Training as a counsellor or psychologist

[jobreview]

I'm considering changing career. Can anyone advise how best you train to become a counsellor or psychologist-time taken, job satisfaction, end salary potential, availability of jobs, needed character traits etc. Could you do alongside another job. I have done some research but it's a bit of a minefield to be honest! Thanks for any advice.

I'm staring to go down this route currently.
I need level 2 and 3 counselling skills, relevant gcses,amd sit the bacp accredited course ba hons. It doesn't need to be bacp accredited course other courses are available and you can sit a bacp cert of proficiency. But really without the bacp accreditation you really will struggle to find employment or even self employed as people rightly or wrongly consider it the gold standard.

I would love to do this too so following if that's ok!

If by psychologist you mean clinical psychologist, this is an arduous and long winded training route. You ideally need a BSc in psychology (though can convert other courses) then experience as an assistant psychologist to get into the full time doctorate course. Pay starts okay, 18.5k for assistants, then improves, 28k plus for training, and qualified on 35k plus. But it stagnates in comparison to other similarly highly trained roles, and the NHS conditions are bad in many places and worsening. I probably wouldn't advise it now. And many clin psychs are trying to get out of the NHS and/or figure out other ways to make a living.

Counsellor and psychologist are 2 massively different jobs.

A degree in psychology will open far more doors than a counselling degree

Most with a counselling degree move into a different area as it’s very difficult to become an established counsellor. If you do go down the counselling route pick a course with CBT training

Very different jobs and both take a lot of training. Clinics and Educational psychologists are both doctorate level.

Training to be a Counsellor can be a long route as well-and very costly.

Very different jobs, both take years to do properly (5-7 years). You earn a better salary as a psychologist.

If you have an undergraduate degree and relevant experience in role that involves listening it's possibly to do counselling training at Master's level and qualify within 2 years.

This is what I did although it was ridiculously intense. I worked part time (3 days a week) and had 2 x primary school age children too.

@Inthesameboatatmo

I'm staring to go down this route currently. I need level 2 and 3 counselling skills, relevant gcses,amd sit the bacp accredited course ba hons. It doesn't need to be bacp accredited course other courses are available and you can sit a bacp cert of proficiency. But really without the bacp accreditation you really will struggle to find employment or even self employed as people rightly or wrongly consider it the gold standard.

You don't have to do an undergraduate degree you can do a Level 4 diploma to become qualified, CPCAB offer this route and you can register with BACP once qualified.

Other diplomas like those offered by Chrysalis only lead to NCS registration not BACP. Although NCS is growing in popularity.

There are a few places offering full time CBT trainee jobs that include a fully paid masters in my area. Not sure if that trend is nationwide. If you need to be earning that's the better option.

@littleowls83

There are a few places offering full time CBT trainee jobs that include a fully paid masters in my area. Not sure if that trend is nationwide. If you need to be earning that's the better option.

That will qualify the OP to be a CBT therapist, not necessarily a Counsellor. It's a good opportunity if the OP wants to become a CBT practitioner but will lead to registration with BABCP and will limit the OP to roles like working at IAPT rather than being a counsellor.

I’m a psychotherapist which I’m aware you haven’t mentioned but I’m happy to answer any questions if you’re interested in that?

As the patient, please don’t go down the counselling degree course. I haven’t yet met any of them who were any good at all. And some of them were supposed to be good enough to actually be teaching said course

Both very different routes to take. What attracts you to both/each role? Maybe we can help if we know what interests you about it, what experience or qualifications you already have?

Why did you chose these roles?

Op, do you mean counsellor or psychotherapist? (Rather than psychologist, which is very different.)

Assuming you do, yes, possible to train PT. Earning potential will depend on your area, assuming you will be at least partly in private practice.

There are a variety of membership organisations, but UKCP and BACP are the main two. Members of the former usually have slightly more advanced training and thus can charge more. As a rule, psychotherapists have more advanced training than counsellors.

