We have one space left on our Level 4 Diploma course. Please send all application forms to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. where they will be processed and you will be invited for an interview. (application form at the bottom of the page)
We are also proud to have received some wonderful feedback from some of the placement agencies that our level 4 students undertake placement with. They have found the students friendly, efficient and collaborative to work with and have said how knowledgeable our students are. We pride ourselves on the competencies of our students that go into placement and foster positive relationships with as many placement agencies as we can. (all agencies are assessed by the centre before students undertake their placements)
CPCAB Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling (TC-L4)
This course is structured over two years and is made up of one day a week
Course Information: Course date and time : Thursday day time from 9am - 3pm
The course will run over 2 academic years starting in September 2025 and ending in July 2027.
Course venue: 8 Steel Road, Eaton Socon, Saint Neots, PE19 8TT
Guided Learning Hours – 450 hours over 2 years
Year 1 is made up of 225 guided learning hours
Year 2 is made up of 225 guided learning hours.
Total Qualification Time
1204 Hours (you will be expected to undertake around 7/8 hours outside of the classroom. This does not include personal therapy, suprvision or placement)
Awarding Body: CPCAB – Counselling & Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body
Cost: Total cost of the Level 4 Diploma - £5500
Deposit of £1000 is payable on offer of a place. The balance is broken up into 20 instalments of £225 per month starting 1st September 2025 and ending 1 July 2027.
Plus, a CPCAB Candidate Registration Fee of £379 for year 1 and £379 for year two. (please note this is subject to change and will be updated when CPCAB update their registration fees)
Please see course brochure for more information about the course and the tutors.
Other additional costs of the course are:
Personal therapy - ranging from £30-£60 per hour (4o hours over the two academic years)
Indemnity insurance – ranging from £30-£70 per year.
BACP or equivalent student memberships - ask for student rates
Supervision and course textbooks and any other resources recommended by the course tutors. (ask for student rates)
Successful completion of all elements of the level 4 counselling diploma currently allows you to apply for the BACP Certificate of Proficiency for registered membership.
This is a CPCAB qualification course intended for candidates who have already obtained their Level 3 certificate in counselling skills (or equivalent thereof) and want to:
- Take the next step in their training to become a qualified counsellor
- Learn more about counselling ethics, theory and mental health
- Be prepared for working as a professional counsellor in an agency setting
Course Outline
As a student at the Aloe Counselling Studies, we aim for you to:
- Be successful in your programme of study and achieve your personal goals
- Enjoy your experiences of being a student
- Be taught by tutors who are knowledgeable, fair, and approachable
The two year course will cover the following theories.
- Freud and the Psychoanalytic Approach
- Jung and the Development of the Psychodynamic Approach
- Transactional Analysis
- Carl Rogers and the Client Centred Counselling as well as, Saunders, Mearns, Thorne, McLoud and Cooper. (The Tribes of the Person-Centred Approach), Tudor, Watson
- Creative Therapy
- Emotional Focused Therapy
- Understanding relationships and how to maintain boundaries
- A look at SEX in the therapy room
- Difference and Diversity in the counselling profession
- Arts and Craft and how to use this in your practice
We will also focus on core values and Skills in Counselling including.
- Building client-therapist relationships.
- Enhance your competency skills.
- Communication.
- Application of skills and monitoring of generic skills.
- Preparing to work in placement.
You will gain a deeper grounding in psychodynamic, person-centred and existential theories. Our tutors will introduce you to Transactional Analysis as well as give you the skills to work with Creative and Nature (Eco)therapy. Our tutors are all integrative in their own training.
We will focus on ethical and professional practice covering professional boundaries, ethics, the legal frame, supervision, working with risk and suicide, organisational policies and procedures, mental health, assessment and referral.
The course will also include guest speakers.
The course will be delivered by qualified CPCAB recognised tutors who together have a wealth of knowledge in their chosen fields as well as in their teaching careers. All tutors are in private practice and have over 20 years of experience between them.
CPCAB L4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
The course requires commitment from it its students including expanding personal time, in order to meet many demands of the course that runs over 2 academic years. Assessments will be made on written work and you will be required to compile a portfolio to evidence the theories studied, assessments completed, skills practiced and case studies carried out. At the end of year 1 you will be required to undergo a placement at an agency approved by the centre. You will be required to complete 100 client hours as part of the course. You will undertake regular supervision to support you in your client work. You will be required to undergo 40 hours of personal therapy across the two years of the course.
This is a robust course that offers students the opportunity to learn and develop in the Integrative (not eclectic) model.
Year 1
The course will help students become ready to undergo their placements in year 2. You will be grounded in understanding of ethical practice, legislation, diversity and different theoretical concepts. You will build on your awareness of self in relation to others.
You will gain the ability to communicate and express yourself in group and gain the ability to listen to others and respond appropriately
You will become more reflective as a counsellor. You will develop openness to others’ ideas and to learning from others.
