Mental Health & Counselling Foundations Course

Gain Insight and Skills to Support Mental Health and Well-being!

Learning outcomes

This course provides an ideal foundation for anyone interested in understanding mental health more deeply, whether for personal growth or to support friends, family, or community members. Guided by a panel of Australia’s leading mental health and counselling professionals, you’ll develop a theoretical understanding and learn practical skills in psychology and counselling, enabling you to make a meaningful impact.

This course is well-suited for those with a personal interest in mental health, whether to deepen your knowledge and understanding to navigate your own challenges and build resilience, or to support friends and family. It offers an opportunity to develop foundational skills and insights to provide meaningful support to others.

• Understand key psychology and mental health concepts: Explore foundational theories, the significance of mental health, and how it shapes thoughts and behaviour.
• Build resilience and self-care strategies: Gain tools to manage stress, enhance personal resilience, and maintain mental well-being.
• Learn essential counselling techniques: Develop core counselling skills like active listening, empathy, and supportive communication, essential for creating a safe and understanding space for others.
• Empower others with empathy and support: Discover therapeutic approaches to positively impact those around you, focusing on building relationships, setting healthy boundaries, and fostering empathy.

Course content

What will be covered in this Mental Health & Counselling Foundations course?
During this course, a panel of mental health professionals will guide you through the following topics:

• Origins of Psychology: Introduction to the evolution of psychology and its role in understanding behaviour.
• Mental Health & Wellbeing: Examination of mental health, mental illness, and their implications on daily life.
• Understanding Emotions: Insight into how emotions shape thought processes and actions.
• Mindset & The Self: Study of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and personal growth.
• Building Healthy Relationships: Skills for empathy, communication, and managing interpersonal conflicts.
• Self-Care Strategies: Tools for resilience, personal well-being, and stress management.
• Therapeutic Alliance: The importance of building empathetic and supportive client relationships.
• The Counselling Skillset: Essential skills such as active listening and question framing to support client reflection.
• Empowering Clients: Techniques to help clients build self-awareness and work toward goals.
• Counselling in Action: Application of counselling skills in various scenarios.

Course activities & assignments

Please note there is no requirement to submit any activities in this course for grading. However, the course features the following activities & assignments to enhance your learning and give you the option to apply key concepts learnt in a practical context:

• Knowledge Checks: Short quizzes to reinforce understanding at the end of each lesson.
• Self-Care Checklist: A guided activity to assess and improve personal self-care practices.
• Counselling Role-Play: Practice scenarios to develop counselling techniques.
• Counselling Reflection: Reflection on actual or hypothetical situations in mental health, applying learned counselling responses.

This course takes approximately 45 hours to complete. Once you complete the course, you will be issued a Digital Badge and a Certificate of Completion.

Intended audience

Who is this Mental Health & Counselling Foundations course for?

This course is ideally suited for:

• Individuals with personal or close connections to mental health challenges: Whether you have personal lived experience or have family members or friends navigating mental health issues, this course empowers you to deepen your understanding and build foundational skills to provide supportive care to others.
• Aspiring mental health professionals: Gain a solid introduction to counselling skills and foundational psychology to start your journey in the mental health field.
• Professionals in supportive roles: Ideal for teachers, HR managers, and community workers seeking to improve their capacity to support others’ well-being.
• Curious learners looking to build mental health literacy: Anyone interested in understanding mental health and psychological well-being will benefit from this comprehensive foundation.

Course materials

This is a self-paced online course delivered by our specialist partner in industry-led short courses.

Students will need access to a computer, laptop, or tablet with an internet connection. No other prerequisites are required.

The course includes:

• Engaging video lessons delivered by industry experts.
• Interactive quizzes and activities to enhance learning.
• Self-paced online learning through our partner platform, with instant support available from its AI-powered Learning Assistant.
• Exclusive discounts on software, memberships and materials from industry partners.

Student Reviews

Featured Experts

This course features a panel of industry experts specialised in psychology, mental health and counselling:

• Dr. Phillip Armstrong: Experienced counsellor and former CEO of the Australian Counselling Association for 23 years.
• Dr Kaine Grigg: Founder of MyLocalMind, a grass-roots mental health charity and clinical psychologist focused on therapeutic interventions and mental health advocacy.
• Gulseli Kalkan: Registered family and couples therapist, specialising in family dynamics and relationship counselling.