Counselling Course Enhances Skills for Patryk

Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills student Patryk Sojka (30) from Lisburn, is learning and growing skills that will improve his job and personal life while studying part-time at South Eastern Regional College (SERC).  

From a young age, Patryk was always interested in helping people and learning about how people think. This would inspire Patryk later in life to start his own business – Legends Academy; a mindset and coaching service that aims to improve people’s mental health and self-improvement. After Patryk established his business, he wanted to take his knowledge of mental health to the next level and began researching counselling courses online. Patryk decided studying counselling at SERC was for him, as there was a local campus close to his home, and the course contents on the SERC website sounded exactly like what he was looking for.  

On his course, Patryk says, “I really like the feeling of community you get while in the classroom – it's a very growth-driven course and it’s great to see other students improve their counselling and interpersonal skills as the course progresses. In my personal life, I’m a foster parent, partner, a business owner, and more; what I’ve found about counselling is that it can improve your life in all areas since the skills are so universal. I’ve grown to be more emotionally intelligent and better at communication thanks to this course. I also really appreciate that I can come into the college one day a week to gain a qualification while balancing a busy lifestyle.” 

“There’s a lot of theory involved, so far we have learnt a lot about psychology, human behaviour, empathy, active listening, and asking open questions - skills that aren’t just valuable as a counsellor but are also valuable to use in everyday life. We also do a lot of practical work as well, which I think is the most beneficial work we do; students in the class do mock counselling sessions with each other while another student watches and analyses - at the end of the session we get feedback on how we put the theory we learn into practice. It’s a very nice balance of theory and practice overall, and I really enjoy how the theory ties into and is reinforced in the practical tasks.” 

Patryk continues, “Your environment is what shapes you – if you are comfortable in your environment then that’s really going to encourage you to improve and be more confident in your learning.  At SERC, there’s a very approachable and warm environment - all the staff are really helpful and can give you support whenever you need it. There’s a lot of friendliness about the place, which makes for a great atmosphere to learn in. After this course, I want to continue to do counselling at higher levels because the environment at SERC feels like it’s there to help you grow.” 

Patryk concludes, “A lot of people can be put off education because of high school, because it’s a ‘one size fits all’ approach to education; it’s very structured and a lot of people that are put off that structure may feel like they aren’t good at education as a whole. If you are the type of person that struggled in school, don’t let that put you off learning. Returning to education at SERC has been amazing for me. If you have an interest in counselling or therapy, this course is definitely one I would recommend. Not only are you going out of your comfort zone in class doing practical work and getting a qualification that can help you achieve a career in this area, but you are also actively learning how to improve your own communication skills for your personal life. You get so much from the course, and it’ll blow your expectations out of the water.”   

Apply now for part-time courses. Come to our part-time enrolment evening on Thursday  28 August from 4pm to 7pm at Bangor, Downpatrick, Lisburn & Newtownards Campuses.