You will continue to build on your self-awareness and develop a core theoretical model based in the integrative model. You will expand on your personal development and use theory to help you understand your own personal history and relationships. You will be introduced to undertaking your placement hours.
Students will be expected to start their placements in the 3rd term of year one. Students will be assessed by the course tutors to ensure their readiness to practice and undertake their placements.
Year 2
Will be made up of expanding your knowledge of the integrative approach and incorporate guest speakers, creative therapy and introduce Nature therapy to the course. Year 2 will focus on case studies and application of skills and theory. Year 2 will also focus on placements undertaken by students.
Course outline:
This is a CPCAB course. The British Association for Counsellors Psychotherapists (BACP), Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions underpins this training. There are seven learning outcomes that will be taught in a variety of ways. Including small group activities, lectures, individual reflective writing, whole group discussions and small group skills practice.
- Working ethically, safely and professionally as a counsellor
- Working within a counselling relationship
- Working with client diversity in counselling work
- Working within a user-centred approach to counselling
- Working with self-awareness in the counselling process
- Working within a coherent framework of counselling theory and skills
- Working self-reflectively as a counsellor
Your tutors will build up a picture of your progress via a range of ‘formative assessments’, which take place throughout Years 1 and 2. Your tutors meet regularly to monitor student progress. Such monitoring may include discussion of a student’s participation in all areas of the curriculum and their sense of progress in activities away from the course day, such as personal therapy and client work. Supervisor’s Reports, completed by your counselling placement supervisor, help provide tutors with a picture of your counselling practice as it develops. Your tutors will become familiar with your counselling style and will help you identify strengths, weaknesses and learning needs, supporting and challenging you as appropriate. Reflective practice is a cornerstone of the training and tutors gauge a great deal about your progress from your ability to form a realistic and flexible view of yourself and others. This includes the ability to give feedback non-judgementally and to receive feedback from others non-defensively.
Entry requirements
You must be 21 years of age or older. Qualifications already obtained must include the CPCAB Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies (or equivalent).
You must have the ability to demonstrate your understanding of English.
The ability to work with difference and diversity.
Continue to work on your self-awareness and demonstrate that you are emotionally resilient enough to undertake the demands of client work.
You will need to attend an interview.
Assessment criteria for this include all of the following:
- A clear wish to train professionally as a counsellor.
- The beginnings of an ability to reflect on your own process. A good level of self-awareness, and a willingness to explore your own defences
- The beginnings of an ability to have some awareness of what is the client’s material and what is your own. You should also have some awareness of any tendency to ‘rescue’.
- A reasonable level of competence in basic counselling skills and an awareness of the importance of holding time and space in a session.
- Some evidence of the qualities of empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard, with awareness of any difficulties with these
- Evidence of being able to receive feedback and identify defensiveness within yourself
- Written work should indicate that you have potential to conceptualise and articulate theory and to present ideas clearly
- Although you cannot proceed to start a placement before the start of Diploma training, you are expected to have begun to research placement opportunities; finding out what is available in your area, identifying what in-house training the placements may provide, and what their application process is
- An understanding of the social context in which counselling and psychotherapy exist, and an open attitude to issues of race, class, age, ethnicity, culture and sexual orientation. An awareness of the dynamics of prejudice and oppression and a willingness to take action as appropriate to minimize the effects of this
- That you have adequate time, social support, internal resources and stability (this factor to be commented on in the Foundation tutor’s report) to enable you to give reasonable attention to all course requirements.
You need to be aware that the course involves experiential elements which will involve personal disclosure and associated personal development activities.
Assessment
Internal assessment.
Internal - You will need to produce a written e-portfolio of work, which will document evidence of your learning, a record of your personal development and a collection of evidence to support CPCAB criteria Successful passing of this course is dependent upon the completion of this portfolio.
All seven learning processes are individually assessed throughout the course using the following methods:
- Reflective Learning journals
- Tutor and peer feedback
- Self-assessment
- Written Assignments
- Case Presentations – including written process report.
- Research Projects
- Presentations
- Group Discussions and group work
- Group Supervision
- Placement and Placement Supervision Report
- Self-Review
- External Assessment
- Personal Therapy
- Skills Practice Sessions
Additional Study Time
You will be expected to undertake additional study hours a week outside of the classroom to complete this course. Due to the amount of the course work it is important that you take into consideration how you will work this around your family life and work in order to afford yourself time to complete and commit to the course.
You will be expected to undertake a minimum of 40 sessions of personal therapy at your own cost
Course Attendance
90% course attendance is required.
Progression Route
Level 5 Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling (PC-L5)
- Level 5 Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapeutic Skills & Theory (CBT-L5)
- Level 5 Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People (CYP-L5)
- Level 6 Certificate in Therapeutic Counselling Supervision (TCSU-L6)
