Internal counselling qualifications - The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education
Skip to content

Home > Internal counselling qualifications

Internal counselling qualifications

African teenage boy with sad expression sitting at psychologist office and talking to specialist

Early booking highly recommended as limited places
For more information: info@iate.uk

For some of our advanced trainings (e.g. Master’s degree trainings) we require a Level 2 counselling qualification (not simply a certificate of attendance).

If you do not have one, you can complete this qualification during your first or second year of training. However, to ensure the highest standards and provide the strongest support for your development as a therapeutic practitioner, this must be one of our internal courses. These are in-depth, life-enhancing and offer lots of supervised practice in small, safe groups. Either training will be accepted for both Master’s degrees. For example, if you are intending to attend the MA Integrative Arts Psychotherapy training, you might choose to attend the child counselling course, thus giving you skills for a different client group.

Usually, both trainings run twice yearly. They fill up quickly, so early booking is highly recommended.
You can choose from:

  • Certificate in Counselling Skills – 4 weekend days, live at IATE
  • Certificate in Child and Adolescent Counselling Skills – 6 weekend days, online

See below for further details.

Mature Hispanic woman coaching a junior colleague on conflict resolution, demonstrating empathy and clear communicationMan talking to counsellor

 

Certificate in Counselling Skills

Level two award with 70 hours accrued from current IATE training

This experiential training invites you to explore the foundations of counselling and the power of therapeutic communication.

Explore the art of active listening, empathy, and therapeutic conversation

This two-part experiential training introduces the core skills of person-centred counselling and therapeutic communication. The training is specifically designed for those already studying at IATE to deeply enrich their learning as well as fulfilling the course requirement of attending a Level 2 counselling skills training. In skills practice, you will supervised by top psychotherapists, so you feel competent not pseudo-competent.

Benefits from attending

  • Understand how to develop therapeutic presence so people feel safe enough to open up.
  • Develop active listening skills and learn how to voice empathy.
  • Learn how to respond in ways that people feel seen, understood and deeply valued.
  • Gain skills in paraphrasing, summarising, tracking, congruence, focusing, challenging.
  • Recognise the power of congruence and unconditional positive regard.
  • Understand blocks to listening, counter-transference pitfalls and how to avoid them.
  • Use simple arts-based activities to enhance emotional expression and understanding.
  • Learn how to respond with your own images and metaphors.
  • Develop narrative competence in responding to key stories of painful life events.

Dates

Autumn term 2026

Saturday and Sunday November 14-15
Saturday and Sunday December 12-13
10:00am – 5:00pm each day

Spring term 2027

Saturday and Sunday May 1-2
Saturday and Sunday May 15-16
10:00am – 5:00pm each day

Venue

The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education, Danes Yard, London E15 2QL

Fees

£695 (paid in full) by September 1 2026

Spaces are limited to ensure an intimate, supportive group environment.
To register or enquire: daisy@iate.uk

Emotional cute little african american girl at child psychologists office, sitting on chair in front of attractive female therapist, gesturing and smiling, feeling safe. Child psychotherapy conceptPsychotherapist working with young depressed woman. Black and white.

 

Certificate in Child and Adolescent Counselling Skills (online)

Includes second award: Certificate in Child and Adolescent Mental Health

A flexible rolling training programme co-run by The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education (Academic Partner of the University of East London) and Centre for Child Mental Health.

Part One (leading to the award of Certificate in Child and Adolescent Mental Health)

As this is a rolling programme, you can complete part one at any time. Once accepted, you will be given access to all 10 x 2 hours sessions (recorded). Alternatively, depending which month you join, you can choose to attend session/s live streamed instead.

Part Two: From Mental Health Theory to Therapeutic Practice (Child and Adolescent Counselling Skills and Interventions)

June 2026 to September 2026

Time commitment

Six weekend dates (online),
10am – 5pm each day:
– Sat 10 and Sun 11 October 2026
– Sat 21 and Sun 22 November 2026
– Sat 16 and Sun 17 January 2027
Two additional child counselling skills webinars (watch in your own time).
The final day will include an assessment. You can attend the training without doing the assessment and gain a Certificate of Attendance not the award.
You will need to pass assessments from Part One and Two to gain the award.

Admissions

Application form
Experience in working with children or teenagers or experience as a parent.
Fees: £995

Early booking highly recommended as limited places
For more information: info@iate.uk