I'm a counsellor ask me anything....

[askaway2023]

Not sure if this has been done before, I am a counsellor and happy to answer questions about counselling or being a counsellor.

Have you had therapy yourself? If not, why not?

What's your view on 'gender affirming' therapy for teenage girls?

Hi,
what would happen if a client came to work with you and you found yourself ‘not liking them’?

Neighboroo I'd be interest to know more. What degree did you do and how long did it take?

I did an MSc in counselling children and young people so did a specialism in working with that specific client group. I knew I wanted to work with teens so chose that over a generic counselling MSc that was also offered by the Uni and I haven't regretted it.

CAMHS are so stretched now and there has been a change to the way some services are delivered so lots of third sector agencies now deliver NHS funded work via integrated care systems.

I, personally, would not want to work for CAMHS (their thresholds for taking on clients are far too high for a start) so I really enjoy delivering the work via third sector. Only frustration is the limited number of sessions, but you get that in almost every agency. You can obviously do private work and work in a more open ended way, but actually I think that can come with its own challenges.

My training took 2 years, I opted to do the dissertation module to make it a Masters but could have qualified with a post-graduate diploma and been eligible for BACP registration without the Masters element (I just always wanted to do a Masters).

If you are particularly interested in working with Children and Young People there are funded post grad courses for Educational Mental Health Practitioners. I don't know much about that role, beyond that it is early intervention and light touch which would have personally frustrated me given how many children have experienced complex trauma etc and would not be suitable for EMHP intervention.

Sorry, to hijack your thread, OP, just wanted to give a perspective on the 'poor as a church mouse' impression that has so often been given of counsellors. I have not been short of well paid work since qualifying in 2019.

How many times did you get told off in training for using empathetic rather than empathic?

(I got told off a LOT)!

@neighboroo you are my nee hero!! I'd absolutely love to do what you do but I have no idea where to even start 🤷🏻‍♀️

I didn't do any further education after my GCSEs and just went straight in to work.

I don't suppose you could give a bit of a road map of what you did to get where you are now? Apologies if that's really cheeky but if you don't ask, you don't get!

What percentage of your clients do a planned ending with you, and what percentage just stop coming?

Sparkling - yes I have, it was a requirement of the course.

Chocolat - I don't have one.

Frank - I would take it to supervision to look at what is going on there for me and how it may impact therapy.

Neigh - no worries at all. There seems to be lots of work around in counselling children and young people (sadly).

Frilly - I always say empathic but I've heard lots of others say empathetic and I was under the impression both are okay!

Mustard - I've found an unplanned ending in private practice hardly ever happens, they did happen more often when I was working for a charity.