The new academic year begins this week, but not for me, since I have now finished my four year diploma - thank goodness! For the first time in five years I am not going back to college in September. I can't say that I will miss it. On the contrary, it is nice to finally be free of 4 1/2 hour long lectures, bombastic rhetoric and autocratic leadership from belligerent faculty members. I'm glad I did the diploma, but I am not sorry that it's over.
Although I won't be returning to classes, I don't want to lose the habit of learning. I really enjoy studying, but I am a very autonomous person and I work best when working alone, in a quiet environment. This wasn't always possible during the diploma - much of it involves group work and sometimes the groups would get so loud I'd have to leave class and nip to the ladies for a few moments peace, just to clear my head. Every Tuesday night I would leave college with a raging headache...just another aspect of night school that I don't miss.
The good thing about being a member of the BACP is that they frequently advertise further courses in their journal Therapy Today. This is to encourage counsellors to pursue CPD or Continued Professional Development. These courses are aimed at clinical practitioners working as counsellors, either in private practice, or with an organisation such as Cruse Bereavement Care, and some of these courses are delivered online.
This type of online learning really suits me because I can study at home in my own time, as and when I want to. I am not held to a strict timetable of classes that I must attend, no matter what. I can just go into my cosy little study, light a couple of scented candles, fire up the laptop and log on to the course module I am currently working on. At the end of the course, if I have passed, I get my certificate in the post. And as so much of my college diploma was put onto Google Classroom anyway, some weeks it hardly seemed worth going into class at all!
Home studying has always appealed to me. In my early twenties I took correspondence courses in creative writing and freelance journalism. At the time, my ex-fiance thought they were a complete waste of money - he thought I'd been conned and we had a huge row about it, even though it was all my own money that I used to pay for them! But then, I soon made my living as a freelance writer, author and journalist, so I guess the courses worked!
Some of the first full length writing I ever had published were home-study courses for BSY and The Regent Academy - both leading correspondence schools here in the UK. I wrote their courses on Wicca and Angels which are still selling well, all these years later. It was a way for me to give a little bit back - correspondence courses had helped to get me published, so it was a natural step for me to take, to write magical correspondence courses that in turn would help others.
So even though I am not returning to college this month I am already deeply involved in more course work. I am undertaking more training in different kinds of counselling, namely in counselling clients with PTSD. I have really enjoyed this course and I have learned such a lot from it. I am looking forward to getting my certificate for it, as it will add to my portfolio. For now its enough to know I've done the course. Between that, my formal education diploma in Therapeutic Counselling and the certificates I have in Grief Counselling and Business Etiquette, my CPD is looking good so far.
Studying something that interests you, in the comfort of your own home, is a lovely way to spend an evening as the nights begin to draw in and autumn is upon us. I have my Placement Report to start writing soon, plus I will be taking another online course in the winter months. I also have tasks to complete with regards to moving my writing career from MBS, over into mainstream self-help and psychotherapy projects...but that's another blog post!
Remember that you are your own educator and nowadays learning is so accessible there really is no excuse for boredom or ignorance. So grab a cup of hot chocolate, light an autumnal candle and join with me in embarking upon a dark season of home study, because...
"Knowledge is power"
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