Placement information
Requirements of placement:
As part of the COUN675 and COUN672 papers you are required to engage in practical counselling at a local High School or counselling agency for a minimum of one half day per week for the academic year. There are a number of assignments in the counselling courses where you will be expected to carry out specific work in your placement. Knowledge of these may influence your choice of placement. Although you may not receive the course guidelines until February, the following notes will give you a good indication of what will be required.
1. A number of assignments will require you to demonstrate solution-focused counselling. For example, there will be opportunities in COUN672 to critique your experiences of developing a solution-focused approach to counselling, and you will be expected to bring case studies from your placement to class. It will be an advantage for you to have a placement in which you can gain experience of solution-focused counselling and one in which your placement supervisor is receptive to solution-focused. You will need to obtain consent from clients to record counselling sessions.
2. During the year the Clinical Educator will visit you in your placement. They will want to observe you interviewing one of your clients during these visits (called 'live supervision'). You will need to obtain prior consent from your clients for this type of supervision. There is a form for doing this.
3. There are also assignments where you are required to videotape and/or provide a transcript of your work with clients (called 'delayed supervision'). This is a mastery learning assignment; if, during the supervision of these recordings, your work is not assessed as a 'pass', you will be required to make a further recording. In all of these recordings you will be expected to demonstrate elements of solution-focused counselling. For this assignment you will need to obtain prior consent from your clients.
Possible Placements:
It is up to you to finalise the arrangements for your placement. To help you do this we have provided a list of Canterbury agencies that have accepted our students in the past. Note that in this first year you are encouraged to not use placements in your place of employment, but these may be considered. If you are looking for a placement in another location, we encourage local secondary schools or please discuss alternatives with us.
Possible School placements in Canterbury:
Ao Tāwhiti/Unlimited Discovery School; Avonside Girls High School; Burnside High School; Catholic Cathedral College; Christchurch Boys’ High School; Cobham Intermediate; ; Hillmorton High School; Hornby High School; Kaiapoi High School; Kirkwood Intermediate; Lincoln High School; Mairehau High School; Rangiora High School; Shirley Boys High; St Andrews College; St Margaret's College; Villa Maria College.
Other possible School placements – please contact Karey first:
Ellesmere College; Haeata Community Campus; Hagley College; Papanui High School; Riccarton High School; Shirley Primary School; Shirley Intermediate School; Karamata/South Intermediate School.
Students with significant supervised counselling experience may try contacting:
- Petersgate Counselling and Education CentreThe Men’s Centre
- The Women’s Centre
- Home and Family Society
- Presbyterian Support, Rangiora 258 High Street, Rangiora, and Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
If you know of other placements, have contacts with one that might prove workable, or would like to discuss anything in relation to obtaining a placement, please contact the programme Clinical Educator, Karey Meisner karey.meisner@canterbury.ac.nz.
