The course has the structure of an internship and in this way differs from other YWAM schools. Teaching and practice are integrated throughout each week. There is a full day of lectures each Friday, and for the remainder of the week students are involved in all aspects of running the Earls Court Community Project ECCP. Students will live in community housing in the Clapham House and commute to the Earls Court Community Project for work and teaching.

Working in a pioneer urban ministry such as the Earls Court Community Project and studying at the same time can be challenging and demanding. However this unique combination between theory and hands-on experience will allow students to acquire the skills needed to reach the urban needy in a sensitive and practical way.

• Those wanting to work with broken and hurting people in the world's inner cities
• Those involved in pastoral care or in Christian ministry
• Those working towards becoming an ACC accredited counsellor

Course recognition

The Community Counselling School (full-time programme) is accredited by University of the Nations (UofN) and is counted as a foundation course of the University's counselling degree programme.*

This course is recognised as providing a minimum of 300 total hours training (200 Guided Learning Hours) and is accredited with the Association of Christian Counsellors (ACC) as a Level 3 counselling training ("Preparation for Counselling Practitioner").

Note: The training hours offered through this course may be used to work towards applying for accreditation with ACC. However, in order to gain full accreditation as a "Counselling Practitioner with ACC", further training hours and counselling practice under supervision are required.

Admission requirements

For those considering the UofN accredited full-time programme, satisfactory completion of both lecture and outreach phases of a Discipleship Training School (IDS 701 & 702) or Crossroads Discipleship Training School (IDS 703 & 704) is required.

Applicants will need to be able to demonstrate a God given heart to work with broken and hurting people in the world's inner cities. They will also need to show commitment to llearn about counselling in an urban setting and to develop the personal, professional and spiritual qualities involved in the practice of Christian counselling.

The CCS is an English speaking school and counselling requires the ability to recognise fine shades of meaning. It is therefore essential that applicants have a good command of English and are able to do university-level course work in English. (Written and oral)

Programme structure

Monday - Thursday:

During the week fulll-time students will be involved in all aspects of running the Earls Court Community Project ECCP including Coffee Bar (Mondays & Wednesdays) and Women's Drop In (Thursdays). Even though students will not be directly involved in formal 1-2-1 counselling, there is an opportunity to join a Counselling Reflection Team at the Family Counselling Centre in Clapham. (Tuesdays / Term 3 only)

Friday Lectures: (09.00 - 17.00)

CCS part-time students will join the full-time students for the weekly lectures. Over the three terms the lectures will cover some basic concepts within Christian counselling and the central place of the Holy Spirit as the Counsellor. Lectures will also explore some Christian and secular models of counselling, the specific needs of people living in urban situations and how they can be addressed.

Course content covered during Friday Lectures:

An average week

Tutorials and Learning Support

Since the individual support of students is regarded as vital, the number of part-time and full-time students accepted on our Community Counselling School is limited (Max. 10 - 12 students). Throughout the course tutors provide regular support to enable students to face and address issues of concern in their personal lives and studies.

Learning Resources

The CCS library holds a range of books in counselling and other related subject areas. Computers in the ECCP office have high-speed internet access and are made available for student use whenever possible. It is possible to print from these computers to the printers in the main office at a small charge.

Personal Study

There is an expectation that students are self motivated in their studies and work. An initial reading list will be provided following acceptance on the course and students will be required to read a number of books throughout the nine months.
Over the length of the course students will be required to invest between four and five hours of personal study each week. This includes time spent on reading, writing essays, personal learning journal, counselling practice and tutorials.

Assessment

Assignments will be a mixture of written and and practical work. Over the length of the school students are expected to complete regular course work, keep a weekly Personal Learning Journal, write two essays and submit a video-tape in which they demonstrate their counselling skills.
Additionally they will prepare a case study of a client they have worked with and complete a project using the large and growing book library provided.

Attendance

To successfully complete the course, students need to pass all units and have a minimum attendance of 85% at Friday lectures.

Accommodation & Transport

The CCS doesn't have a residential training base but is run from the Earls Court Community Project (ECCP) premises. We are able to offer self-catered accommodation in a community house belonging to the ECCP project. Being part of the community house students will contribute to community life by cooking, shopping, cleaning, praying etc.

The community house is three miles from the ECCP project and students will commute into Earl’s Court each day using either public transport or walk, both take approx. 1 hour. We have obtained student discounts for public transport (30% discount) but students will be responsible for weekly transport costs.

Go to Dates & Costs CCS Full-Time

*The University of the Nations offers courses and field assignments in over 140 nations worldwide which may be used toward U of N degrees. U of N is a degree-granting institution (Associate’s,Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and Graduate Diplomas), but carries no U.K. awarding body accreditation and has not applied for accreditation in any nation’s educational system. At the same time various accredited institutions throughout the world have in the past accepted U of N transfer students giving transfer credit for those U of N courses which are comparable to the programmes of the receiving institution.