The Irish College of Humanities and Applied Sciences (ICHAS) is an independent education provider, specialising in the delivery of third level programmes. The College was founded in 1999 and it currently offers a range of Higher education programmes as well as a range of continuing professional development opportunities. The core focus within the College is the education of professional practitioners in Caring Disciplines. All programmes at ICHAS are designed to be relevant and contemporary, ensuring both academic and occupational value – both nationally and internationally.

The College offers a range of QQI awarded Counselling Courses and Psychotherapy Courses, as well as Masters level programmes (Level 9 on the National Framework of Qualifications) in Leadership & Management Courses, and Childhood and Adolescent Studies as well as Clinical Supervision in Professional Practice at our campus in Limerick. We also offer many of these programmes at our campus in Griffith College Dublin, and Wharton House Waterford.

We also work with a range of Service Providers Aiseiri Addiction Treatment Services to provide tailored Professional Development programmes and bespoke training. See www.ichas.ie for further information on these Short Courses.

The ICHAS College motto reflects this ethos as we are a college that is focused on

ICHAS has embraced innovative educational technologies in a number of ways with the aim of delivering flexible education options for students using blended learning. We broadcast most theory-based modules online, giving the student the choice between attending classes face-to-face or joining in online. In addition, the learning management system enables us to use a number of innovative approaches to support learning beyond the classroom for students, including access to lecture recordings, mobile learning, video assessments, easy login to online libraries, and more.
At ICHAS, all part-time courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels are offered through a blended learning approach. This means these programmes combine the best of traditional face-to-face teaching with online/remote learning. The online learning platform isn’t a passive experience – students can see the lecturer and the students in the class via webcam; ask and answer questions and view presentation slides as the lecturer explains them.

Potential students or current students undertaking a course in Counselling or Psychotherapy normally wish to become a professional practitioner in Ireland. In that regard, there are impending changes in these fields which are likely to significantly impact on future practice. Until recently, neither Counselling or Psychotherapy were regulated under statute, which effectively meant that anyone could use the title counsellor or psychotherapist, regardless of their qualifications or experience and not be subject to legal penalties for doing so. This is about to change in that Counselling and Psychotherapy is being regulated under CORU (the Health and Social Care Professionals Council). This will be a significant development in terms of the protection of the public. The Department of Health have consistently and clearly stated that the minimum educational qualifications that will be necessary for future registration will be QQI qualifications (or equivalent). It will be a matter for Coru to set Professional Standards for registration as either a Counsellor or Psychotherapist and CORU has now commenced that work and the College wishes them well in that regard.

In addition to meeting the QQI award standards, counselling programmes at ICHAS are designed to facilitate those who wish to pursue professional accreditation also under current professional accreditation arrangements. Students should be aware that they need to meet the requirements of whichever professional accreditation body with whom they wish to be accredited. Programmes at ICHAS are structured with sufficient flexibility to allow for the varying requirements for pre-accreditation membership with a range of professional accreditation bodies in Ireland.

At the moment, students are free to apply to any of the relevant professional Associations for student membership while undertaking their programme and students who wish to be professionally accredited need to apply for pre-accredited membership following completion of their programme and in advance of full accredited membership. In such cases, students should direct their efforts within their programme to meeting the specific conditions of the relevant Associations with whom they wish to be accredited, which are set out below. In particular. The College works with Addiction Counsellors Ireland (ACI), the Association of Professional Counsellors and Psychotherapists (APCP) and the National Association for Pastoral Counselling & Psychotherapy (NAPCP) to support students wishing for Professional Accreditation.

Check out this short video, produced and directed by our students, and designed to give you a flavour of student life and the student experience at ICHAS.