Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice
GCCP
Build the counselling skills to support genuine change in others' lives, wherever your career takes you. AIPC's Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice develops your ability to create a safe, therapeutic environment, along with the communication, sensitivity and ethical conduct central to counselling, with skills that transfer across human services, psychology, nursing, teaching, welfare and allied health. Approved for FEE-HELP and delivered online.
The Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice will develop your knowledge and skills in counselling practice with emphasis on the process of creating a therapeutic environment for clients and on cultivating high levels of skill in communication, sensitivity, self-knowledge, and ethical conduct required of the counselling profession.
The knowledge and skills acquired are transferable to a variety of disciplines inclusive of human services, psychology, nursing, teaching, welfare, and allied health practices.
Our program is approved for FEE-HELP and is delivered online.
You can apply for entry into the Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice if you have successfully completed an undergraduate (Bachelor) degree in any field.
FEE-HELP is a loan scheme for eligible students to pay their tuition (subject) fees.
Pay your subject fees direct to the institute each semester for each subject in which you are enrolled.
Split Payments. This means you can pay a portion of your subject fees yourself, and the remaining portion using FEE-HELP (if eligible).
Pay via Credit Card or Direct Debit.
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Course Recognition
Why study our Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice
Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice provides a flexible and affordable alternative to traditional tertiary education.
Career ready
A specialist graduate course is your chance to step up with advanced knowledge in a focused area of counselling practice. These qualifications give you real-world, immediately applicable expertise to enhance your current role or prepare you for future study — putting you on a clear pathway if you decide to pursue full counselling qualifications later on.
Extremely applicable
Our specialist graduate courses are designed for professionals who want to elevate their impact. You’ll gain powerful knowledge that integrates seamlessly into your career — helping you better support others, deepen client communication, and stand out as a specialist in your field.
Counselling education specialists
We believe you're better off learning from a specialist than a generalist. Many training providers deliver courses across a variety of industries. At AIPC, we prefer to concentrate on counselling and community services education.
Flexible learning
With so many demands on our time it can be difficult to fit study in around other commitments, that's why our Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice has been designed to maximise your learning from home where you can progress through your studies in a full-time or part-time pace.
Career ready
A specialist graduate course is your chance to step up with advanced knowledge in a focused area of counselling practice. These qualifications give you real-world, immediately applicable expertise to enhance your current role or prepare you for future study — putting you on a clear pathway if you decide to pursue full counselling qualifications later on.
Extremely applicable
Our specialist graduate courses are designed for professionals who want to elevate their impact. You’ll gain powerful knowledge that integrates seamlessly into your career — helping you better support others, deepen client communication, and stand out as a specialist in your field.
Counselling education specialists
We believe you're better off learning from a specialist than a generalist. Many training providers deliver courses across a variety of industries. At AIPC, we prefer to concentrate on counselling and community services education.
Flexible learning
With so many demands on our time it can be difficult to fit study in around other commitments, that's why our Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice has been designed to maximise your learning from home where you can progress through your studies in a full-time or part-time pace.
Course Outline
Prerequisite: NIL, EFTSL: 0.125
This unit provides students with the theoretical grounding and fundamental elements of counselling practice through an integration of counselling processes and skills. Students will learn about the importance of the therapeutic alliance and develop discrete micro-counselling skills with an emphasis on relationship development and change facilitation. Students will be supported to explore and reflect on their own values and beliefs and how these may affect the counselling relationship and process.
Prerequisite: NIL, EFTSL: 0.125
This unit discusses the importance of ethical and legal frameworks and the obligations of the counsellor within the therapeutic context. Students will examine confidentiality and other core ethical principles with consideration of culture and identity within an Australian context. Record keeping, note taking and general client management are included to ensure student understanding of these legal and procedural elements.
Prerequisite: NIL, EFTSL: 0.125
In this unit students develop a critical understanding of major counselling models and their application. Students recognise the individual needs of clients, and the importance of a counselling approach that is flexible and adaptive based on presenting client needs. Students reflect on their own values and beliefs within the context of the counselling models to develop an integrative model of practice.
Prerequisite: NIL, EFTSL: 0.125
This unit provides students with a global perspective of counselling practice. Students will critically reflect on therapeutic knowledge developed in previous units, their professional framework and current best practice evidence to develop responses to different counselling contexts. Students will examine skills and knowledge for working with (but not limited to) cultural identity, gender and sexuality, neurodiversity and social justice in counselling.
This course is for the development of specialist knowledge and skills enhancement and does not lead to accreditation or registration as a generalist or specialist Counsellor.
Below are the upcoming intake periods for the Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice.
Trimester | Commences | Census | Residential School | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Term 1, 2026 | 2nd Feb 2026 | 16th Feb 2026 | - | 5th Apr 2026 |
Term 2, 2026 | 20th Apr 2026 | 4th May 2026 | - | 21st Jun 2026 |
Term 3, 2026 | 13th Jul 2026 | 27th Jul 2026 | - | 13th Sept 2026 |
Term 4, 2026 | 5th Oct 2026 | 19th Oct 2026 | - | 6th Dec 2026 |
Course | Year | Tuition Fee per unit | Total Course Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice (4 Subjects) | 2026 | $2,990 each | $11,960 |
On your Application Form, you chose one course payment option to pay for your course. You are able to:
Option 1: Pay for your course using FEE-HELP (if you are eligible).
Option 2: Pay for each term of your studies upfront.
Option 3: Pay for a portion of your fees upfront and the remaining portion using FEE-HELP.
