Returning to Study as an Adult

Returning to study as an adult often brings a particular kind of pressure.

There can be a sense of a need to catch up and keep up which manifests as an urgency to take everything in and make sense of it quickly. This is often compounded by the need to fit it all in around existing responsibilities - work, parenting, caring and everything else that accompanies life in general.

But counselling training is different to that - at least it is with us. Yes, we all have to learn counselling concepts, truly understand the ethical requirements of our work and digest theory that relates to practice. But as adult learners, we believe in different ways of approaching this. The ultimate aim is to be able to sit in a room with your client, staying present with things that don’t resolve quickly and sometimes be okay with not knowing what to do.

 

Rethinking What It Means to ‘Do Well’

In many educational settings, doing well is often linked to how much you can retain, organise and reproduce. It can be measured through writing with clarity, accuracy and consistency. Counselling training asks for something related but not identical to that.

Over time you are developing a way of practising where you can notice, make sense of what you are noticing, respond to complexity and then learn from it.

Alongside knowledge, there is an ongoing process of:

• Making sense of what you are noticing

• Reflecting on your own responses

• Applying ideas in real or simulated relational contexts

• Gradually integrating this into how you develop your signature approach to counselling practice

So, progress doesn’t always feel linear.

You might understand a concept but not feel sure how to apply it immediately. You might read theory and then find it confusing when you try to put it in relation to other knowledge you have gained through prior experience. You might recognise something important in a skills session but not fully understand its meaning and relevance yet.

This isn’t a sign that you are falling behind.

Let me say that again … this isn’t a sign that you are falling behind. It is usually a sign that:

• You are learning in a way that is different to how you have learned for a while

• You are deepening your learning

• You are finding ways to integrate new learning with old

 

Learning That Stays With You

The qualifying years in counselling training are about providing learning that stays with you. Some of the learning eventually becomes second nature. It provides a scaffold on which all professional learning will build upon for the rest of your career. That’s why learning is layered – at least with us it is.

You encounter an idea (maybe for the first time; maybe from a different perspective).

You reflect on it, making sense or meaning of it in relation to everything before. (This is a core component of adult learning compared to learning as a child.)

You notice where it starts to show up in practice.

You return to it again and again, either to reflect on it from a new perspective or to confirm the learning still fits in your frame.

Over time, this kind of learning tends to stay with you. It isn’t about memorising it. It’s about truly engaging in the opportunity for learning.

 

Closing Reflection

This isn’t about learning quickly.

It’s about learning in a way that stays with you, supports your development over time and enables you to sit with your clients in a way that is grounded, present and responsive to complexity.