Postgraduate Courses in Counseling and Psychotherapy

Counseling & Psychotherapy fall under the remit of Psychology and are both topics that you might study for professional reasons, or even simply for pleasure. As a foundation for a future career, the study of Counseling and Psychotherapy will equip you with valuable life skills. It will also act as a suitable prerequisite for a wide range of job roles.

Postgraduate Courses in Counseling and Psychotherapy Trends

For statistical purposes, Counseling and Psychotherapy are grouped together with all the social sciences. In Ireland in 2015-2016, just over 2,600 students enrolled in social science courses, including psychology. This made social sciences the 5th most popular subject in Ireland during 2015-2016 for postgraduate study.

Skills Learned Through Postgraduate Courses in Counseling and Psychotherapy

Depending on where you are taking your postgraduate in Counseling and Psychotherapy course, the core teaching will differ based on the curriculum on offer. However, typical core modules would include:

• Social psychology – how society has a whole, interacts and reacts on a psychological level.
• Psychology of personality – psychology studies related to the psyche of an individual.
• Culture and psychology – how culture and history have and continue to affect human psychology.
• Cognitive and affective bases of behaviour – how behaviour is affected by cognitive function, driven by psychological responses.

Focus in Postgraduate Courses in Counseling and Psychotherapy

As part of your postgraduate study in Counseling and Psychotherapy, you will be offered one of a number specialisations. There are a whole spectrum of potential courses, but these could include:

• Criminal psychology – study of how the criminal mind works. The drivers of criminal activity, deferred guilt, and moral issues.
• Child psychology – how the child mind works, and how external factors can and do affect a child.
• Animal behaviour – study of the way that animal psychology dictates animal behaviour. How animal behaviour can be modified through psychological stimulus.

Studying Postgraduate Courses for Professional Reasons

Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Psychology are fascinating subjects and will give you a firm grounding for a future career. Thsi field provides a great jump point to choose a wide range of career options. Either in psychology- based roles, or in job roles that this area would be a useful knowledge set for.

Job Roles Which Completing Postgraduate Courses in Psychology Will Open Up

Receiving a postgraduate qualification in psychology will open up a large number of potential career paths, including:

• Family services worker – dealing with families that have problems, helping them work through these, to produce a better family environment.
• Psychiatric technician – assisting a psychiatrist in the operation of their practice.
• Rehabilitation specialist – working with criminals who are being rehabilitated back into society after spending time in incarceration.
• Child protection worker – working with children who are at threat from violence and mental damage.
  Furthermore, studying for a postgraduate qualification in this area is a good step off point to continue in a related career, such as:
• Careers adviser – working with students who are about to leave full-time education and start their working life.
• Counsellor – providing support and emotional care for people who have emotional problems they need to work through.
  These are just a few alternative career paths that studying for a postgraduate qualification in psychology can open up. There are many more.

In Conclusion

Counseling and Psychotherapy are both subjects which will equip you with a range of skills that are adaptable to many job roles. Furthermore, this knowledge can also be leveraged in your day to day life. An understanding of psychology will give you an insight into what makes people tick.