersectionality. Social justice is one of our passions as a teaching team. It's what UEL stands for!
There are many jobs and careers that are options for you with a BSc Counselling degree. It is a vocational training programme so graduates are eligible to practice after graduation in public and private practice. Other opportunities include jobs within the allied psychology sector, such as: employment specialist; social prescribing link worker; wellbeing manager; support roles in NHS and other mental health providers; advocacy work in the third sector. Some of these many require further training that we can help you with. Some of our graduates choose to seek employment in non-psychology areas. These are jobs in areas where there are employers who want counselling graduates, due to the transferable skills you will gain during your studies. These include human resources; civil service; graduate training schemes; teaching; third sector/charity roles; administration; self-employed/entrepreneur (counselling or non-counselling psychology linked). Students could further progress their education with any of the postgraduate courses we offer such as counselling and psychotherapy-linked postgraduate courses for professional development, counselling psychology, MSc Psychology conversion programme.

Accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).