Certificate of Domestic Violence and Counselling

Unit 1 – Recognise and respond appropriately to domestic and family violence

• Support those affected by domestic and family violence
• Values and philosophies of domestic violence work
• At risk groups – women and children
• Rural and regional communities
• Indigenous communities
• Pregnant women
• Economic costs
• Social and health costs
• Historical and political context
• Criminal justice
• Support client and worker safety
• Prevention strategies
• Client and worker safety
• Risk assessment
• The Danger Assessment (DA) scale
• Awareness of types of abuse
• Emotional abuse
• Verbal abuse and social abuse
• Economic abuse and psychological abuse
• Spiritual abuse and physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Characteristics of dangerous perpetrators
• Best practice
• Compliance with organisational policies and procedures
• Support for workers exposed to domestic and family violence
• Adequate and inadequate assessments
• Positives and negative outcomes
• Supervisory support
• Standards, procedures and legislation
• Client and worker rights and responsibilities
• The right to safety
• Family violence orders
• Personal safety
• Privacy and confidentiality
• Ethical guidelines
• Right to compensation
• Commonly accepted myths about domestic and family violence
• Rapport, confidence and information exchange
• Positive behaviours demonstrating respect
• Cultural family and individual needs
• Personal responsibility
• Non-verbal communication
• Personal space
• Service delivery priority
• Responding to threats and safety
• Characteristics of the abuser theory
• Victim mentality theory
• Inequality or power theory
• Responding to client needs
• Referrals
• Workplace limitations
• Seeking further assistance
• Prioritising the physical and emotional safety of client, their family and workers
• The Australasian Triage Scale (ATS)
• Strategies to ensure the safety of clients
• Strategies for intervention
• Five rules of setting objectives
• Obtaining the commitment from clients
• Providing information about available services
• Records reports and referral information
• Record keeping systems

Unit 2 – Counsel clients affected by domestic and family violence

• Review existing case information
• Establish professional relationships
• Positive behaviours demonstrating respect
• Behaviours that compromise professional relationships
• Conducting interviews and interactions with clients
• Developing an awareness of risk
• Prevention strategies
• Client/worker safety
• Perpetrators
• Encouraging participation
• Maintaining privacy
• Sensitivity to individual differences
• Specific needs of clients
• Disabilities
• Diverse cultural backgrounds
• Different age groups
• Remote client
• Same sex relationships
• Mental health issues
• Gender issues
• Addiction
• Language barriers
• Promote the rights and responsibilities of clients
• Legislative and statutory requirements
• The right to safety
• Family violence orders
• Personal safety
• Organisational standards and procedures
• Compliance
• Non-compliance
• Appropriate questioning techniques
• General model of intervention
• Perpetrators to accept responsibility for their actions
• Types of abuse
• Prioritisation of needs
• Risk analysis
• Services and resources to meet client needs
• Client to identify and address issues
• Required decisions and changed needed
• Encourage client self-determination
• Acknowledge, encourage and support progress
• Identify plan and document future services
• Indigenous service and support
• Jointly identify client needs
• Client observation
• Conduct analysis (SWAT, PEST)
• Record keeping systems
• Evaluation
• Client introductions
• Effective communication
• Barriers to communication
• Body language and gestures
• Values and attitudes
• Personal values
• Organisational values and guidance
• Skills and knowledge development

Unit 3 – Establish and confirm the counselling relationship

• Structured counselling approach
• Analyse existing client information
• Legal and ethical considerations
• Transparent management of personal information
• Health and safety legislation
• Initial counselling session
• Engaging with clients
• Building rapport
• Active listening
• Effective questioning
• Communication techniques
• Paralanguage
• A structured approach to counselling
• A person-centred approach
• Establishing the helping relationship
• Provide information for clients
• Client rights and responsibilities
• The counselling process
• Professional boundaries
• Client expectations
• The Charter of Human Rights
• Clarifying expectations raised in promotional material
• Client anxieties
• Code of ethical conduct
• Client concerns
• Signs of anxiety
• Expectations and commitment
• Client issues
• Escalation
• Referrals to other agencies
• Eligibility criteria
• Example of referral process form
• Collaborative processes and strategies
• Confidentiality and privacy legislation
• Conflicting interests
• Relationship options and approaches with clients
• Counselling priorities and plans
• Counselling contracts
• Informed consent
• Example of a counselling plan
• Records management