So I would start by looking on the UKCP site which will have info on different strands within psychotherapy and training. If you don’t have much experience, you will probably want to start with a foundation counselling course but starting with UKCP will give you an idea of where you want to end up. Any training you do must be accredited by these or another reputable body to be worth anything. To find out what it’s like as a career, try the variety of online forums. If you aren’t in therapy yourself, you will need to be for the more advanced courses.

@runfastforyourmother.
Yes there are many routes but some accreditation is less considerable than others let's just say, you also can only choose one modality to practice in on most of the courses, that's why an integrative counselling uni course that allows all modalities to be used is therefore more employable.

[quote Inthesameboatatmo]@runfastforyourmother.
Yes there are many routes but some accreditation is less considerable than others let's just say, you also can only choose one modality to practice in on most of the courses, that's why an integrative counselling uni course that allows all modalities to be used is therefore more employable. [/quote]
Inthesameboatatmo you are conflating accreditation with registration, they are two separate processes.

I am BACP accredited which is an additional process to the registration process you have been referring to.

Inthesameboatatmo

Also, my course was integrative and trained me in three core modalities. No course initial counselling training course can train you in 'all modalities' there are far too many modalities for that to be possible. CPD can of course be used to add additional skills or modalities post qualification.

I am currently doing a Psychology PhD, there are lots of different areas in Psychology. I'm Forensic Psychology, but there's Clinical, Educational, you can combine Counselling and Psychology in a Counselling Psych PhD, do you have a degree already? I had a degree and converted to a masters in Psychology just after my little girl was born.

Highly recommend Psychology, but like previous posters have said its a long road so you need to be certain it's the path you might to take.

What about mental health nursing? There’s lots of patient contact and, as you progress, lots of opportunities to train in different therapies (CBT, ACT, EMDR etc). There’s also lots of jobs whereas the counselling “marketplace” is getting a bit crowded iyswim. It’s funded through student finance, even if you already have a degree, and comes with a generous tax free bursary on top-currently 7k a year for MH nursing. You could apply for next September?

@LostForIdeas

As the patient, please don’t go down the counselling degree course. I haven’t yet met any of them who were any good at all. And some of them were supposed to be good enough to actually be teaching said course

Agree totally!

The first step is understanding that psychologist and psychotherapist are two very different things.

Thanks all for your feedback. So useful and much appreciated. I do know that they are different jobs! I am leaving a long time job and considering my options in quite a broad way.

I am currently in business and may well stay there, as I have many years of experience, a decent earning ability and also enjoy the corporate perks.

As to why I am considering moving. When I look completely honestly at my strengths, they lie less in the corporate gameplay, quick decision making, analytics, presenting, multitasking, delivering to fast deadlines , selling etc. Whilst I can and do do these things...my true strength are loyalty, caring nature, interest in others' motivations, building easy rapport, creative thinking, idea storming, eagerness to learn and gather more information, interest in human behaviour, tolerance etc.

Hence I wonder if I would be more suited /get more out of a career helping people. Psychotherapy is also very interesting to me. I thought that it had the longest training, is this not correct? I'd be interested in working with adults or with children. I also am interested in educational psychology.

I think I'd be less keen to work in a hospital setting as a mental health nurse though it is still of interest. I worry that whilst I can switch off quite well, that it would be hard to see acute mental health crisis, sedation, risk of self harm etc daily. I am also interested more in the psychological side, working through issues than the medication end of treatment. Though I do have a friend who is a mental health nurse, I don't have a good understanding of all the possible jobs that they do.

A very large proportion of mental health nurses work in the community, supporting people with moderate to severe mental illness to live the best life that they can. Honestly, the MH nurse job is mostly listening to people and then trying to provide strategies and support, usually with a psychological/psycho education underpinning; in the community, medication, except for very specific nurse practitioner situations, is the realm of the psychiatrist. MH nurses will often see the same people for months, if not years, on a very regular basis and so you can really build relationships and get to know them and their family. I know I sound a bit evangelical but I’m a student MH nurse and I love it.