A degree in counselling? Worth it? Posting for traffic

[Peruviandog]

DD has a strong desire to become a counsellor, she is looking at doing a BA counselling and therapeutic practice course at the university of South Wales.

We’ve looked at the course content and I’m a bit surprised that there are only 12 hours a week of lectures. Looking at the stats, the pay as a qualified counsellor isn’t that great and lots of people appear to be working in retail after their degree which doesnt fill me with a lot of confidence that she will actually find this a worthwhile degree.

Has anyone trained as a counsellor? Are there many opportunities? Any advice or insights? I didn’t go to university so have no idea whether 12 hours a week is normal or whether this will be a ‘soft’ degree that won’t be worth the cost long term.

Any input would be gratefully received- thanks

What about applying to be a 999/111 call handler? Or working in benefits or a housing association?

Occupational Psychology? You’d need a degree in psychology first though. No idea how easy it is to get on a course or career prospects...

For those saying 'psychology would be better'. My psychology degree was one of the hardest things I've ever done (and I'm now a lawyer). Importantly though it is virtually useless on its own and is outrageously competitive to move on and get fully qualified in any area as well as being very expensive.

I spent four wasted years after my degree trying to get my experience and get on the doctorate that would allow me to be a clinical psychologist. Of those people I went to uni with 15 years ago not one is a psychologist

My mum graduated from the University of South Wales aged 50. She's now a counsellor for CAHMS and sees some private clients.

I don't know how successful the rest of her cohort have been but she's doing well.

I qualified as a social worker many years ago and it is a worthwhile job, I have worked part time and then gave up to be a sahm.

I looked at training as a counsellor and completed my level 2 and level 3 but decided against completing the diploma because of the sheer number of individuals training and lack of jobs. Even the teachers did not work as counsellors!

I have completed teacher training and now assess online people in health and social care (including l2 counselling). There are loads of people who want to train as counsellors but it is not an easy job, or a job that is readily available( or well paid).

Personally I would consider psychotherapy as there are nhs roles, but again the training is very expensive.

Counselling has a reputation for being full of middle aged women in pearls, my own trainer told me this and she is registered with BACP And UKCP, and the reason is it is so expensive to train and many counsellors find it difficult to make a living from it.

I am glad to hear that there are people on this thread who are working as counsellors and are being paid for it. One of my close friends started her training with me and completed her Diploma and now works for IAPT. However it has taken her over ten years to get regular paid employment that she can pick and choose.

If she is really keen perhaps get her to try and introduction to counselling skills course and see how she finds it.

Social work, counselling, occupational therapy all require a huge amount of resilience and altruism. It is not well paid, and in the case of social work not well regarded by members of the public, but if that is what she wants to do go for it!

I would agree with @dingledongle - being a social worker is very tough and you are often met with a lot of hostility. 12 hour days or more are not uncommon and you don’t often get much thanks for it. My Mum always says she wishes I never went in to the job. I would say it can also be very, very rewarding, it is just extremely hard at times.

*CAMHS bloody phone

I also trained in my 30s but am not currently working in the field for personal reasons. I wouldn't really recommend it as a first degree for someone so young because even though I don't think it's just a profession for the middle aged, some life experience is definitely required. I also encountered some views that clients would not want to see a very young counsellor. Obviously unless you choose to specifically work with children and young people, then the average clients in private practice will be working age people and may want to see someone they can imagine has been through similar life experiences they are going through.

Most of the counsellors I know work in private practice - you need a range of skills to in effect run your own business to do that. It takes time to build a practice which is why many do it as a second career alongside other work.

Depending on location it's also very competitive unless you're very experienced and have built a strong reputation over time.

That said the training was one of the best things I've ever done and I loved the work, and will hopefully go back to it in the future. I do think you need a real passion for it as it's not easy work at all and not just for the reasons people assume. Hearing about trauma is of course difficult but clients are difficult in many other ways too! You need to be resilient and I think life experience helps hugely as does a solid support network outside of the work.

I honestly think being a counsellor is something you come to in later in life. Certainly it's not for people under 25. Would many people want to sit in front of a 22 year old and talk about complex problems? You just need a certain amount of life experience. I think degrees like that are a bit of a con - lots of people want to help others and are happy to pay up but very few will go on to actually become counsellors. Even people training later in life - most won't ever get paid work.

