TAPA COURSES
Real clients. Real skills. Real confidence.
Forget Role Plays.
It's Time to Practice.
TAPA – The ALY'S PLACE Academy - offers hands-on, client-ready training for counselling students, early-career therapists and established practitioners wanting to expand into couples work. Our courses blend contemporary theory with real-world practice, helping you build confidence, clinical skill, and heart-led professionalism. From couples counselling to relational dynamics and supervised placements, TAPA courses are designed to grow the kind of therapist the world truly needs.
COUPLES COUNSELLING IN PRACTICE
HOW: 12-week online
WHEN: March and August intakes
HOW MANY: 6-8 students per intake
HOW MUCH: $3,300. $1,100 deposit required to secure your spot. Installment payment options available.
Our signature couples counselling course. Tried and tested over 800+ client hours. This course brings together evidence-based frameworks, contemporary relational theory, and hands-on learning in a format that’s as human-centred as the work itself.
Across 12 weeks, you’ll explore:
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the fundamentals of relationship dynamics
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advanced attachment theory, neurophysiology and systemic thinking in couples therapy
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balanced alliance and couples engagement skills
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how to navigate the ethical nuances of working with two clients in one room
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the process of couples counselling
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the impact of trauma in relationships, strategies for managing infidelity, and ruptures
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high-conflict dynamics, including navigation of family violence
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couples counsellor's essential skills and go-to interventions
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introduction to neurodiversity in couples dynamics, sexuality, and parenting
COURSE STRUCTURE:
- 1h content delivery per week (live and recorded)
- 2h of practical skills learning (attendance is necessary for successful course completion)
- fortnightly 1:1 supervision once you have started working with couples (Weeks 5-12)
- TAPA Couples Toolkit—a curated collection of assessments, session templates, formulation guides, and intervention how-tos
COURSE PREREQUISITES:
- completed tertiary qualifications in counselling, psychology, social work or similar
- individual counselling experience (minimum of 6 months/100 client hours)
- professional registration and professional indemnity insurance
- successful interview
What TAPA Graduates Say
INTRO TO COUPLES COUNSELLING
HOW: 4-week online
WHEN: March and August intakes
HOW MANY: 6-8 students per intake
HOW MUCH: $1,100.
Not sure if couples counselling is for you but keen to try? This 4-week online introductory course to couples counselling provides you with a window into th world of a couples counsellor. Regardless of whether you decide to pursue couples counselling further or not, you will complete this course with a better understanding of how relationships work.
Across 4 weeks, you’ll explore:
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the fundamentals of relationship dynamics
-
advanced attachment theory, neurophysiology and systemic thinking in couples therapy
-
balanced alliance and couples engagement skills
COURSE STRUCTURE:
- 1h content delivery per week (live and recorded)
- 2h of practical skills learning (attendance is necessary for successful course completion)
COURSE PREREQUISITES:
- in-progress or completed tertiary qualifications in counselling, psychology, social work or similar
- individual counselling experience is desired but not necessary

EXPLORING SEXUALITY & INTIMACY WITH COUPLES
HOW: 6-week online
WHEN: March and August intakes
HOW MANY: 6-8 students per intake
HOW MUCH: $2,200.
This is an advanced course for those who already work with couples and wish to strengthen their skills in navigating intimacy and sexuality.
Across 6 weeks, you’ll explore:
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understanding intimacy, sexuality and gender in couples contexts
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how to approach sexuality and intimacy with couples
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practical strategies in addressing intimacy concerns with couples
COURSE STRUCTURE:
- 1h content delivery per week (live and recorded)
- 2h of practical skills learning (attendance is necessary for successful course completion)
- TAPA Sex and Coffee Toolkit—an intimacy-focused collection of conversation guides and intervention how-tos
COURSE PREREQUISITES:
- completion of the TAPA Couples Counselling in Practice Course or a minimum of 1 year of practice experience as a couples counsellor
- professional registration and professional indemnity insurance

...and The Transformation Track (a.k.a The Walking Conference)
6 Days. Small Group. Years of Transformation.
Late November • Early December • Mid January (subject to the group's preferences)
This is NOT your average professional development. This is the real - sometimes too real - professional and personal transformation.
Join a small circle of courageous counselling practitioners on the life-changing journey through Tasmania’s iconic Overland Track — a 6-day wilderness trek where professional insight meets personal growth and connection.
As we cross alpine plains, ancient rainforests, and glacier-carved valleys, we explore the various therapeutic landscapes and learn practice-ready skills under the boundless skies.
Group work is mixed with individual supervision and endless reflection about ourselves as professionals and humans.
This is a peer-based experience of shared wisdom, radical honesty, and deep listening — no formal teaching, no hierarchy, just the kind of connection that changes you.
Whether you join us in late November, early December, or mid-January, one thing is certain:
No one returns unchanged.
