The Level 4 Diploma course provides professional accreditation and certification in counselling.

All AETC tutors are qualified counsellors who have their own practices and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the training.

The duration of this course is 38 days, which is spread across 19 weekends, which are scheduled over 20 months as we attempt to avoid school holidays. The £250 fee for each study weekend is payable monthly.  This staggered payment makes the cost of gaining the qualification much more manageable (Please note all study weekends must be completed)

The course involves interactive workshops, lectures and lots of discussion and exercises. Students will complete write-ups of each weekend to demonstrate understanding and personal insights of the weekend. Some days will have skills practice whereby students practice specific or general counselling skills and will be given feedback.

The course will consist of 458 total qualification hours (TQT) excluding the 100 hour supervised counselling placement.

The requirements for the course include;

At Month 9 – If ready, the student is required to start a placement to gain 100 hours of supervised practice (See “Student Placement” section).
After doing at least 75 hours of supervised placement practice – If ready, the student is required to start their student practice under F.E.T.C supervision.
A minimum of 10 hours of personal counselling, carried out by an F.E.T.C counsellor.

Requirements for assessment include;

• A 4500-to-5000 word assignment
• 3 case studies

The final assessment to achieve the fully accredited Level 4 Diploma costs £250, which is covered by your initial Diploma course deposit payment.
Assignments and write ups/book reviews are required and details of these can be seen on the website.

On our reading list are titles by eminent authors John Gottman, John Bradshaw, Penny Parks, Alice Miller, Gabor Mate, Susan Forward, Daniel Goleman, Charles Whitfield, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and Carl Rogers to name just a few.

After attending 18 study days (including five mandatory pre-placement subjects) and associated write-ups have been successfully completed, the student (if ready) can seek a placement to begin to build the 100 hours of supervised practice necessary to go forward to assessment, which is a face-to-face assessment.

AETC do not provide placements; it is the responsibility of the student to secure a suitable placement.

There are 38 training days which cover the following subjects:

· Visualisation & Imagery · Loss and Bereavement
· Suicidal Feelings · Domestic Violence
· Aspects of Child Sexual Abuse · Eating Disorders
· Family Dynamics · Understanding illness and medication
· Creative Journaling · Safeguarding
· Revision of Foundation Course Techniques · Diversity and Equality
· Anger and Forgiveness · Setting Up Practice
· Overview of counselling Modalities · Personality Disorders
· Inner Child · Sexual Diversity, porn and the sexualisation of children
· Communication and Listening Skills · Effects of social media
· Working with Addictions · Domestic violence
· Dreamwork · Depression, the brain, and recovery
· Energy Balance & Colour Therapy · Rape and sexual assault
· The Whole Self and Self-awareness · CPTSD, TRAUMA and PTSD
· Fear/Phobias and Panic Attacks · Remote counselling via online and telephone

Students are also required to read and review five textbooks from an approved list and review and provide a written review of each training day.
The total qualification time (excluding the 100-hour supervised counselling placement) is 458 hours.

All AETC courses are run at our offices at the Isbourne Holistic Centre in Cheltenham.

If commuting by car there are several off-site parking options available.

Bath Terrace, GL50 2BA (pay & display) – 10 minute walk.

Rodney Road, GL50 1HT (pay & display) – 2 minute walk.

Regent Arcade, GL50 1JZ (multi storey) – 10 minute walk.

If you plan to stay overnight there are countless accommodation options close by, including B & B’s, Guesthouses and Hotels, including a Holiday Inn Express and a Premier Inn. Prices range from £37.00 per night upwards and there are plenty of local shops, bars and restaurants. 

AETC Address

Isbourne Holistic Centre

2 Wolseley Terrace

Cheltenham

GL50 1TH

By meeting the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Societies (NCPS) rigorous standards and meticulous assessment process, our Level 4 Counselling Course has been accredited with Diploma qualification status. Our Level 4 counselling course is externally moderated to ensure consistency of excellent teaching and course content and Diploma accreditation is also acknowledgement of our professional standing with both peers and clients.

The NCPS external examiner commented in a recent report “The quality of teaching and the students’ engagement with the teaching and learning process remains outstanding’.”

Click here to see our latest NCPS Recognition report

Click here to see our Dec 2024 report

Click here to see the May 2024 report

Click here to see the Dec 2023 Report

Click here to see the Sept 2022 report