Chrysalis courses Reviews

Just finished my second of the 3 year counselling course. First year was hypnotherapy and counselling basics. I didn't really want to do hypnotherapy but I am so glad I did as it's another tool in the box to help a client. The tutor was really good and very knowledgeable in the subject matter tought and gave demonstrations when possible. Second year is taught by a different tutor. The work steps up a notch but still quite straightforward. Again the tutor is great gives lots of demonstrations and is extremely experienced counsellor who uses he experience to the fullest with the students. The online portal used for all the work is called moodle which is easy to navigate and use and also has the dreaded ' turn it in' built in that checks for plagiarism etc. At the end of each year, should you pass, you earn an OFQUAL qualification from the princes trust. 1st year is Dip Hyp C. Second year is Dip CST and end of 3rd year is Prof Dip Psy C. (Corrected the 2nd year post nominal) You have to pay and maintain memberships to the relevant professional bodies as well as a yearly fee to princes trust, along with all your books ( they do give a required and recommend list for you). They are open about all fees and there is nothing to catch you out here. The office offer a student touch in session online where you can drop in and ask questions. You can also email which they are responsive or call them. Everyone's experience is obviously different and I have had a couple of issues. They hire venues around the country to deliver the courses and ours is a 4 star hotel. Which while good also hampers delivery of the course some what. When you have to break out into groups is a real pain because it's a small room. Overall though I have had a positive experience so far and would recommend it. Stratford Manor is the location you want to get on if you can!

Studied my level 4 with Chrysalis and our tutor wasn't the best. I raised my concerns multiple times to no avail.

Good knowledgeable tutor and a great group of students.

I am currently on the level 5 diploma counselling course and have completed level 4. Unfortunately a couple of things have ruined the experience for me. But firstly, the good stuff: my tutor rhian is lovely, and a great tutor, the content is good and engaging. I love doing the assignments. The negative: Unfortunately the ssps in year two which are already an anxiety provoking experience, are harshly marked unlike the rest of the marking which is fair. Also the uploading and scanning of the ssps is something every trainee counsellor could do without. Improving the uploading and. Marking fairly would highly improve the course as I have now had to wait longer for my certificate. My final point is not chrysalis directly I understand but it’s set up as part of the course that we pay registration to NCps, this is fine and we pay a lot between the course fees, supervision and registration fees etc. NCps changed their system recently and it automatically sent out emails stating that our payments had t gone through, this was highly distressing as we had spent a year ensuring everything was done. If only NCps had warned us or ensured this didn’t happen . We spend a lot of money and time training in counselling and these things can make things easier or more stressful. Overall without those issues I’d highly recommend chrysalis courses.

I'm in Year 2 of their 3 year Hypnotherapy and Counseling course. I've done year 2 in other places. Year 1 I will give 4 stars. Year 2 is looking like 2\3 stars. - bumped down to 2 stars - 29/04/2025. In Summary Year 1 whilst not perfect (mostly due to being back heavy), is more real and properly prepares you to be a hypnotherapist. Year 2 is purely academic and good at that, but does not prepare you for counseling. Across both years, Moodle continues to be informative but absolute trash to find things on. The tutors are friendly and knowledgeable, so these are all curriculum problem. The very good: - hypnotherapy year really prepares you and you (eventually) get a certificate - Hypnotherapy year actually has you doing hypnotherapy on classmates - 2 variations a year are really helpful on a practical level - Tutors in both years are proper professionals who can share alot of experience - Accreditation - Contracting and ethics have been covered in alot of detail in both years which is very useful - Workload is reasonable The good - Rooms are better organised this year (I sort of expect this though) - Plenty of handouts and material if you can find it The Bad - I hope you're prepared to wait up to 1\2 a year for your certificate - Skills practice can be confusing what is expected, they're pretty vague - Moodle is poorly organised The Ugly - Year 2 has alot of exercises which are purely academic. I'm almost half way through the year and I've not been told listen to anyone's real problems or even imagined problems. It's all just fake. - Skills practice exercises don't prepare you for dealing with people's emotions in the real world

I’m currently in my second year of the Chrysalis course and overall I have found the experience to be highly engaging and enriching. The content of the course is fascinating and the tutor does an excellent job of making complex concepts accessible and interesting. I have given only a four star rating as the course material could use some improvement. There are numerous typos, spelling errors and formatting mistakes throughout the material. This can be quite distracting and frustrating. I would recommend that all course materials be thoroughly proofread before being made available online or used in class. Despite this, I would recommend the course due to the quality of the content and the expertise of the tutor.

Easy enrolment and payment system for fees.

