怀卡托理工学院

This programme is designed to meet the professional membership requirements of New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC), Te Whariki Tautoko, NZ Christian Counsellors Association and the Drug and Alcohol Practitioners Association Aotearoa New Zealand (dapaanz).

Students in this programme will develop the professional skills required to work within the complex and interprofessional social service and health communities. Additional to what many other Counselling programmes offer, it includes a mental health and addictions focus. Placement is a significant element of this programme.

Graduates are prepared to enter the counselling workforce at a beginner practitioner level in the context of a bicultural Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Within this degree programme, students will develop the skills to:

• Demonstrate empathy and respect for others
• Understand the social, political, and cultural context of Counselling
• Understand different cultural values
• Articulate the theoretical base of counselling
• Integrate knowledge, skills and practice
• Understand their own values and beliefs in relation to Counselling
• Understand the professional Codes of Ethics

Career/further opportunities

Graduates of this programme will be eligible for provisional membership of professional associations.

Registration of Counsellors is currently not mandatory; however, the current benchmark for counselling practice is membership of an appropriate professional association with an appropriate code of ethics such as the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC), Te Whāriki Tautoko, or the New Zealand Christian Counsellors Association (NZCCA). Counsellors working in the addictions field in the health workforce require dapaanz registration.

Graduates will be qualified to work in a range of social service positions primarily in not-for-profit social service agencies (NGOs), in Counselling or related roles. Graduates may pathway into several relevant postgraduate programmes at Wintec and/or other tertiary education providers. Postgraduate study will enable counsellors to practice at a more advanced level in specialist roles.