Core Counselling Skills – August 2026
August 4 @ 9:00 am - August 6 @ 4:30 pm
This three-day introductory course is designed for individuals who are either currently supporting the growth and development of others and wish to enhance their skills, or those considering a career in counselling and looking for a first step.
Participants will develop core counselling skills essential for helping clients build resilience, strengths, and strategies for positive change. Through interactive exercises and guided role-plays, students will apply key counselling techniques while gaining hands-on experience in ethical, client-centered practice.
The course explores the connection between our inner cognitive and emotional lives and how they shape daily experiences and long-term decisions. From this foundation, participants will learn practical approaches to empower clients, foster self-awareness, and promote self-acceptance.
Please note: This course provides an introduction to counselling principles but does not qualify participants to work professionally as a counsellor.
Learning Objectives
Via a mix of group learning, role-plays, exercises and education sessions, following the completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Distinguish between counselling and coaching.
Demonstrate psychological safety in practice.- Demonstrate person-centred therapeutic alliance.
- Practice active listening skills.
- Apply non-verbal communication.
- Understand and apply micro-skills: reflecting, summarising, paraphrasing, check-ins.
- Understand challenging techniques.
- Apply scale-ruler questions to assess needs, relationships and decision-making.
- Understand the process of the adaptive self on authenticity and applications when working with clients.
- Apply principals for working with change.
- Understand and apply a strengths- and values-based approach to client work.
- Apply structured and unstructured goal-setting approaches with clients.
- Understand the concept of core emotions and emotional suppression and how to work at an emotional level with clients.
- Understand the concepts and application of gratitude and compassion.
- Practice and extend self-awareness in the counselling process.
Depending on the needs and counselling experience of the group members, the above learning objectives may be modified accordingly.
Our Trainer
Dr Renzo Vittorino
Renzo is the Course Director of the Graduate Internship Program at The Cairnmillar Institute. Renzo has extensive leadership and clinical experience spanning over 30 years. He has experience in working with individual and families, community, and organisational development. Renzo has extensive experience in the development and delivery of programs and training in trauma informed practice including the recently implemented Trauma Informed Leadership Program delivered to managers of Area Mental Health Services in Victoria in partnership with Centre for Mental Health Learning and Department of Health.
Important Information
This workshop is subject to receiving a minimum number of enrolments. In the case we are unable to deliver the workshop, participants may choose to reschedule to an alternative date or receive a refund.
By purchasing a ticket, you are confirming to have read and agreed to the Enrolment Terms and Conditions set by The Cairnmillar Institute.