Since 1961, the Cairnmillar Institute has been a strong advocate for better mental health in the community, providing psychological and counselling services alongside contemporary and relevant education programs. It developed the first human relations training program in Australia, was first in developing family counselling services in the suburbs, and took suicide prevention programs into schools throughout Victoria.

As a not-for-profit organisation and registered health promotion charity, 100% of all donations and tuition fees are directed back into the community — including providing no-cost counselling services to children, adults and families facing difficult situations.

Bachelor of Psychology and Counselling

The Bachelor of Psychology and Counselling is Cairnmillar’s TEQSA-accredited double major undergraduate degree, offering an immersive learning experience designed to get students workplace-ready in three years. The program’s curriculum focuses solely on mental health, so students won’t need to study units irrelevant to their future career. All units can be undertaken at the Hawthorn East campus, entirely online, or as a mix of both.

The course takes a trauma-informed, person-centred perspective, exploring counselling and psychological theories, human development across the lifespan, social psychology, and foundational principles in cognition and neuroscience. Skills in assessment, intervention and treatment planning are developed, along with health psychology, organisational behaviour, and group facilitation. Students undertake a counselling placement in their final year with at least 40 hours of direct client experience.

Postgraduate Pathways

The Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy — accredited by PACFA and ACA — consists of 200 credit points across 16 units, including 12 coursework units, two placement units, and two research units. The program provides deep immersion into integrative, humanistic, process-oriented relational psychotherapy, incorporating psychodynamic, cognitive and existential approaches, with a strong experiential focus.

The Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy covers thorough assessment processes, brief interventions, case conceptualisation, treatment planning, and professional ethical practice. It is taught exclusively by respected therapist-academics practicing in the field, with robust placement support and individual practicum supervision by experienced supervisors.

Student Support and Outcomes

Cairnmillar offers a Student Assistance Program (SAP) providing up to three free counselling sessions, available face-to-face, by telephone, or via Zoom. Published postgraduate student outcome data shows 83.1% of students had a positive overall experience — 6.2 percentage points above the national average — and 94.4% found employment after graduating, 1.6 points above the national average.

Mid-year 2026 applications for the Bachelor of Psychology and Counselling are open from 7 April, with a Course Information Session held on 19 May at 5pm.