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PSY-30080 - Module Specification
School of Medicine
Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

PSY-30080 - Personal Development and Professional Issues
Coordinator: Annabel Keats
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 30
Study Hours: 300
School Office: 01782 733928

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2025/26

This module is focused on personal and professional development and is aimed towards helping you to develop both the qualities and necessary therapeutic attitudes for working in helping relationships. You will develop enhanced listening and interpersonal communication skills, greater self-awareness, and an ability to work with people in distress. This module will further develop the understanding of counselling theory initiated in module PSY-30079.

Aims
The module aim is to equip you with skills and understanding of safe, ethical counselling practice, in line with the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapy (BACP) Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions. It also aims to increase your awareness of and ability to work with issues of difference and diversity and to provide opportunities to foster an increase in your self-knowledge and self-awareness.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/psy-30080/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

Critically analyse and discuss key concepts of person-centred counselling theory and practice: 2,3
Identify and critically evaluate counselling skills practice with reference to person-centred theory: 2
Critically reflect on and evidence enhanced self-awareness and self-knowledge to demonstrate personal and professional development.: 3,4
Independently manage your learning, using scholarly sources and ideas which are at the forefront of the counselling discipline, to construct well-reasoned arguments
: 2
Manage the therapeutic process when engaged in counselling skills practice with student peers, demonstrating an ability to make decisions in complex situations, sometimes with incomplete information: 1
Demonstrate key person-centred therapeutic attitudes through reflective and ethical practice with peers: 1
Demonstrate the development of key professional and personal qualities and attributes in line with the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions
: 1,2,3

Study hours

Contact time: 78 hours comprising lectures, participation in personal development groups and skills practice and development.
Independent Study totalling 222 hours including preparation for assessments and personal development (which must include 8 hours of personal therapy).

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Assignment weighted 0%
Audio visual recording of counselling practice (20 minutes)
You will be required to submit an audio visual recording of a person-centred counselling practice session, made with a fellow student to assess your person-centred counselling skills. Along with the recording, you must submit a full transcript and the consent form signed by the client.

2: Essay weighted 50%
Evaluation of audio visual recording of practice (3,000 words)
In this written assignment the student will evaluate their counselling practice with reference to person-centred theory through a critical reflection on the recording of their practice (Assessment 1)

3: Essay weighted 50%
Personal Development essay (2,500 words)
In this essay, the student will be invited to reflect on their personal and professional development and relate this to appropriate literature

4: Professional Development weighted 0%
8 hours of personal therapy
You are required to engage in 8 hours of personal therapy with a therapist who meets the criteria set out in the Therapy Contract

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025