1. Certificate in Systemic Family Therapy

Aims
The course aims to provide supplementary training to those working in community based contexts for the health and social advisory sectors. It is largely practical and designed to meet the needs of counsellors different work settings. On completion of the course the participants will:

1. Have a basic knowledge of systems and communication theory.
2. Be able to counsel individuals, families and other social groups.
3. Be able to develop community support groups (Network).

Admission requirements:
Admission is open to all persons in helping professions (e.g. doctors, nurses, policemen, health community and field workers, personnel managers and teachers). Applicants must be involved in counselling in some aspect of their work.

3. Diploma in Family Therapy
Aims:
This is a part-time two year programme for experienced counsellors who wish to improve their practical skills and learn a systemic approach for working with families. It provides an opportunity to improve the quality of their therapeutic work with families through live supervision of clinical practice and theoretical study of systems theory, social construction and related conceptual frameworks.

Admission requirements:

• The candidate must have attended an introductory course in family therapy.
• The candidate must pass a two-hour written entrance examination on basic systemic theory, and a practical assessment demonstrating clinical skills in the role play of a first session with a family.
• The candidate must possess a Diploma qualification in a helping profession e.g. social work, nursing, teaching, etc from a recognised institution.

Course Outline
The course is offered as DFT (A) for people who live close to Harare and DFT (B) for people who live far away from Harare.

DFT (A)

• The course starts with a week long workshop to give basic theoretical grounding in systems theory for the participants.
• It covers five academic terms coinciding with school terms.
• Participants attend the institute one afternoon each week for academic seminars and involved in ongoing clinical cases which will be seen in the presence of a team under live supervision. A total of 150 hours of clinical practice must be completed during he training period, 45 of which must be as therapist.

DFT (B)

• This is similar to programme A, except that it runs during school holidays in 2 weeks modules per term. It is run in Harare but can also be convened anywhere if more than 6 people get together, have adequate clinic facilities and e-mail facilities for ongoing supervision

4. Short Courses
CONNECT also offers short training courses on a demand basis. The courses are tailored to specific requests for a wide range of organisations, companies and groups. Courses can be tailored around the following areas:

• Basic Counselling Skills Training
• Communication Skills Training
• Systemic HIV and Aids Counselling Skills Training
• Working with Children in Counselling
• Parenting Skills
• Peer Counselling Skills Training
• Intercultural Management
• Stress Management
• Counselling Training and Supervision Skills
• Working with Trauma
• Home Based Care
• Antiretroviral Therapy Course
• Adolescense Reproductive Health

The courses above are also offered at regional level in Zimbabwe as well as outside Zimbabwe.

5. Supervision and Training Track

Aims:
To develop and train potential trainers and supervisors in systemic counselling

Admission requirements:
Trainees who have completed the Diploma in Family Therapy and 20 hours of peer supervision are eligible to register as trainee supervisors with CONNECT.

Course Outline:
The course involves an academic programme of six terms over two years, attendance at weekly observation groups and monthly supervision meetings. A total of 34 hours clinical work is required for this course which includes “live” supervision, tape reviews and clinical consults.

Application and selection for this course:
Application must process the Diploma in Family Therapy. Selection is based on letter of application, a curriculum vitae and referees reports. Interviews will be held where necessary.

6. Regional Course - Systemic Counselling
The regional course is held in collaboration with the Regional AIDS Training Network (Nairobi, Kenya) which offers partial bursaries to 5 participants per class. The course which is held in Harare runs for a total of 4 weeks during which students are expected to carry out counselling sessions at various hospitals and clinicas. They are also required to sit for a practical and theory examination.   

7. New Courses
The training department has introduced 3 new courses which will each run for 5 days. These are Trauma Counselling, Conflict Resolution and Project Planning. 

Contact Details:
For detailed information regarding our training programmes contact the Training Department on 263 4 741779 / 263 4 741794 or 263 4 2916054. Email training@connect.org.zw or admin@connect.org.zw.  For the Diploma course contact the Clinic on 263 4 794131 / 263 4  721873.