To want to retrain in a counselling/related role

[Careerconfused]

I know AIBU threads about retraining tend to have a lot of 'go for it!' responses, but I'd be interested if anyone who knows about these areas of work and how viable it could be?

My background is social work, so I've got a lot of experience of supporting individuals through crises (parents/children/young adults) Obviously not there as a counsellor or mental health practitioner, but feel it's given me a lot of relevant skills, eg when supporting young people who are reluctant to engage with CAMHS, or using various approach to support adults to change. I enjoy the 1:1 aspect of the work.

I've thought at times of retraining in counselling, psychotherapy or similar, and I do know a few people who have done this, but only those that did so years and years ago, when the funding and job market was very different.

The main things I'm struggling with are - finding out what routes are actually open without having a psychology background (while my skills are relatable, a social work degree isn't specialized enough for a lot of courses) and whether there is a likelihood of a job at the end of it. Mainly because from what I have seen while in social work, many counselling services (ie those run by charities) seem to rely on student counsellors - people doing their training who need to do a certain number of hours to complete their courses. There's a steady supply of students so I'm not sure how often fully qualified counselors are actually employed? Few people have the money to pay privately for services now, and I think private practice would only be viable as a second job rather than a reliable income.

The public/charity services that provide any kind of talking therapy/counselling are limited as we know, and I'm a bit worried about whether courses tend to attract people who study because it's interesting but not actually leading to relevant employment. I know someone who did an art therapy course and while it looks good on her CV, art therapy just isn't something commissioned around here so she's not been able to get any work related to it. The more specialist/clinical routes (ie post-grad courses that require psychology) unfortunately would just be too expensive, both in fees and the number of years out of FT employment.

I appreciate this post sounds defeatist and I don't intend it to be - I'd be willing to take some level of risk and financial hit, but I'm not sure whether this is a viable industry in the UK? Anyone have any experience?

I did this from scratch it took 7 years to qualify but you have to do a tonne of work for free over the course of qualifying and there's not really any jobs that you can apply for in the main you find vacancies through being a volunteer it's pants money and you need a tonne of experience before you can go freelance. I don't work in the field despite being qualified because between the cpd and personal therapy I wasn't making decent money

I’m a psychotherapist, like PP it took around 6/7 years part time to train. I left my corporate role 9 years ago and have worked full time ever since mainly in private practice with some health insurance work alongside it (clients accessing therapy through bupa etc) I make a decent living and work the hours I choose. It can be a lonely profession though. I see individuals and couples (later trained in systemic relational therapy) and am busy. Happy to answer any questions

Sorry to hear about your experience @Poppysmom22 that's the main worry I have - the lack of jobs at the end of it. I see an awful lot of people in voluntary roles/getting their 400 hours. The people I know in private practice are nearing retirement, part time, and gained their experience when things were better funded.

@Thischarmlessgirl do you mind me asking what route you took - did you start again with an undergraduate degree? I wasn't sure how common having these services covered by health insurance is in the UK, and whether that changes the potential market

I retrained as a counsellor, and it took me 5 years part-time to get my Masters. I work doing something else, but when I’m motivated to look for jobs, salaried positions are few and far between. You don’t need any qualifications or experience in psychology. The peers who’ve been in PP for a while have done really well - particularly the people who work in nice locations and are good at networking - but the lonely aspect of it puts me off. From a personal development perspective, the training has been life-changing for the better, but the reality is that the employed roles situation is generally grim. If you’re interested in working for the NHS, it may be worthwhile considering CBT training instead.

This may help:

www.bacp.co.uk/careers/careers-in-counselling/training/

I don’t work in this area but as I understand it most counsellors/therapists are self-employed?

Thanks @benfoldsfivefan I'm not in an area that is likely to generate a lot of private practice clients, I'm assuming that would be easier in say, London or SE, realistically where I live isn't particularly affluent or population dense. I can understand the personal development being valuable, but I couldn't justify the cost just for personal growth! I will have a look at CBT. I have seen the BACP guide before, but what a lot of career pathway guidance neglects to share is the likelihood of jobs existing. And I say that as someone who retrained in social work after an extremely interesting but economically useless humanities degree.

NB I didn't mean to suggest that I needed psychology for counselling specifically, but that there are post grad courses for therapeutic/clinical roles or training that require a psychology background. Sometimes people assume that social work is relevant enough to go straight to higher qualifications but from an academic basis it isn't usually.

@Gadooza many are, or do private practice alongside a part time role. People usually need to get experience before they can set up in private practice though, and it is a big financial risk for a couple of reasons - cost of supervision, post qualifying training, premises and of course, whether you will have a sufficient client base. In the area I live it wouldn't be typical for people to pay for a counsellor or therapist privately because of the cost. There are some charities that provide individual and couples counseling.

Look into your local IAPT service. I held a social work Masters, went into an IAPT service. They will pay you to train as a step 2 practitioner (a psychological wellbeing practitioner) or as a CBT therapist. You can often get onto those with a social work, mental health nursing or occupational health qualification without a psychology degree.

I progressed from a band 5 to a band 7 in a few years and it's a brilliant job, now I'm a qualified CBT therapist.

If you are already a social worker, how about training in systemic family therapy? You'd be accepted on the course with your qualification and there are options in local authorities and charities as well as the NHS to work as a family therapist with the masters degree. Another option is the 2 year part time diploma to become a systemic practitioner, which might broaden out the options of working therapeutically in your current role. I'm a psychologist and did the 2 year course and there were several social workers on the course funded by their local authorities. I enjoyed the course a great deal and it has really enhanced my practice. Here's a link to information about courses:Routes to Trainining - Association for Family Therapists (aft.org.uk)

Thanks @CBTTherapist4 I'd forgotten about IAPT roles. Thinking about things a bit more, I think perhaps a role within CAMHS or IAPT might be a more realistic career move - not necessarily to get funded training as I know that's not always an option, but to have the support and access that I might need for some courses (eg networks for placements or scope for relevant practice)

@FlipFlopFlabrador I'd wanted to get the practitioner qualification years ago, I took a job on the basis it was offered, then found myself in a queue of team members waiting to do it - it was mandatory training but only one person per dept allowed per year! Systemic FT has fallen out of favour in LAs over the last few years, I suspect because of the cost/time to train staff compared to other practice models. I will look into it though.

It's a fantastic route, you'd be working for an organisation, the training is almost always fully funded and you're paid at a band 4 (PWP) or band 6 (CBT) while training. Upon qualification you're a 5 or 7. I personally recommend as a social worker shooting straight for the CBT training, the PWP would probably be stuff you're capable of with your eyes shut and you'd likely eventually wanna progress to CBT anyway as it's more involved, more money, and you are able to practice privately should you wish to eventually.

I would definitely advise people to go this route rather than self-funded training privately over years, it can be hard to get your hours in to pass the course then you have to find a job or scrape up private clients to cover the amount you invested in training, it's just much, much harder.

I had my year's postgrad diploma paid for, paid while training, and then a job upon completion at band 7.

I’d consider a sideways move to camhs or IAPT. You have a core profession so that is worth a lot!!