Before I start, overall, I am extremely pleased I choose to train with Chrysalis. My second two years were fantastic due to having a tutor who was simply brilliant. She shared her practical experiences with us regularly and really helped our group gel and brought the theory to life. I feel ready to set out on my journey as a newly qualified therapist. I am just about to complete year three. I have completed all of the theory aspects and final SSP. I have also had my final placement supervisor report. I have been with Chrysalis for the entire three years. I am a senior lecturer at a University and have significant experience of the provision of higher and adult education. I have read a number of the reviews going back for all of the years I have been on the course. Some of the points concerning, communication, documentation and the learning platform are fair but some now out of date. Some of the pre-learning videos could be improved with different presenters in different formats, generally there is a need for higher energy levels. Additionally some new videos with tutors demonstrating how they might deal with a client would have been beneficial particularly with the more tricky situations. My particular observation is that many of those leaving negative reviews seem to be missing the point that this is a self directed learning course. I really thrived in this approach. I have many friends who have been on the journey to being a counsellor through the FE or HEI routes and have had far less freedom to explore theory and themselves. I do feel, that at times, the framing of some of the messages during year two are rather constraining. We were told so many times what we couldn't do at this stage in our training and I felt this really undermined my confidence. Especially as almost as soon as you get into year three you can then work with clients. Much of what I do, in training future professionals, is about preparing them for their new responsibilities, this means growing confidence, not diminishing it. Some of the student documentation is not written as well as it could be. Some of the module notes could be restructured and reduced in length. The placement documentation is particularly complex with multiple people involved. This does need to be addressed, as does the placement process itself. It was very stressful. Chrysalis does recommend certain organisations. Somehow this does not short cut the process, it should. I liked the platform most of the time and it has improved over the time I was training. So I have left a long list of improvements. Yes there is work to be done. I have seen them work hard to improve and be receptive to feedback (mostly). I think we have to recognise that this is a course structured to allow adults to keep working and study. It is a very competitive price and I enjoyed my time. Having nearly finished my placement hours, of course things came up that I wasnt fully prepared or ready for but I have taken so much away from the course and cant wait to start my own private practice. Thank you Chrysalis for all you have done to set me on my way.

Communication has improved and student support is there now . I feel warning about the big financial commitment of a supervisor in year 3 needs to be communicated to students especially as the course commitments and time for placement means compromising work commitments . Also time in sessions to thoroughly discuss assignments / expectations and placements regularly rather than simply discussing theory and a quick skills practise .

I have experienced quick responses to emails I have sent to the office regarding placement queries. The course material for each module is organised clearly and succinctly, with a good amount of detail as a topic overview and introduction. Monthly updates from the office contain helpful and supportive information for students. I like the introductions to modules having a supporting online video to reinforce elements contained in the course notes.

Sadly lack communication with students at times. Many of us had submitted our year 2 SSP for marking and this was delayed, but with no communication why. We all had our first SSP failed due to a ‘criteria’ which was not told to us. Again no explanation or apology or communication. I rang to advise my SSP2 had not been marked- I was at that point module 2 of year 3 without knowing if I had passed my year 2 - to be told not to worry it will all be fine, but no explanation

Excellent response from Student Services, today. Query answered immediately and fully. (They have always been super helpful with previous queries, too.)

Its been great that Chrysalis have improved communications so much recently. They are always helpful and informative on the phone. I've noticed a big improvement over the course of 3 years

Tutor was very supportive. There were no opportunities for demonstrations of skills by the tutor which I felt were crucial to our learning. On line classes weren’t very successful due to internet issues and more recently break out rooms failed completely. There is generally a lack of supervised practice as there simply is no time it seems as this is a one day a month course. That is however reflected in the cost- the course is half the price of other courses.

Learners’ feedback

I am in my second year, and there is no clear focus. The sessions barely cover the surface, and it's a very much teach yourself course. I wouldn't recommend studying with Chysalis. I wish i had researched the course more before I started as now I can't get out of it..

The support services at Chrysalis are excellent which means so much when you are a mature student who is fitting in studies between a full working schedule and family responsibilities. They have kept me motivated when experiencing barriers to my studies - thank you

Good teaching, students are listened and good study environment.

What went wrong? Well we had two tutors the first one gave us all the wrong information. She made the course seem so simple and laid back. When the next tutor came in we had a shock when we realized the previous information was wrong. As with most of adult education you expect it to be self directed learning. On the flip side of that you also expect when in class you would learn something new to go away with and work on. The class was just a case of going over the class notes that we had already read in the morning. Then in the afternoon you had to practice the skills you had learnt. The problem was we didn't actually learn anything enough to feel confident. So if you are going on the level 3 Hypnotherapy course. Be prepared to mostly learn yourself and the actual.class is very repetitive and quite boring Could I practice as a Hypnotherapist yes but that is mainly down to being self taught. Other than that it's an ok course