Inherent requirements – Master of Counselling

This relates to the understanding and ability to comply with Australian and Victorian law and professional accreditation regulations. Examples include:

•  Child protection and safety legislation (including the ability to pass a Working with Children Check)
•  Criminal History / Police Checks
•  Occupational health and safety
•  Anti-discrimination legislation

Rationale

Knowledge, understanding, and compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements are necessary to reduce the risk of harm to self and others in counselling settings. Compliance with these professional regulations and the Australian Law ensures students are both responsible and accountable for their practice.

Examples

Comply with relevant legislation including child protection and safety, mandatory reporting, work health and safety, and anti-discrimination legislation. For examples of applicable Australian Federal legislation visit https://www.comlaw.gov.au/ and for Victorian legislation visit https://www.vic.gov.au/mandatory-reporting-training

This relates to the student's ability to understand and adhere to standards, codes, guidelines and policies that facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and the people they engage with. Examples include:

• Complying with academic and non-academic conduct codes and policies, including academic integrity policies
• Understanding and complying with professional standards, codes of practice, and guidelines

Rationale

Compliance with standards, codes, guidelines and policies that facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and the people they engage with is required for the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being of all. 

Examples

• Comply with academic and non-academic conduct codes and policies and professional standards
• Identify and enact relevant applications of these codes and standards, including those relating to plagiarism, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, appropriate usage of social media and equitable and respectful behaviour in academic and counselling settings.

Where relevant, this relates to considerations of current scope of practice, workplace health and safety, and any other matter related to safety. Examples include:

• Ability to understand and comply with all relevant workplace health and safety policies and practices
• Ability to identify and respond to alarm systems
• Ability to understand and demonstrate compliance with current scope of practice
• Ability to manage one's own health in a manner that promotes the ability to fulfil the requirements of study, placements, and the role/s for which the study typically equips the graduate

Rationale

Compliance with current scope of practice. Follow workplace health and safety infection control considerations and respond in an effective and timely way to alarm systems as required to provide safe environments for students, staff and clients

Examples

• Limit task performance to current scope of practice as a counselling student within the course
• Undertake and respond appropriately to clinical supervision feedback and instruction
• Observe and implement client risk management protocols in external clinical and counselling settings
• Be able to respond to alarm systems to maintain safety of self and clients.

This relates to the student's capacity for knowledge acquisition, utilisation and retention. It also includes metacognitive capacity such as awareness of one's own thinking, and the ability to reflect, evaluate, adapt and implement new cognitive strategies. Examples include:

• Focus, memory, attention to detail, theoretical deliberation, and practical functioning sufficient to meet the course objectives
• Ability to reflect and take personal responsibility
• Ability to apply knowledge in practical and theoretical assessment settings

Cognition - knowledge & cognitive

Knowledge acquisition, utilisation and retention spanning and drawing together all coursework subjects. Cognitive skills for focus, memory, attention to detail, theoretical deliberation, and practical functioning.

Rationale

Understanding and retention of coursework information and the effective processing of this information is required for appropriate, safe and effective delivery of care/practice. 

Examples

• Acquire, comprehend, conceptualise and apply appropriate information and knowledge in response to academic tasks and counselling practice
• Make safe and appropriate client care decisions from retained knowledge
• Assess the application of policy and procedures in the context of clinical situations
• Research and use an evidence based framework to make sound decisions when developing treatment plans
• Notice and respond effectively to critical changes in instructions from supervisors and observable behaviour in clients.

Cognition - metacognition

Awareness of own thinking, and skills to reflect, evaluate, adapt and implement new cognitive strategies for improved learning.

Rationale

Understanding and ongoing learning about oneself as an instrument in client care is required for safe and effective delivery of practice.

Examples

• Demonstrate safe and appropriate decision-making in client care using reflective processes to inform future interventions;
• Review and reflect on personal responses and cultural paradigms around client care challenges, and develop safe, ethical, effective and professional care approaches;
• Manage and proactively learn from academic and clinical set-backs by self-evaluation
• Undertake ongoing learning and reflection about oneself and how that impacts counselling practice both in class and in counselling settings.

This includes both writing and reading, and is also linked to English language proficiency (literacy requirements are always established in terms of English). NB: For VE, literacy requirements are based on the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF). Examples include:

• Capacity to comprehend, summarise and reference a range of literature in accordance with appropriate academic conventions in written assignments
• Producing clear, accurate documentation relating to practical tasks

Rationale

Competent literacy skills are essential for appropriate and effective delivery of academic information and safe and effective counselling practice. 

Examples

• Capacity to communicate effectively and professionally via a range of written mediums including email, presentations and social media
• Capacity to comprehend, summarise and reference a range of literature in accordance with appropriate academic conventions 
• Ability to accurately interpret tables, graphs and diagrams
• Produce clear, accurate, concise documentation that meets academic/clinical requirements

 This includes any form of numeracy required to complete the course successfully. For many courses, this will be basic functional numeracy. NB: For VE, numeracy requirements are based on the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF). Examples include:

• Competent reasoning and reliable accuracy with numerical concepts
• Ability to perform basic mathematical tasks

Rationale

Competent reasoning and reliable accuracy with numerical concepts are essential for safe and effective care/practice.

Examples

• Calculate and accurately report placement activities and hours                                                                             
• Score and interpret self-report questionnaires
• Ability to interpret numerical graphs, tables and diagrams, for example those found in referrals and client assessments.

