Course Details

Nationally Recognised Training
A Diploma in Counselling completed in one year!
Diploma of Counselling (CHC51708) & Mount Louisa Counselling Course for Christian Workers
Click here to download full details and enrolment

After hours training – Just 3 hours per week plus 6 Saturday Workshops

Plus Assessment Tasks

Equipping the Christian Worker for the Work of Counselling.
Welcome, and thank you for your interest in the Mount Louisa Counselling Course. This unique new training program providing the most up to date counselling training for the Australian scene we believe will open rewarding and exciting doors for graduates.

In our communities with increasing relationship breakdown, relocation and lack of traditional support structures individuals and family groups are not coping with the crises and traumas of modern life.

Workers in a range of fields who have natural skills and an aptitude in working with people want to be able to help, but wish that they had more knowledge and the opportunity to hone their skills in helping. They particularly need information about:

•          Local, state and national community support agencies
•          How to refer when there are serious mental health concerns
•          Legislation and legal requirements in counselling/consultation practice
•          Client, counsellor and organizational risk management practices
•          Mental illness, suicide intervention, requirements for working with children, critical incident debriefing etc.
And training in:
•          Quality psychologically sound counselling strategies for a range of situations and individual & family needs and,
•          Tools to effectively support people in their own goals.

Without knowledge of how to support someone experiencing a major depression or information about how to deal with a suicide attempt or where to go when a child is being abused for example it is very difficult to provide help. Needless suffering can be avoided however when caring people are properly trained. With knowledge and useful first point of contact skills these trained individuals can respond in efficient ways to assist other community members find the resources and care that they may need.

“Looking for a new direction in life?”


“Dayspring Training Academy.................Changing our world”

The Counselling Industry is a relatively new one as distinct from the disciplines of Social Work, Welfare Work and Psychology. The move to train individuals working within the community service sector, or those who would like to, in counselling, is not to undermine existing mental health professionals in fact it is the opposite. It helps funnel troubled individuals through to the right sources and provides appropriate and safe support until more advanced professional care can be accessed. Counsellors if you like can be seen as working in preventative mental health work. There are many 'natural' counsellors out there, but in this role of support, individual workers also more than ever, need recognized qualifications in a specialized world in order to be recognized for what they do in their community and workplace.

The Mount Louisa Counselling Course for Christian Workers has been endorsed by the Australian Community Counselling Association (ACCA) as a quality counselling training program. Graduates of the course may register with this organisation as a Qualified Counsellor entitling them to not only be employed within their organization as a counselling professional but also to legitimately work in private practice underneath the banner of this professional body. (This is extremely important for insurance purposes).

Those students who wish to go further with their interest in counselling studies may also continue their learning either through internships, higher and more specialized Vocational Education Qualifications or by university entrance. James Cook University (Townsville) Social Work/and Community Welfare Work and Psychology undergraduate programs (which are also available by distance education) have provided three subjects credit for this course. The University of the Sunshine Coast has similarly provided generous credit for students wanting to do a Bachelor of Social Work or Counselling (up to 1 year). Other universities may be approached for credit on a case by case basis.

The course is based on the Diploma of Counselling CHC51708 just endorsed through the Nationally Accredited Community Services Training Package. Students completing their studies will be awarded this Diploma through our Registered Training Organisation,Community Training Australia (RTO provider No. 31905). The Diploma and new packaging allows the student to complete a range of units, which can also be built on later for other qualifications in areas such as Management, Community Services Work, Mediation, Disability Work, Youth Work, Case Management and Employment Services.

“Get qualified and receive a Diploma in Counselling”

The Mount Louisa Counselling Course for Christian Workers is particularly characterized by the fun and friendship which is integral to the course. As an afterhours training, students enjoy catching up with each other during the week for a coffee and to assist each other work through the assessments. To provide opportunity for practical counselling training all students will need to commit to six Saturday Workshops where skills in listening and questioning techniques such as grief and loss counselling and suicide prevention & intervention and relaxation strategies can be practiced and assessed. Typically these Saturday Workshops become the high points of the course with fond memories of sharing together and getting to know other students better. Some students elect to attend other workshops on offer to gain extra skills and insights.

Students electing to complete the Mount Louisa Counselling Course for Christian Workers also need to provide permission to work with each other on personal stories to practice their skills with 'real' clients. This is because a student 'counsellor' is not able to practice on the general public. This provides a 'catch 22' for a vocational training program. We believe that to simply work with scenarios doesn't provide the opportunity to work with real emotion. Our students have appreciated the fact that they are really ready for the workforce as they have had the opportunity to work with real emotion. Of course it is always at the individuals own discretion the information that they share!

Counselling courses naturally explore personal values, components of self esteem and relationship dynamics and individuals within the course have opportunity for personal growth as various topics are discussed. Topics such as grief and loss for example touch most of us as most people have experienced the loss of someone or something valuable in their life. Similarly topics such as domestic violence and child abuse are all too close to us in our communities and we long to be of assistance to those affected by these things. Many students find the course a personal healing journey as everyone in the course is committed to caring for others!

We are excited that The Mount Louisa Counselling Course for Christian Workers is now being offered in Melbourne and will soon be offered in some Victorian regional cities. Graduates of the course are working as counsellors, support workers, drug and alcohol workers, youth workers and employment services case managers. Some are working in their existing occupations but with greater skills, still others have gone on to further study.

So whatever your reason for enquiry, we welcome you to the Mount Louisa Counselling Course and trust that you will enjoy this adventure into learning how to better help those who are hurting in our communities.

“There has never been a better time to become a qualified Counsellor”

Changing Our World