Psychology with counselling open university

sany2001

So I have applied for psychology with counselling (full time) at the open university and was wondering if anyone else has done this course. Would just like some generic info. Workload, course intensity, pros and cons of this course etc. I’d just like to hear what anyone has to say about it

Reply 1

username4500092

I'm currently studying psychology and counselling, but not a the open university. I'm in my second year, and it does get intense, especially studying from the psychology perspective and the counselling side. I also had to complete a workbook and a role play in order to obtain the level 2 certificate counselling, not sure if they do it at open university. But it is a good course to get started, I recommend if you want to get into counselling, to start working in job roles than involve helping with others, because I have checked a few master's and they involve having experience with working with mental health etc.

Pros - you get to understand what counselling is like and the importance of understanding yourself. For me personally, I find it very interesting
Cons - don't really have any atm haha

Reply 2

Nerol

Original post by sany2001

Hi!

I did this course with the OU but on a part-time basis. I really enjoyed the course as a whole and managed to get a first. Obviously as a part-time student, the workload was very manageable. I worked full-time and found it easy to manage both. The psychology side was much more intense and demanding time-wise than the counselling side, which, to be honest, formed a relatively small part of the course. The level 1 modules offer a great introduction and are much less intense and demanding than levels 2 and 3.

Pros I would say for me included there only being one written exam (I hate exams), I could fit studying around my full-time work and from anywhere I was (I travelled a lot then). Also, student services were always very helpful.

Cons may be that distance learning can be quite isolating, so try to connect with fellow students through module Facebook groups and student forums. Also, there seemed to be a lot of variation between tutors with regards to how they marked assignments and the level of support provided. I was very lucky to mostly have very supportive tutors, but did have one tutor who was less so and was much harsher when it came to marking with little explanation as to where I'd lost marks. A con specific to counselling is that it does not give you any formal qualification in counselling, so you would need further training if you wanted to go down this route (I did my level 3 counselling skills course alongside my final year with the OU and am now completing level 4).

Overall, I really enjoyed this course and my time with the OU. I have since completed a postgraduate qualification in psychological therapies, got a job as an Assistant Psychologist and have just applied for the doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy).

Hope this helps!

Reply 3

a_long

Hi I did the course part time and graduated last year. The course was good, you learn a lot. For me the work load was a lot because I worked full time throughout but I managed it, so it just depends on other areas in your life really. I would say the course is good depending on what you want to do with it next. If you want to go the psychology route, the degree alongside other work experience allowed me to gain an assistant Psychologist post.If you want to go counsellor/psychotherapy route, you would have to do a masters or postgraduate diploma but before that you will have to get a level 3 diploma in counselling.

Reply 4

PsycCon31

Thank you all for your responses. I have also just enrolled onto this course on a part-time schedule, and I was worried also about the work load whilst working full time. I feel a bit better now! Thanks all!

Reply 5

369MJENKIN01

I'd like to enrol on this. Im just deciding whether to do full time or part time degree eek. I am 35 so I think im going to have to do the full-time, despite working, however my hours are flexible