 This includes verbal, non-verbal and written communication. Examples include:

• Verbal communication in English to a standard that allows fluid, clear, and comprehensible two-way discussions
• Ability to recognise, interpret and respond to non-verbal cues, to communicate with congruent and respectful non-verbal behaviour, and to be sensitive to individual and/or cultural variations in non-verbal communication
• Ability to produce English text to the expected standard (NB: This is a skill that may be developed throughout a course, and should be identified as such in any inherent requirements statement)
• Communication - verbal: Verbal communication in English to a standard that allows fluid, clear, and comprehensible two-way discussions, tailored to the local English-speaking audiences.

Rationale

Effective verbal communication, in English, with clients and university students and staff is required for effective learning and to provide safe and effective delivery of care/practice. 

Examples

• Understand and respond to verbal communication accurately and appropriately in time-constrained academic and clinical/counselling environments
• Convey spoken messages accurately and effectively in academic and clinical/counselling settings, such as explaining a client treatment plan
• Present information formally to, and engage in developing discussions with a wider audience, including class participation, clinical presentations and case conferences 
• Build rapport with clients, peers and colleagues.

Communication - non-verbal

Non-verbal communication skills that enable respectful communication with others.

Rationale

The ability to recognise, interpret and respond to non-verbal cues, to communicate with congruent and respectful non-verbal behaviour, and to be sensitive to individual and/or cultural variations in non-verbal communication is essential for safe and effective care.

Examples

• Recognise client cues in facial expression, appearance, behaviour, posture, movement
• Deliver information to a distressed client incorporating non-verbal behaviour that matches the nature of the situation.

Communication - written

Ability to produce English text to a standard that provides clear and professional-level communication, with language usage and style tailored to the targeted recipients.

Rationale

Effective communication in English text is required to demonstrate applied skills in academic writing conventions and in sustained and organised academic argument and provide safe and effective delivery of care. 

Examples

• Clearly communicate complex academic and counselling perspectives in writing
• Summarise and appropriately reference a range of literature in written tasks
• Use precise and appropriate language to contribute to both hand written and electronic medical records in a time-constrained environment
• Communicate appropriately and effectively via email to peers, university staff, and external stakeholders.

 This includes visual, auditory and tactile capacity. NB: Care must be taken to not prescribe any sensory ability as an inherent requirement if the student might be able to achieve the desired result with the use of one or more adjustments. Examples include:

• Ability to interact with visual inputs sufficiently to manage learning environments
• Ability to interact with auditory inputs sufficiently to manage learning environments
• Ability to respond to tactile input and provide appropriate tactile interaction

Sensory ability - visual

Ability to interact with visual inputs sufficiently to manage learning environments.

Rationale

Aspects of the working and learning environment are delivered by visual means, and the ability to learn from or respond to these inputs is required to provide safe and effective practice. 

Examples

• Process visual information from wall-posted information, handwritten, print and electronic sources
• Visually monitor the environment for client safety including multiple people and events simultaneously
• Detect visual changes in clients in response to psychological treatments. e.g., changes in mood

Sensory ability - auditory

Ability to interact with auditory inputs sufficiently to manage learning environments.

Rationale

Elements in the learning and working environments are delivered by auditory means, and the ability to learn from or respond to these inputs is required to provide safe and effective practice.

Examples

• Acquire information aurally in learning environments
• Follow developing discussions with colleagues and clients for counselling treatment decisions.

 This includes a person's ability to sustain their performance in a given activity or series of activities over time. Care must be taken to not prescribe sustained performance in a way that allows no room for temporary changes to performance levels due to illness or other factors. Examples include:

Ability to sustain a working posture, associated manual tasks, cognitive engagement, performance level and emotional control for the full duration of any task required as part of the course or any placement

Rationale

A range of complex, multi-component or extended client care tasks carried out over a period of time and in a time-constrained environments is required to provide safe and effective practice.

Examples

• Sustain study practices including class attendance and participation
• Sustain counselling performance to sufficiently engage with the learning workload for a study period
• Sustain a working posture, associated manual tasks, cognitive engagement, performance level and emotional control for the full duration of client care process e.g. be physically and emotionally present and engaged for a full therapy session (50 minutes plus)

This includes the personal flexibility and resilience required to adapt behaviour to different situations, even when they are stressful or difficult. NB: Care must be taken to allow room in the inherent requirements for the individual to demonstrate behavioural adaptability through withdrawing from activities for a time to undertake medical interventions and self-care measures. Examples include:

• Ability to adjust ways of working to work within teams of varied personal and professional backgrounds
• Being receptive and responding appropriately to constructive feedback
• Maintaining respectful communication practices in times of increased stressors or workloads
• Adjusting to changing circumstances in a way that allows self-care

Rationale

Behavioural adaptation is required to manage personal emotional responses as an individual and within groups in changing and unpredictable environments, including emergency situations and times of human distress. Students will also be required to adapt their behaviour appropriately during times of additional stressors in their own lives, whether this adaptation involves ways of continuing to engage with their role or withdrawing for a period of self-care.

Examples

• Appropriately adjust ways of working effectively with people of varied personal and professional backgrounds
• Receptivity and appropriate responding to constructive feedback
•  Maintaining respectful communication practices in times of increased stressors or workloads, or during challenging conversations and learning activities
• Demonstrate a willingness and ability to respond appropriately and professionally to self-care needs, including adjusting to challenging and changing circumstances.