Coping with Returning to Counselling Study - Meeting and Reforming Groups In episode 120 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast - the first in this new season - Ken Kelly and Rory Lees-Oakes talk about how to avoid overwhelm when returning to studying after the summer break. Next, they introduce a brand-new regular segment, 'Check-In with CPCAB' (more below), and discuss the purpose of counselling awarding bodies. Finally, the presenters look at meeting new groups in your studies, and reforming old ones after the summer break. Coping with Returning to Study (starts at 2.35 mins) It's natural to feel some relief at the end of an academic year - and some anxiety as the new one fast approaches. Rory and Ken provide some top tips to help you move into the next stage of your studies more calmly and confidently: If you have not been in education for some time, remember that teaching techniques have changed hugely over time: you will likely be pleasantly surprised by how courses are taught these days. Also, counselling and psychotherapy are very different subjects to study from the purely academic ones we were probably exposed to at school. What you will be studying now is highly experiential, with a lot of support offered. Prepare a little if you can - for example, with some initial reading or maybe through using our summer school provided as part of the Counselling Study Resource (CSR). Read through the prospectus/syllabus relating to your course to give you a good idea of what you will learn. Try not to create specific expectations of how your course, tutor and peers will be: instead, let it be what it will be when you get there. Watch out for transference (when you are unconsciously reminded by a person in the present - e.g. your tutor or peers - of someone from your past). Above all, try to stay in the here and now rather than getting caught up in the past or fixated on the future. Two free resources that could be really useful to you in your studies are: The Counselling Tutor Facebook group, where you can find thousands of students, qualified practitioners, supervisors and tutors interested in the world of counselling and psychotherapy. Rory's book How to Survive Counselling Training, which you can get through the Counselling Tutor website (click on any page from the home page and scroll down - you'll find a link in the right-hand sidebar). Rory has written a handout on five ways to avoid new-course overwhelm. You can download this here; it is also available through the Handouts Vault and CSR. Check-In with CPCAB: Counselling Awarding Bodies (starts at 12.10 mins) For this exciting new slot, which Ken and Rory launch in this podcast, they have travelled to Glastonbury, to the headquarters of the CPCAB (Counselling & Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body). CPCAB is the UK's only awarding body run by counsellors for counsellors. There, Ken and Rory speak with Kelly Budd (Head of Qualifications) and Ray van der Poel (Head of Business and Development) about the purpose and function of counselling awarding bodies. Purpose of Counselling Awarding Bodies They develop and design qualifications (in the case of CPCAB, in the field of counselling and psychotherapy) They also set quality standards for centres that deliver these qualifications, monitoring them to ensure that students receive appropriate teaching and support. Last but not least, awarding bodies produce certificates for students who successfully complete their qualifications. CPCAB is accountable to Ofqual, a government department that regulates qualifications, exams and tests in England. Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have separate regulatory arrangements. CPCAB has been working hard to become more efficient and ecologically friendly by minimising the amount of paper it produces. Meeting and Reforming Groups (starts at 24.40 mins)