Couples Counselling Training – Become a Couples Counsellor
Certificate in Couples Counselling from Basingstoke Counselling Service
Our hugely popular couples counselling training is back for 2026.
Led by Heidi Renton, of Tavistock Relationships, this 50-hour training runs over five weekends over a five month period. Our course is open to qualified counsellors with a minimum of one-year post-qualifying counselling experience, who wish to add working with couples to their portfolio, or who are already working with couples and want to deepen their understanding of couples work.
Dates
Our 50-hour couples counselling training takes place over five weekends on the following dates:
Sat & Sun 28 Feb/1 March 2026
Sat & Sun 21/22 March 2026
Sat & Sun 18/19 April 2026
Sat & Sun 16/17 May 2026
Sat & Sun 13/14 June 2026
Time: 10am to 4pm
Location: Basingstoke Counselling Service, Goldings, London Road, Basingstoke, RG21 4AN
Cost
£1,545
There is a 50% discount available on the full price (not the early bird price) for BCS Staff & Counsellors. This is limited to a maximum of two people and they must be a member of the organisation for the duration of the course.
We are happy to arrange payment by instalments, please email events@basingstokecounselling.org.uk so that we can set up a payment schedule for you and reserve your space if you wish to pay by instalments.
There is a £25 admin fee for setting up the instalments as we do incur costs and unfortunately as a small charity we do need to pass this on.
Course syllabus for couples counselling training
Our couples counselling training syllabus is experiential, underpinned by robust theory.
Weekend 1
Key principles of couple therapy:
- What is a relationship? The nature of attraction and role of idealisation
- The relationship is the patient
- The focus of the couple therapist: maintaining a ‘couple state of mind’
- The past in the present: using genograms; intergenerational patterns and shared sensitivities
- What individuals bring to their relationships: the internal couple and repeated patterns of relationship dynamics
- Working with the transference and countertransference
Weekend 2
The functions and meanings of desire and sex in a relationship:
- Development of sexual identity; cultural and societal influences
- Challenges to the sexual relationship, physical and emotional
- Fertility issues and loss
- Common sexual dysfunctions and causes: predisposing, precipitating and maintaining factors
- Betrayal and shame – pornography and sex addiction
Weekend 3
Attachment theory and patterns:
- Influence on couple choice; impact on the couple relationship
- The therapist as an attachment figure; breaks and containment
- Life stages in the couple relationship
- Working with triangulation and affairs
- Collusion and secrets in the consulting room
Weekend 4
Assessing the couple and contracting:
- The presenting problem and ‘why now?’ for choosing couple therapy
- Depression, mental health, and the ‘allocated patient’
- Issues of violence and child protection
- Helping couples understand, address and change damaging behaviours
- Sustaining positive change
Weekend 5
Endings and beginnings:
- Working with disappointment, blame, conflict and loss in the consulting room
- Separation and divorce
- New relationships and repeated patterns
- Blended families
Requirements for our couples counselling training
- You must be a qualified counsellor, with a minimum of one-year post-qualifying counselling experience.
- Given the nature of this training, it is a prerequisite that you have completed at least 40 hours of personal therapy either during or after your core training as a counsellor.
- You must achieve a minimum of 80% attendance to be eligible for your Certificate in Couples Counselling.
- You must achieve the appropriate standard in skills practice, as assessed by our trainer, Heidi, at the end of the course to achieve your Certificate in Couples Counselling.
About Heidi Renton MA, MBACP, RegCOSRT
You will be able to draw from Heidi’s extensive knowledge and experience of couples counselling training: she qualified for her Masters as a Psychodynamic Couple and Individual Psychotherapist at Tavistock Relationships in London and then specialised with a further qualification at the same institution, in Psychosexual and Relationship Therapy.
Heidi has since lectured and tutored on both the Tavistock courses, from which she graduated, and works there as a Senior Clinician in Assessment and Relationship Psychotherapy, alongside running her own private practice. In addition, Heidi trains and supervises NHS and IAPT counsellors on the Tavistock’s Couple Therapy for Depression time-limited model.
She is a registered member of both the BACP and COSRT as well as a graduate member and international affiliate of the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology (TIMP).
Heidi left a successful career in business and media education to dedicate herself to helping people find happiness in their personal and intimate relationships.
Cancellation policy
Please note that in order to receive the BCS discounted rate, you must remain a BCS staff member or counsellor for the entire duration of the course. Full course fees will be payable if you leave the organisation during the course.
In the unlikely event that unforeseen circumstances arise and BCS has to cancel the couples counselling training course, you will receive a full refund. In the event of cancellation by the you, the participant, BCS reserves the right to charge a cancellation fee as indicated by the table below. All requests for cancellations must be received in writing, with changes becoming effective on the date written confirmation is received.
| Calendar days’ notice before the start date of the course | Refund applicable |
| 90 calendar days or more before you are due to start the Course | Full refund (less a £25 admin fee) |
| Between 60 and 89 calendar days (inclusive) | 50% refund (less a £25 admin fee) |
| Between 30 and 59 calendar days (inclusive) | 25% refund (less a £25 admin fee) |
| Within 29 calendar days of the Course commencing | No refund given |
Please ensure you meet the entry requirements prior to booking your place. If candidates do not meet the entry requirements you will be unable to attend the course and your withdrawal will be treated as a cancellation and subject to the above cancellation policy.
Take a look at our counselling CPD workshops and courses for the future
If you’re looking for further ways to grow your counselling practice then take a look at our other CPD courses and workshops.
Alternatively, you can sign up to our mailing list to be the first to get notified when new CPD courses become available to book.