Category 1
Basic Level Pastoral Counsellor (NQF Level 2)

Category 2
Post Basic Level Pastoral Counsellor (NQF Level 3)

1. Knowledge

• General knowledge and experience of pastoral counselling
• Listening skills
• Empathy
• Twenty (20) hours practical pastoral counselling
• Ten (10) hours of supervision

• Relevant theoretical and practical knowledge of pastoral counselling
• Listening skills and an emphatic understanding of a situation
• Thirty (30) hours practical pastoral counselling
• Fifteen (15) hours supervision

2. Nature of processes

• Skills: moderate in range
• Procedures: established and familiar
• Context: routine and familiar

• Skills: well developed range
• Procedures: significant choice
• Context: range of familiar

3. Scope of learning

• Basic operational knowledge
• Basic processing of readily available information
• Problem solving: a range of known responses to familiar problems, based on limited discretion and judgement

• Some relevant theoretical knowledge
• Interpretation of available information
• Problem-solving: a range of sometimes innovative responses to concrete but often unfamiliar problems, based on informed judgement

4. Responsibility

• Orientation of activity: directed
• Under general supervision and quality control of a qualified pastoral counsellor/ therapist with at least a level 5 qualification

• Orientation of activity: directed, with some autonomy
• Application of responsibility: under general supervision and quality checking
• Significant responsibility for the quality and quantity of output, and possible responsibility for the quantity and quality of the output of others

5. Learning pathway

• Education pathway: senior
• Secondary study beyond entry level
• Training pathway: training towards certification in pastoral counselling skills

• Education: continuing secondary study
• Training: training towards certification in skilled pastoral counselling occupation

Category 3
Intermediate Level Pastoral Counsellor (NQF Level 4)

Category 4
Advanced Level Pastoral Therapist (NQF Level 5/6)

1. Knowledge

• At least an advanced knowledge of one theory of pastoral counselling and a general knowledge of two other theories of pastoral counselling
• Knowledge of the theory of pastoral counselling practices/methods of the choice in the previous point

• In-depth knowledge of at least three theories on pastoral counselling
• Detailed knowledge of the theory of a specific pastoral counselling methodology
• Detailed knowledge of a pastoral counselling model

2. Skills and experience

• Ability to apply the above knowledge in pastoral counselling
• Fifty (50) hours of practical pastoral counselling
• Twenty five (25) hours supervision

• The ability to apply and integrate the above knowledge in pastoral counselling
• Seventy five (75) hours practical pastoral counselling
• Thirty (30) hours supervision
• Minimum of 6 months (20 hours) related pastoral counselling experience, including 50 hours of pastoral counselling in addition to the above-mentioned hours

3. Nature of processes

• Wide-ranging scholastic or technical skills
• Considerable choice of procedures
• Contexts: variety of familiar and unfamiliar

• Wide-ranging, specialized scholastic or technical skills and basic research, across the pastoral counselling discipline
• Wide choice, standard and non-standard procedures in the pastoral counselling discipline
• Highly variable and a variety of routine and non-routine

4. Scope of learning

• Broad knowledge base incorporating some theoretical concepts
• Basic analytical interpretation of information processing
• Problem solving: a range of sometimes innovative responses to concrete but often unfamiliar problems, based on informed judgement

• Broad knowledge base incorporating some theoretical concepts with substantial depth in some areas
• Analytical or basic analytical interpretation of a wide range of data and information
• A range of innovative responses to concrete but often unfamiliar problems, based on informed judgements and the determination of appropriate methods and procedures in response to a range of concrete problems with some theoretical elements

5. Responsibility

• Self-directed activities, but under broad guidance and evaluation
• Complete responsibility for quantity and quality of output, and possible responsibility for the quantity and quality of the output of others

• Self-directed, and sometimes directive and managing of processes
• Application of responsibility within broad guidelines or functions and parameters of largely defined activities
• Full responsibility for the nature, quantity and quality of output, and possible responsibility for the achievement of group output

6. Learning pathway

• Entry to undergraduate or equivalent higher education
• Training towards certification in occupation characterized with advanced pastoral counselling skills

• Education: Continuing and completion of undergraduate or equivalent higher qualification and entry to honours, masters or equivalent higher education training. Training towards certification in pastoral counselling and therapeutic occupations. Subsequent completion of professional certification, and entry of professional practice and or managerial position in the pastoral counselling occupation

Category 5
Specialist Level Pastoral Therapist (NQF Level 7/8)

1. Knowledge

• A masters degree in specialized pastoral counselling

2. Skills and experience

• One hundred and sixty (160) hours of practical pastoral counselling
• Forty (40) hours of supervision
• Proven ability to integrate pastoral and counselling theories in practice

3. Nature of processes

• Expert and highly specialized scholastic, and advanced research across the pastoral counselling discipline and interdisciplinary
• Full range of procedures, advanced in the pastoral counselling/therapy discipline  Complex and highly advanced
• Complex, unpredictable and highly specialized context

4. Scope of learning

• Specialized and in-depth knowledge of a specialized and complex pastoral counselling/ therapy discipline
• Analysis, transformation, evaluation, generation and syntheses of abstract data and concepts at highly abstract levels
• Creation of appropriate responses to expand or redefine and resolve abstract and existing problems and knowledge

5. Responsibility

• Planning, researching, managing and optimizing all aspects of processes engaged in
• Application of responsibility within broad and complex parameters and unpredictable functions and context
• Complete accountability for determining, achieving, evaluating and applying all personal and/or group output

6. Learning pathway

• Education pathway: academic leadership. Entry to doctoral and further research education, and to research-based and advanced research-based pastoral counselling occupations
• Training pathway: professional practice and/or senior managerial pastoral counselling occupations

7. Research

• Either a research paper, a paper read at a conference or an article in a research journal