Registration opens in November each year for the subsequent year’s course. Click on the sign up button on our website and complete the online form. Once your application has been approved you will receive an access code to pay for the modules. The training will start in January until August – and will include weekly online Zoom experiential groups.

The community art counselling training takes place in two parts. The first part of the training is the online course and this covers eight modules, including an introduction to community art counselling, counselling skills, psychoanalytic concepts, group work, trauma, social action and visual research, social entrepreneurship, and bereavement, trauma and endings. This takes place via our new online training platform and includes weekly Zoom groups for reflective practice and art making. Once you have completed the online training, you can apply to Lefika La Phodiso to undertake the Health and Welfare Seta accreditation process, which includes 60 placement hours, weekly supervision, summative and formative assessments that are assessed, moderated and verified. 

The online training platform provides interactive and engaging content in the form of written course material, video lectures and presentations, case studies, quizzes, assignments, activities, module assessments, and additional resources such as links to videos, articles, books and readings

You will need the following art materials for this training:

• A3 ring-bound journal
• Crayons
• Oil pastels
• Pencils
• Charcoal
• Koki pens
• Watercolour paints (student quality)
• Acrylic paints (blue, yellow, red, white and black - student quality)
• Glue (bostik clear or similar)
• Clay and/or different coloured playdough
• Masking tape/ cellotape
• Scissors
• Old magazines
• Cardboard (a couple of sheets of A3 coloured card)
• Recycle and reuse - toilet rolls, cardboard boxes, bottle tops, buttons, fruit and veg packaging, sweet wrappers etc

Each module consists of two forms of assessments:

Formative: This is what you will have completed experientially during the online training and take the form of assignments, activities and quizzes. You are also required to keep an A3 Visual Diary for all your experiential training activities. This will form part of your Portfolio of Evidence (POE) should you proceed with accreditation.

Summative: A set of questions (an ‘assessment’) will be given out after every module to be completed before you can enter the next module. This will be assessed by an external assessor and moderator should you proceed with accreditation.
Please note that if at any point during the accreditation process, you require a remark of your assessments, you will be liable for the additional costs.

This course is accredited by HWSETA with a certificate at an NQF Level 5 certificate (post-matric). To proceed with accreditation, you will apply and be invited to an interview. If you are accepted for accreditation, you will have to complete 60 practical hours. Your 60 hours will comprise setting up group (liaison with site/s), contact group time, group preparation time, supervision, reports. There is an additional fee for accreditation.

The HWSETA assessment process is both formative and summative. Your journal, activities and assignments form your formative assessment. Your module assessments form your summative assessment. These will be formally assessed and moderated by qualified assessors and moderators. The completed assessments will be moderated and verified and submitted to the HWSETA – final accreditation and certificates are then provided by the Seta.  

If you are not located in Johannesburg, Lefika La Phodiso will support you to identify a suitable site and to set up your group. Many people who do the community art counselling training are already working in communities or schools or other institutional setting where groups already exist or are easy to set up. If you are not in such a situation - we would help you to identify a suitable NGO, school, or other and you would then approach them to request setting up a group for a period of time - first identifying with the organisation the need and then orientate your group accordingly. These hours must be documented and signed off by a supervisor. You will attend weekly supervision via zoom with Lefika and write and submit weekly reports. 

Every month we get together as a community and share our work for input and discussion. This is called a case conference. Make sure that you present AT LEAST ONE case at the case conference during your internship. This is a course requirement for accreditation.

Please make sure that you study the scope of practice (to be provided) in detail. This will be your guiding document on the road to be a successful community art counsellor. In summary, community art counsellors can run short-term groups, and be in weekly supervision while running these groups.

We draw a lot of our readings, academic material and experiential training from the field of Art Therapy. It is what informs this training program. Unfortunately, there is no formal training in Art Therapy in South Africa currently and the Lefika course provides Community Art Counselling. Therefore, you CANNOT call yourself an art therapist. If there are any developments on this, we will also inform those of you who wish to further their studies in the field. After this training, you can only practice as a Community Art Counsellor. This will be unpacked in-depth during your training.

We require that you engage with some form of personal therapy. Please contact us if you need a referral.

The online training takes place over eight months. The online training commences on Tuesday, 18 January 2022 and ends on 23 August 2022. The training takes place via a hybrid model with combined self-study via our online training platform and weekly experiential Zoom group meetings. The Zoom groups take place on Tuesday evenings from 19h00 to 21h00 (South African time). 

Should you wish to proceed with the accreditation process, this will take place in your own time after the online training has been successfully completed – from September to November 2022. We suggest that you set aside three months for your weekly group and supervision.

The online training will cost R15 000 with a 10% discount if all modules are paid for up front before the training commences. You will also be able to sign up and pay for the training module by module. 

Should you wish to proceed with the accreditation process, there will be an additional administrative fee of R15 000 (again with an early bird 10% discount) for placement site support, supervision, and the assessment, moderation and verification for purposes of HW Seta accreditation requirements. 

Yes, once you have been accepted into the training, you must pay a deposit of R2 000 to secure your place.

Scholarships are available upon discretion of Lefika La Phodiso and based on proven need.

If you pay for all your modules up front you will receive a 10% discount and the online training will therefore cost R13 500. Payment of the course on a module by module basis will cost R1 875 per module.

Yes, you can sign up for one or a few modules.