If your application is successful and you accept your placement, the investment for each unit is payable via the following methods after accepting your placement:
If you are choosing to pay all or part of your unit fees through FEE-HELP, you will need to return your Request for FEE-HELP Assistance form for the term by the due date indicated in your term enrolment letter. You can find out more about FEE-HELP from the following publication: Fee Help Information – 2026
Payment by credit card, cheque or money order for the term by the due date indicated in your term enrolment letter (usually within two weeks of the term commencing).
If you are paying some of your fees yourself and some through FEE-HELP, then returning your Request for FEEHELP Assistance form and payment of the remaining amount by credit card, cheque or money order by the due date of the term.
If accepted into the course, you nominate your preferred payment method on your Confirmation of Acceptance form to confirm your place in the course. Please note that the unit fees, and any other associated fees, are current only for the units in which you are presently enrolled, and can be reviewed and changed at the Institute’s discretion for future terms.
Subjects where credit is granted
Students are able to apply for credit of previous studies and experience as described in the RPL and Credit Transfer Policy and are not required to pay the unit fee for each unit in which credit is granted.
Additional and Non-Tuition Costs
The following additional and/or non-tuition costs apply:
Current textbook lists are found on the Higher Education Learning Portal which can be accessed upon enrolment. Students are encouraged to submit their online textbook order through Booktopia prior to commencing their studies for the trimester. Students are able to source textbooks from other suppliers if they choose. Students are able to choose from textbooks or e-books, depending on availability, and further information is provided each trimester as to where these can be sourced from.
Students have access to comprehensive online library of texts and resources.
External students borrowing hard copy library resources will need to pay for postage to return the borrowed item/s to the Institute at Locked Bag 15, Fortitude Valley 4006. Please refer to the Australia Post postage calculator for current indicative pricing: http://auspost.com.au/apps/postage-calculator.html.
For students living overseas, please check postage costs with your chosen postal or courier service. Overdue items are charged at $1 per day until the item is returned.
Students are able to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) or Credit Transfer to receive credit for one or more units** of the Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice (up to a maximum of 2 units).
This enhances student progression through the course and provides recognition for students entering the course with relevant prior studies and work experience. Students granted RPL or credit are not disadvantaged in achieving the expected learning outcomes of the course, and the integrity of the qualification must be maintained.
RPL recognises that students, due to relevant life and work experiences, may already possess the requisite skills and knowledge for unit/s in the Bachelor course. Students who have been working within a counselling environment for a number of years are able to apply for recognition of this prior learning or experience. Exemption can be applied for one or more course units** (up to a maximum of 2 units).
Assessing credit from prior experience takes into account the authenticity, currency, quality, relevance, transferability and comparability of the experience to the requirements of the unit for which credit is being applied.
Credit Transfer
Credit Transfer refers to obtaining credit towards another course on the basis of having completed previous study of an equivalent subject or unit. Students who have completed similar units to those included in the Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice are welcome to apply for Credit Transfer. Students who have completed or partially completed another counselling course are particularly encouraged to apply for Credit Transfer.
Credit will not normally be granted for formal study completed more than 10 years prior to application unless there is evidence of continued relevance of this study for the course towards which credit is sought. Credit is granted where there is substantial overlap with the content and/or learning outcomes of the unit for which credit is being applied.
When assessing credit based on prior study, consideration is given to the objectives of the course, methods of delivery and assessment, admission requirements, course durations, the breadth and depth of the course material, practical training requirements, and experience requirements.
**Students can only obtain credit for a total maximum of 2 units inclusive of whether this credit has been obtained via RPL or credit transfer.
Below is a list of policies and procedures that apply to students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Counselling Practice.
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Zero Risk
We understand that sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you are unable to continue with your studies. If you need to withdraw from a subject, simply follow our formal withdrawal process prior your census date and you will not be charged the subject fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Professionals working in human services, psychology, nursing, teaching, welfare and allied health make up the bulk of the students in this course. The skills transfer between all of these disciplines, so you don’t need to work in counselling to apply what you learn. Entry is open to anyone who has completed a bachelor's degree in any field, as the course is designed for people who want counselling skills to use in the role they already hold.
You’ll cover the theoretical grounding and fundamental elements of counselling practice over four units. That includes why the therapeutic alliance matters and how counsellors create an environment where clients feel free to talk. Discrete micro-counselling skills form a large part of the training, with emphasis on developing a relationship and facilitating change. The course also asks you to examine your own values and beliefs, since those affect how a counselling relationship works.
Micro-counselling skills are the practical core of the course. You’ll practise the discrete techniques counsellors use to establish a relationship and move a conversation towards change. Communication and sensitivity get direct attention, as does ethical conduct in a counselling context. You’ll also develop self-knowledge, since your own reactions affect how you respond to a client.
AIPC teaches this graduate certificate entirely online, with no residential school or campus component of any kind. That sets it apart from the Bachelor of Counselling and Master of Counselling, both of which require residential school attendance in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or Perth.
Yes, a graduate certificate is a recognised postgraduate qualification, so completing one demonstrates you can work at that level. Six months of study also gives you a sense of whether counselling suits you before you commit to something longer. If you decide to continue studying with us, you can apply for credit transfer towards a related qualification. Our admissions team will assess your transcript and confirm what you’re eligible for.
The Master of Counselling qualifies you to practise as a counsellor. This graduate certificate develops counselling skills for the role you already do and doesn’t lead to accreditation or registration. The master’s degree takes 24 months to complete and includes 168 hours of supervised placement. This certificate covers four units in six months with no placement.
Nurses, teachers, welfare officers, allied health practitioners and human services workers regularly have conversations that call for counselling skills they were never formally taught. This course gives you those skills without asking you to leave the job you’re in, since you can fit six months of part-time study around your current schedule. What it won’t do is qualify you to practise as a counsellor, which takes a full degree.
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