What are ruptures in counselling training?

Ruptures in counselling training are moments of disconnect or difference that surface during courses. They can be small, like feedback not sent on time or commitments missed, or bigger conflicts between students or tutors. Ruptures are inevitable when people are learning in vulnerable, relational spaces.

How do tutors handle mini ruptures in CPCAB courses?

Mini ruptures are handled by returning to the learning contract. Students co-create the agreement at the start of courses. When someone struggles to keep it, tutors create unhurried time to revisit what was agreed, not as reprimand but as a fresh contact point. The contract can be renegotiated with compassion and understanding, not punishment.

What happens when bigger conflicts occur in counselling training?

Bigger ruptures require more holding. The approach involves hearing from each side, maintaining respect and non-judgement, not seeing it as blame, and being clear about boundaries and responsibilities. Sometimes you can't find agreement and must sit with agreeable disagreement. The key is giving it space to be heard and shared.

How should tutors handle disagreements with co-tutors?

Tutor disagreements should be handled with kindness, respect, and clarity about boundaries. It's important to be clear about your responsibilities versus someone else's, and not take on what doesn't belong to you. Even if you have to go separate ways, this can be done with empathy and respect whilst holding your boundaries.

What is relational training in counselling courses?

Relational training means approaching ruptures and conflicts with the same person-centred principles being taught: empathy, respect, non-judgement, and clarity about boundaries. It's not just theory but lived practice in how tutors, students, and co-tutors navigate difficult moments and disagreements in the learning environment.

Why is it important to address ruptures in counselling training?

Addressing ruptures is crucial because counselling training involves vulnerability and relational learning. When ruptures aren't held safely, students can feel exposed, isolated, or unsafe. Learning to navigate ruptures with compassion, clarity, and respect models the skills students need to develop as future counsellors.

How Tutors Handle Conflict in Counselling Training: A Personal Account

Ben Jackson
Nov 14
2 min read

Person-centred approach to conflict in online counselling training

Ruptures happen. Not just big ones – mini ruptures throughout every course, every lesson. A moment of disconnect. A difference that surfaces. A contract that's quietly broken.

Sometimes it's small: feedback not sent on time, commitments that life gets in the way of. Sometimes it's bigger.

Here's what I've learned about holding ruptures as a tutor.

Handling Mini Ruptures in CPCAB Training

Mini ruptures get handled by returning to the contract.

At the start of our courses, students co-create the learning agreement – what they want, what they're willing to commit to. When someone struggles to keep that agreement, we don't call them out. We create time – not hurried, not immediate – to come back to what was agreed.

Not as reprimand. As a fresh contact point. "This is what we said we'd do. What needs to change now?"

Things evolve. Life interferes. The contract can be renegotiated. Compassion and understanding, not punishment.

When Bigger Ruptures Occur

Bigger ruptures require more.

I once had a disagreement with a co-tutor about what I should take responsibility for versus what I shouldn't. It escalated. The course manager got involved. Eventually, the tutor decided they couldn't work with me because I wouldn't shift from my position – and I wasn't willing to take responsibility for someone else's work.

They left the group. No goodbye. No closure for the students.

What I learned: we may not have to agree, and we may have to go separate ways, but we can still do that with kindness, respect, and clarity. Hold your boundaries. Be clear about your responsibilities. Leave space for the other person to take theirs.

The group was left without an ending. That wasn't ideal.

But what mattered more was how we handled it: hearing from each side, holding respect and non-judgement, not seeing it as blame even if it felt that way.

Sometimes you can't find agreement. Sometimes you sit with agreeable disagreement. That's okay too.

The most important part is giving it space to be heard and shared.

What This Means for Relational Training

What I carry forward:

Ruptures will happen. Some things are ours to hold, some aren't. We can still have conversations, still share our thoughts, without taking on responsibilities that don't belong to us.

That's the work – navigating these places with empathy, respect, and clarity about what's ours and what isn't.

And sometimes, that means letting go.

At The School of Counselling, we approach ruptures – whether between students, between student and tutor, or between tutors – with the same person-centred principles we teach. Empathy, respect, non-judgement, and clarity about boundaries.

If you're looking for CPCAB training that takes relational dynamics seriously, not just as theory but as lived practice, we'd welcome a conversation.

The School of Counselling delivers CPCAB Level 2 and Level 3 training online across the UK and internationally. While we're based in Oxfordshire, our online format means students from London, Manchester, Scotland, Wales, and beyond can access relational, person-centred counselling training without geographic limitations.