COUNSELLING AND FAMILY THERAPY THROUGH OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING: SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND QUALITY ASSURANCE IN TRAINING OF PROFESSIONALS – THE INDIAN EXPERIENCE

The fast-changing scenario of modern India poses many challenges to be met by the
family members as a unit and the professionals working for the promotion of family
well-being. The family is the basic unit of the society. The inter-relatedness of the
individual, the family and the social context is now being increasingly recognized
and emphasized. In response to this recognition, counselling and family therapy has
emerged, worldwide, as a new area that adopts a holistic perspective and seeks to
improve the psychological well-being of the person by addressing not just him or her
individually, but also the significant others in the immediate social milieu.
An innovative professional degree programme for training of professionals in the
area of counselling and family therapy is thus a need of the hour. This need has been
addressed by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in India by
developing and launching Master of Science in Counselling and Family Therapy
M.Sc.(CFT) and Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Family Therapy

(PGDCFT). These programmes of study are modular in nature and have been
developed with open learning paradigm and are delivered through the open and
distance learning and technology mediated methodology with judicious blending.
This paper discusses at length the processes involved in development and quality
assurance for these programmes and lays emphasis on how these programmes
promote skill-set development for these professional cadres. Rigorous efforts have
been made to keep up quality assurance of the said programmes. The paper
concludes by highlighting crucial aspects of preparation of course content and
course material — print, audio and video, along with a discussion on the built-in
provisions for experiential learning emphasizing on skill development.