Unit 4 – Facilitate the counselling relationship and process

• Following the client’s story
• Encouraging client to tell their story
• Closed questions
• Legal and ethical considerations
• Equal opportunity
• Anti-discrimination legislation
• Mandatory reporting legislation
• Duty of care
• Client presenting and underlying issues
• Engaging with clients
• Situations requiring immediate action
• Suicide threats
• Conflicting interests
• Identify and prioritise concerns
• Reframing technique
• Recognising issues needing a referral
• Referral eligibility
• Referral types and processes
• Confidentiality and privacy
• Client ambivalence
• Strategies for overcoming uncertainty
• Code of ethical conduct
• Supporting clients to experience and process difficulties
• The stages of recovery
• Implementing interventions
• Supporting clients to identify and use strengths
• Active listening
• Exploring clients feelings (reflecting, clarifying and reviewing)
• Dealing with underlying issues
• Monitor the counselling process
• Disruptions to the counselling process
• Planning for change
• Action phase
• Addressing dilemmas
• Enabling clients to identify when counselling is ending
• Emotionally dependant clients
• Personal boundaries
• Professional boundaries
• Developing client plans
• Autonomy and compliance
• Unresolved issues
• Documenting and reporting
• Records management

Unit 5 – Select and use counselling therapies

• Select counselling therapies
• Identify and prioritising client needs
• Establish desired changes
• Creative problem-solving techniques
• SMART goals
• Client’s developmental status
• Client’s response to change
• Piaget’s cognitive development (4 stages)
• Freud’s psychosexual stages of development (5 stages)
• Id, ego and superego
• Erickson’s psychosocial development (8 stages)
• Kohlberg’s moral development (3 stages)
• Physical and motor development
• Language
• Individual differences
• Consulting with clients carers, family or significant others
• Signs of co-existing mental health and AOD issues
• Background – dual diagnosis
• Substance abuse and dependence
• Alcohol dependence
• Symptoms of psychological problems or illness
• Normal and abnormal behaviour
• Drug use and psychological illness
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Person-centred therapy
• Behaviour therapy
• Benefits and limitations of therapy
• Gestalt therapy
• Solution focused therapy
• Developing a self-care plan
• Psychological, emotional, spiritual and relationship self-care
• Symptoms causes and effects of stress
• Stress diaries
• Managing re-traumatisation
• Arousal reduction strategies
• Managing vicarious trauma
• Positive self-care habits
• Emotional distancing
• The role of the counsellor
• Choosing a theory
• Personality theories
• Applying the Erikson, Freud and Maslow theory
• Providing information about counselling services
• Documenting therapy details
• Client rights and responsibilities
• The counselling process
• Professional boundaries
• Clarifying client expectations
• Client expectations
• Communicating details of therapies
• Environmental and personal factors
• Cultural issues
• Communication
• Principles and application of theories
• Building and establishing rapport
• Active and passive listening
• Effective questioning
• Reframing
• Paralanguage
• Personal space
• Effective communicators
• Changing client behaviour
• Goal setting
• Self-advocacy
• Practice coping strategies
• Mindfulness relaxation
• Integrative therapy
• Reinforcement approaches
• Behaviour management
• Aggressive behaviour
• Appropriate staff training
• High-level communication skills
• Empathy and sympathy
• Honesty and openness
• Elements of trust
• Conflict resolution
• Records management
• Confidentiality, legal and ethical considerations
• Duty of care
• Role modelling
• Clients requiring referrals and referral processes
• Evaluating use of techniques and theories
• Regular performance evaluations and appraisals
• Enhancing knowledge with emerging trends
• Training and action learning
• Self-development plans
• Development and implementing goals
• Conferences and networking
• Professional memberships
• Evaluation of current trends