This module aims to prepare students for the counselling role. It aims to provide them with an awareness of the complexity of the role, and an understanding of the professional environment they will be encountering on placement in the following year. It aims to familiarise them with the settings within which counselling takes place and to provide them with both relevant reading and some experiences to help them take up the role. There will be material on the ethical and statutory frameworks within which they will be working and work on the meaning and standing of counselling provision in a range of agencies, and its place in wider services.