You might be the one people talk to when things get heavy. This pairs two certificates: how people think and behave, and how mental health support works in practice.
Community mental health, residential care and youth services all hire support workers. They want people who understand what they are walking into. Two certificates covers a lot of that ground.
Already in care or community work? Risk and protective factors, crisis response and treatment approaches give you something to act on when a conversation turns serious.
Twelve months of access and no set class times. Two hundred and twenty hours is a real body of study, and you can take it at whatever pace your life allows.
Mental health support runs through community services, residential care, youth work and helplines, and the need keeps growing. The work is easy to picture: sitting with someone on a bad day, noticing what has changed, and knowing who to bring in when it is beyond you.
Supporting people day to day. Both certificates point here.
Working with people in their own communities, where risk and protective factors apply constantly.
Young people talk when they trust you. Interpersonal communication comes before anything else.
Walking beside people through what you have been through yourself.
Support inside a residential setting, where knowing the treatments people are on helps.
Keeping track of people and their plans, with the understanding to notice when something shifts.
Roles where these skills are useful, not promised outcomes. Every role is different, and some need more study or experience. Registered counselling, psychology and psychotherapy each run through their own accredited study and supervised hours.
Two certificates: how people think and behave, then how mental health support works in practice.
Here is what stands out in this course.
Psychology and Counselling covers how people work. Mental Health covers the support side. You finish with both, and they explain each other.
Suicide risk and intervention, and responding to domestic violence, are both taught rather than left out. Support work meets these, and reading about them first matters.
Treatments are covered, both talking therapies and medication, so you understand the support people already have.
Ethical responsibilities of mental health professionals is its own topic. In support work, knowing where your role stops is as important as knowing what it covers.
Certificate of Achievement · The Career Academy
Finish and the college awards you its Certificate of Achievement for both psychology and counselling, and mental health.
You earn Continuing Professional Development credits when you finish, so the study counts on your record.
Yours while you study, for student rates on travel, accommodation and more.
Send an enquiry and a course advisor gets back to you with the course guide and straight answers on whether it fits.
Start anytime. Pay on a flexible weekly plan, or pay upfront in one payment.
Work through both certificates online, with unlimited tutor support by phone and email in business hours.
Complete the course and receive your Certificate of Achievement, with CPD credits on your record.
None needed. Both certificates start from the beginning, opening with stress and an introduction to mental health.
The plan is $29 a week. You can also pay upfront in one payment. Enquire for the full options.
Around 220 hours across both certificates, at your own pace, with 12 months of access. There are no set class times.
Some of it is. Suicide risk, domestic violence and crisis response are part of the course, because they are part of the work. They are taught as what to notice and what to do, with tutor support behind you the whole way. If that is a lot right now, your advisor can talk it through before you enrol.
It is a substantial grounding, and a good way to find out whether the field is yours before committing years to a degree. Registered counselling and psychology need accredited study and supervised hours. What you take away here are the skills used in support work every day, and support roles are where most people in this field start.
There are none, ever. You are assessed on what you understand, with tutor support behind you.
It is accredited by ICOES and the CPD Standards Office, which is accreditation for professional development. It is not NZQA accredited, so it is not a national qualification. That is a different thing. For support worker roles it is no barrier: what services ask about is whether you understand what you are walking into and know when to escalate.
Yes. There is a 10-day money back guarantee. If it is not right, you get your money back.
This course is delivered by The Career Academy, an online course provider in New Zealand.
The college has been running for over 15 years and works with more than 25,000 students a year. Courses are online and self paced, with unlimited tutor support by phone and email in business hours. Career coaching opens as soon as you enrol, including CV help and a LinkedIn profile review.
Picture the shift where someone tells you the thing they have not told anyone, and you know how to hold it. Ask your questions and see if this is your way in.