Counselling

Become an insightful practitioner and find ‘the good life’ with us.

At the University of Divinity, in addition to learning the ways of people and training in professional counselling skills, you’ll be equipped for counselling in the mid-21st century. Come and learn about cutting edge topics including the role of artificial intelligence in mental health, and gain basic business skills to prepare you for private practice.

The Counselling Program is offered by the School of Professional Practice.

Leading student experience in Australia

The University of Divinity is nationally recognised as having one of the most positive student experiences of any university in Australia.

Read more about our student experience results

Equity based allocation of Commonwealth Supported Places

The University of Divinity has been awarded Commonwealth supported places for the Bachelor of Counselling in 2023 and 2024. Places are allocated on equity to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds. A Commonwealth supported place (CSP) is a place at a university where the government pays part of your fees. This part is a subsidy, not a loan, and you don’t have to pay it back.

For the purposes of Equity Places, disadvantaged groups include:

• students from low SES backgrounds
• students from inner regional, outer regional, remote and very remote areas
• students who are first in family to study at university
• First Nations students
• students with a disability

Read more about CSPs

Benefit from a combination of online and on-campus study

Our experience shows that students benefit most from a combination of flexible online learning, and face-to-face learning. In the Bachelor of Counselling all of your units will be blended in some way. A unit of study, for example, may be largely online and require students to meet face-to-face as a class for an intensive. Later in the course you will undertake placements which will require that you counsel clients and seek clinical supervision. This is another form of blended learning. 

The benefit of this blended approach is that it provides you with the flexibility you need to learn in a way which suits your lifestyle while acknowledging that counselling is a very human profession requiring that students meet together to practice and refine their skills under the watchful guidance of an experienced practitioner. A good analogy comes from Japanese martial arts. You may practice various skills at home but in the dojo your skills get refined with others under the guidance of a sensei.

A unique approach to counselling training

At the University of Divinity we seek to attract a diverse range of students who can gift insights from their ‘lived experience’ to their classmates and to their clients later on. In fact, a ‘wounded healer’ model of training is often the best as students come with empathy and knowledge that can’t be learnt from textbooks.

Our curriculum is designed to help you find ‘the good life’ and so, in turn, help your future clients to do the same. We therefore don’t just focus on counselling skills but also on virtues such as hope, courage, and compassion. We want you to engage the human condition in all its messiness and beauty.

We also want to meet the challenges of the mid-21st century. You will also learn about Artificial Intelligence in mental health and basic business skills amongst other interesting topics. As a graduate, you’ll be well prepared for the workplace and for future client needs.

Testimonial

Thank you for having the best teachers to teach us. …  The lecturers you chose were such beautiful human beings.  Such learned people who taught with so much compassion, patience and understanding it made me feel safe to ask questions…  I learned so much from them and they made us feel empowered.

Nancy (1st year student, 2023)