If you trained to be a counsellor how much did it cost?

[zippyswife]

I’m looking into becoming a counsellor. It’s something I really want to do but I’m concerned about how much it’s going to cost. If you’ve trained to do this how much did it cost in total? Do you think it was worth it?

I did although I'm not doing the work now. I don't have a single figure to give you, though.

The course fees will depend on where you train, you should find that information on their websites. I think mine were something like £1k for a certificate/skills course, and £4k per year for the 3 year diploma.

One of the big costs is your personal counselling/therapy as a trainee and again requirements are different on different courses. I would budget for a session a week throughout the training at around £40-60 depending on where you live (i.e. it's more expensive in London).

Other than that, I paid for train travel to the training college, and bought about 15 books (they had a good library as well).

Most people on my course were working part time to fit it around the training, especially in the later part of the training when you start seeing clients at placements. So you might need to consider if you'll be able to drop a day at your current job and take a pay cut accordingly. You might be able to fit it around full time work too, some did.

As I said, I decided not to pursue it as a career but still got a lot out of the training and have used it more indirectly in my other work. If finances are an issue though, you should consider the earning potential after training - it takes time to build up a private practice if that's what you're hoping to do, and there aren't really many paid jobs to go around, certainly not full time. I probably would have maintained a small scale private practice but financially it was difficult to do that with rent on a consulting room, supervision fees, professional body membership, supervision fees etc... It may sound like you'll be able to earn £50 per hour but a lot of that is eaten up by costs (and tax!). Still, it's a really interesting training and interesting, fulfilling work.

Agree with PP about the costs. The ones to bear in mind are your personal therapy and supervision. Also, you will most likely have to do a lot of hours of unpaid counselling work to build experience. I am just building up a private practice but it’s taking time and I’ve done a lot of voluntary work. As long as you accept it’s slow going at first, it can be a wonderfully rewarding, flexible and varied job. It just probably won’t make you rich. I love it and wouldn’t want to do anything else, so the costs were worth it.

Thousands (and thousands). I did a diploma at a well regarded university. It was more than worth it for personal reasons, but for me, not for financial reasons. It’s a very saturated market around here and only a handful of us in my cohort (of 20odd) are working in counselling, or related fields.

I bloody love it though

im currently training.

I have an advanced learner loan. I will be qualified in 2021 and will have spent about 5K.... 4k is on a loan that will be paid back once I earn over 25K

I will start paying a supervisor this month approx £60 to £70 per month and I have spent about 1.5k on personal therapy.

I absolutely love the learning and cant wait to start my placement in a few weeks

Thanks for the replies. Am I right in thinking that I would need to do a bcap accredited introduction course then a bcap accredited diploma which includes the 100 hours unpaid voluntary supervised work. At this point is it possible to get work?

I’m currently a police officer (part time) background in child protection, very victim focused and feel I have relevant life skills (early 40s now). I can work while I study part time but ultimately want to leave police work to do this as a career.

I have a geography degree and was looking at a post grad in counselling. Not sure if this is achievable and a better route than doing the diploma?

@ihatethecold ah great that’s answered my question about loans.

Would I be mad to start doing this in my 40s? I figure I have 20-30 years left of work and want to do something I love. I would love to get back to learning too. I used to be very academic but have lost my way and confidence with it- I want to get that back.

I can’t give you the figures but it’s absolutely not too late to become a counsellor. Your life experience sounds like a great advantage. ( I began in my forties but didn’t didn’t choose to complete for various reasons.)

I am 45 and most people on my course are similar ages.

I am taking the Diploma route and will have to complete 100 hours in a placement during the 2 year course. I started at Level 2 in Jan 2018, then did Level 3 over a year and have started Level 4 last September

Thanks for the encouragement.

