Counselling Skills and Knowledge for SCoPEd B: Diversity, Self-awareness, Assessment and Research

by Felicitas Rost (Editor), Naomi Moller (Editor), Tanya Frances (Editor), Claudine McFaul (Editor), Gina Di Malta (Editor)

Overview

This text supports you to develop the counselling competencies aligned to the SCo PEd framework professional standards in Column B. It covers key competencies in client assessment, self-awareness, and knowledge and skills, with chapters on topics such as online counselling, working with unconscious and out-of-awareness processes, foundations of psychological assessment and using reflexivity in practice.

The book further emphasises the importance of research, with chapters on how to understand and evaluate quantitative and qualitative research and how both can enhance your practice. Throughout, the authors foreground diversity-informed and culturally sensitive ways of working, supporting you to adapt your skills and knowledge to meet your clients’ needs.

Each chapter includes learning features such as practice-relevant examples, key definitions and opportunities for reflection, to support you on your learning and professional development journey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781036212414
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	11/10/2025
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Felicitas Rost is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Psychotherapy at The Open University. She also supervises clinical doctorate students at the Tavistock Clinic and works as a psychodynamic psychotherapist in the charity sector. Felicitas is the President of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). She has an internationally recognised profile as a mental health and psychotherapy researcher whose work has had a direct impact on mental health policy in the UK. She has developed a rich and diverse teaching portfolio across undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional training settings over the past 15 years, and has published various peer-reviewed journal articles on topics related to clinical psychology and psychotherapy research.

Naomi Moller trained as a counselling psychologist in the United States. She is a chartered psychologist, a BACP registered counsellor, and a Professor of Psychology and Psychotherapy at The Open University. Naomi has worked with clients for about 25 years, mostly with adults in longer-term therapy. She is an integrative practitioner with humanistic values and relating at the core but draws on other understandings (attachment, psychodynamic) and techniques (emotion-focused therapy).

Tanya Frances is a counsellor and psychotherapist accredited by the BACP, as well as a chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society. She is a Lecturer in Counselling and Psychology at The Open University and she has a small practice with adult clients doing mostly trauma therapy. Tanya trained in humanistic integrative counselling and psychotherapy and has been in practice for about 12 years. She is also a trauma-informed yoga teacher and yoga therapist in training, with a yoga psychology school in Canada. Tanya is interested in trauma, social and epistemic justice, and intersectional feminist research and clinical practice.

Claudine Mc Faul is a Lecturer in Psychology and Counselling at The Open University and works as an integrative counsellor registered with the BACP. Her training and professional background are grounded in humanistic approaches, with a particular interest in the existential tradition. Claudine’s research is closely linked to her work with clients and focuses on themes like loss, change, regret and midlife transitions. She is especially interested in how people make sense of these experiences and how we can support the search for hope, perspective and meaning during challenging times.

Gina Di Malta is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist accredited with the BPA, a Senior Lecturer in Psychotherapy and Counselling at The Open University, and the Editor of the international peer-reviewed journal Counselling and Psychotherapy Research. Gina has practised as a counselling psychologist in a range of clinical settings, including NHS Increasing Access for Psychological Therapies (IAPT), NHS primary and secondary care, university counselling services, and charity sectors. She now has a small private psychology practice alongside her academic work.

Hayley Ness is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Counselling at The Open University, a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society and a member of COSCA. She spent 20 years in the field of forensic cognition, with specialisms in applied aspects of memory. She then retrained in integrative, relational counselling with a specialism in couples. Hayley works in a client-focused, integrative way with attachment at the core. Having a background in cognition (memory, language, perception) is particularly useful, both with practice and training. Hayley is currently on the board of directors of Adult and Adolescent Relational Counselling (AARC), a counselling charity in Scotland.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Diversity
Chapter 1: Developing culturally sensitive understandings of psychological distress - Tanya Frances
Chapter 2: Identity, culture and engagement in the therapeutic relationship - Sharon Frazer-Carroll
Chapter 3: Developing self-awareness in working with diversity - Zoë Boden-Stuart
Chapter 4: Recognising and working with the decolonised self - Dwight Turner
Part 2: Reflexivity
Chapter 5: Using reflexivity in counselling - Jennie Kirk
Chapter 6: Working with unconscious and out-of-awareness processes - Felicitas Rost, Naomi Moller
Chapter 7: Using reflexivity to develop and maintain emotional fitness - Claudine Mc Faul
Chapter 8: Using reflexivity in supervision - Trudi Macagnino
Part 3: Assessment
Chapter 9: Foundations of psychological assessment - Gina Di Malta
Chapter 10: Working with risk - Andrew Reeves
Chapter 11: Conceptualising and assessing mental health difficulties - Naomi Moller
Chapter 12: Using outcome measures to inform psychological assessment - Gina Di Malta, Jo-anne Carlyle and Chris Evans
Part 4: Research
Chapter 13: Why research matters for counsellors - Femke Truijens and Rebeka Pàzmànyovà
Chapter 14: Understanding and using quantitative research evidence - Felicitas Rost
Chapter 15: Understanding and using qualitative research evidence - Zoë Boden-Stuart
Chapter 16: Mixing methods for research–practice integration - Felicitas Rost and Femke Truijens
Part 5: Developing as a practitioner
Chapter 17: Online counselling - Andreas Vossler
Chapter 18: Complex formulation and meaning making - Hayley Ness
Chapter 19: Thinking critically about counselling and psychotherapy - Hayley Ness and Naomi Moller
Chapter 20: Adapting your way of working for individual clients - Kate Smith