I think if she is still interested having studied something else, fair play to her. There is time enough to pursue it. But she will be a better counsellor for having had some other experiences first and for having studied a different degree. Psychology has a fair amount of science/statistics in it but social work sounds like it's potentially a good fit.

@CleanQueen123

My mum graduated from the University of South Wales aged 50. She's now a counsellor for CAHMS and sees some private clients.

I don't know how successful the rest of her cohort have been but she's doing well.

@CleanQueen123

Would you be able to do me a favour and ask you ur mum a bit about the course, what the average age of the students are on the course and whether there are realistically decent jobs after graduation please? Did your mum feel like it was worth the cost and commitment?

DD keeps coming back to this course even after we’ve explored the psychotherapy, social work, teaching etc.

She’s pretty set on doing it so as much info as possible will be very gratefully received.

I'm going to go against the grain on this, I have a degree in counselling and I would recommend it but maybe look at art or music therapy, these jobs are always being advertised and aren't that badly paid.
I've been very, very lucky. I work 10 hours a week for a sexual health clinic counselling woman who are making difficult choices and it's paid BUT I also was head hunted for a job that isn't counselling ( to outing to say what) but you need that degree to do. The full time wage is in excess of 60k (outside of London) so not that bad. I do 25 hours a week by choice but can always take it to full-time if I wanted.
A good counselling degree can open doors.

I completed a quite expensive counselling qualification, after a degree in psychology. At the time, lots of counselling courses were being advertised, without an apparent gap in the market for them. Had I gone ahead and got and paid for an MA, I would have been better qualified to work in the NHS etc, but it seemed such a risk, and an expense, with not guarantees. So whilst it was very interesting, and I have worked as a volunteer counsellor, I would have said that for me, it wasn't worth it from a financial point of view. I am now looking at retraining, but for something that doesn't take as long as the MA, or cost as much.

@Peruviandog she did the degree in Systemic Counselling which I'm not sure they offer anymore. I think her year was the last to do it.

She loved it. The average age of the other students was definitely at the higher end. Most were retraining or doing the degree to compliment whatever they were currently doing. I think there were a few also just doing it for fun, because it was something they were interested in.

My mum said she'd echo others comments about needing to have life experience in order to get the most out of it and then make a career after graduation. It was an entry requirement for her degree which probably contributed to the students being at the more mature end of the spectrum.

What is it about counselling that appeals to your daughter? There are many careers that involve an element of counselling but don't require the degree.

My mum was a support worker in a variety of areas (domestic abuse, drug and alcohol, homelessness etc.) for years before she started her degree.

I became a therapist after a career doing ‘other stuff’. I was also studying for a degree in psychology around that time, and was chatting to a relative who was a senior psychologist and lectured at university. He said that he always preferred older students/second careerers as they had life experience and maturity.

It’s actually a rougher career than you imagine - I would have terrible headaches after a days work, and some of my clients would really pray on my mind (they are not supposed to but I’m only human). I only felt unsafe with one man but the clinic had a protocol for that so it was ok.

One client took her life (I only saw her once for something completely mundane). I spoke to her dad later and he said it wasn’t a surprise and they had been resigned - so maybe there had been previous attempts (after i spoke to him I looked at my notes to see if there was something I’d missed - and I’d written ‘X looks like a ghost’).

Don't do it. I trained for 3 years then realised it's have to work unpaid for at least two more to even get a look in at paid jobs. Went and worked in customer service full time....
Now I work somewhere which employs a similar role, but they always employ ex mental health nurses, OTs or social workers. I've been told not to bother applying.

I retrained as a counsellor after a career in a totally different field.
Everyone on my course was 35 plus with lots of life experience.
I work privately and in schools now but I was able to find a niche and put myself out there but others I know haven’t been able to find work.
One person got work in a drug and alcohol dependency centre and another works as a bereavement counsellor. Both really tough.

It’s difficult work and some people’s lives and circumstances are quite upsetting to work with.
The people I trained with were all able to take time out and financially happy to do part time work afterwards, including myself. I don’t know anyone who makes really good money with it. I’m sure there are people who do, but in my experience they’d have to branch out a bit.

Hi, I'm thinking of doing the same exact course and was searching for info and came across this thread. I was wondering, has she decided to do it and if so, how is she finding it?