@ihatethecold did you do the introduction course before the diploma? How many levels do you do in the diploma and at what level can you start practicing?

yes, I did a 12 week intro course that was every Saturday morning.
then did a condensed level 2 skills for 5 months
then did a part time Level 3 course over a year
now on a level 4 which is over 2 years.(including 100 hours placement ) I will be qualified and safe to practice then.

I’m a bit confused by the levels. What level(s) is a diploma?

Is it necessary to chose which type of counselling to study (humanistic, CBT etc)? And at what stage do you do this?

9k for degree then another 10k to pay back for student maintenance loan

Plus hours and hours working towards accreditation

No your age won’t hold you back. I would strongly advise to train in CBT as there is a lot more work about. Most people I know unless they have gone on to do a masters have not worked just as therapists

To answer your question do I think it’s worth it honestly no. I am now working in Forensic MH and doing further training (this I have had to apply and push for) yes my degree has helped but a degree in psychology or counselling and psychology would have been far more useful than integrative counselling psychotherapy degree

level 4 is a diploma. i chose my modality at the end of L3

@EnthusiasmIsDisturbed I’m interested in CBT (have started receiving it myself today) but that looks like more training? I’m not study shy but I’m just concerned with my age that by the time I complete I’ll be near retirement. It’s a shame as I do think I have the life experience and personal skills required.

In my local college there’s introduction to counselling, 1 day a week 10 week course, £300. Level 2 1 day a week 10 weeks, £420. Level 3 1 day a week 10 weeks, £811 (but I think from level 3 and up you can get a student loan). Level 4 one day a week for 3 years, £4760 and then you’re qualified to work for an agency, then there’s a level 5 that qualifies you to work independently but it’s not available at my local college from what I can see although the website is rubbish so can’t be sure!

I’m planning to start the first course in September so this thread will be useful for me too!

£5000 per year tuition fees, but it’s psychotherapy not counselling. Plus as others have said own therapy, supervision and travel/accommodation costs when training

Have you all done bcap accredited courses? A friend had recommended doing this but I can’t seem to find local accredited courses.

Yes BCAP and UKCP accredited don’t do a course that isn’t either accredited by one or both

Yes CBT is further training

I would really look into what area you want to work in, look at therapists qualifications on BACP website, look at jobs advertised and what qualifications and experience you need, do you want to work for the NHS or private or another agency (like rape crises) many agencies have a number of trainee therapists working through their accreditation and few are paid.

And remember the extra costs your own therapy and supervision both are required while training

I don’t mean to be negative it’s just difficult to get paid work and takes a long time to qualify (to a decent level) but training is very interesting and can lead to other work but its not the most useful of qualifications

I trained in my forties. My supervisor says (and is only half joking) that’s young for therapy - just because it’s great to have some life experience to bring to bear. Your previous work will be something you can use to inform what you do as a therapist, as will everything you are as a person. Modality is an odd one as, in a way, it doesn’t particularly matter where you start because you will inevitably personalise your approach and you will borrow elements of other modalities. That said, start where feels comfortable. BACP accredited training can be advantageous but my experience is they mainly accredit postgraduate training courses. A Level 4 diploma is not degree-equivalent but lots of universities offer one-year top-up degrees if that matters to you. I did a diploma. It meant that to gain my BACP registration I had to do an on-line exam so they could assess that I met their standards. It’s pretty straightforward.

Oh and a certificate in counselling studies or some other equivalent course will usually be needed for entry to the professional training. As PP have said, check out the BACP website for helpful stuff.

The approach/modality does matter and you should choose what fits in with your personal philosophy. I know it's not always easy to choose in the beginning, especially if you've not had experience of being a client in therapy before or benefited from a particular kind of therapy. I think the BACP website still has a brief summary of the different approaches and their main differences.

Definitely choose an accredited course as those will have met minimum standards. Personally I rate the courses that require a lot of personal therapy because I think a counsellor who only had 20 sessions of personal therapy during the training won't be able to work at the same depth as someone who saw a therapist twice a week for three or five years... we all have our own "stuff" and it takes a while to uncover it.