Any counsellors about - how on earth does a counsellor qualify?

[Quickquestion10]

I have googled and am none the wiser. The foundation degree/certificate and 'psychology with counseling' degrees have muddled me.

I have an arts degree but no A Level or similar in counselling or psychology.

I would like to take a full time accredited course to become a counsellor. I'd like to go straight into full time study if possible and take a course that will lead to qualifying as an accredited counsellor, without further study afterwards ideally. (Not because I don't want to train further but the funds won't last forever).

Happy to be a distance student or OU. Happy to take a preparatory qualification before but would like it to be full time.

Can anyone with experience help me through this minefield? Maybe I've been googling too long.

https://www.cpcab.co.uk/qualifications/

I agree it is very confusing. I was lucky enough to go straight to level 4 as my degree was in psychology… but I don’t think the whole course can be online as you need practical experience doing “fake” counselling sessions etc. you also need private therapy yourself. And supervised placements…

You can qualify at one of four levels, from level 4 - 7. It's unusual not to have a Level 3 certificate before you start a qualifying course, but it does happen, as with the PP before me:

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

I did Levels 2, 3 and 7.

Most people do levels 3 and either 4 or 5. You're looking at spending a minimum of £6K.

Thanks very much for this. It's really helpful. Is it possible to go straight in full time?

@Quickquestion10 The friends I have who do this have Masters in Psychotherapy and have sometimes studied (as well) through established counsellor-training organisations. One friend trained in her 60s, after being in science all her life. I know she had to do 400 hours of counselling (volunteer/ low fee) before she was up to BACP standard.

Is it possible to go straight in full time?

Do you mean the training or the work?

Do bear in mind that most counsellors are self-employed and have to find their own clients. It's not a career to enter if you want to make big bucks. I don't know many people who make a living out of it (in order to support themselves without a partner.)

You have to promote yourself and run it as a business, unless you manage to find work in an organisation.

As an example I knew someone who did 15 hours a week (3 hours a day) and she said that was as much as they could manage, because of the intensity of it, the added time for record keeping, their own supervision, etc.

No, the Level 3 is a one day or evening course that takes one academic year to complete, though there's some centres that fast track it and you do two evenings over five months. There's probably some places where you can do the diploma full-time, but I've not heard of any. The Diploma's are usually part-time and take at least two years to complete. My Masters, for a BACP accredited course, took three years to complete, and part-time.

I did the foundation degree modules with the OU and then levels 4 and 5, it's the 100 hours supervised placement that matters though, a level 4 without it wouldn't qualify you to practice privately.

I wouldn’t want a counsellor who had just completed a course to be practising on me! You are messing with people’s lives, it isn’t just a career.

If you follow the CPCAB qualification route, find a training provider which provides the BACP accredited level 4. Not all level 4 qualifications do this.
You can still practise as a counsellor without accreditation but many jobs require this as a minimum.
Or you will need to complete a further accreditation process in order to be a full accredited member of the BACP.

Not many courses are BACP accredited, as I found out when I researched it all six years ago. But an accredited course is generally better than one that isn't.

I don't know if OP is clear on this, but there's an accreditation process of membership after you've qualified which will enhance your job prospects, as a PP says:

https://www.bacp.co.uk/membership/accredited-membership/

This is separate from the issue of BACP accredited courses.

Please be assured that I am very serious about getting the right training, hence wanting a full time accredited course that will require many hours of supervised training.

Unless newly qualified counsellors "practise" on human beings, how do any of them ever get experience?

Exactly. If you access counselling through an organisation you may well be allocated to someone in the latter part of their training. They will be supervised and will have to be deemed fit to practise by their training provider. If you're only prepared to settle for a qualified counsellor then you have the option of approaching one in private practice and paying accordingly.

I'm in Scotland and did a level 10 diploma (honours degree) several years ago though I'd now suggest a level 11 (masters degree) if you plan for BABCP accreditation down the line. I would recommend go for as high a qualification as possible.
I will say it's the best job I've ever had and I love what I do. But having said that it is also the hardest thing I've done and the training is not easy. Wishing you the best with it and enjoy your journey.

https://m.ccpt.info/ncfe-cache-level-2-certificate-in-counselling-skills.html

Does this seem like a good place to start?

Edgehill university do a 2 years masters level course and the entry requirements are pretty broad for degrees/experience they will accept.

www.edgehill.ac.uk/course/psychotherapy-and-counselling-contemporary-creative-approaches/

I get where you're coming from, but everybody has to start somewhere

I would hope / imagine that, as in most fields, NQ deal with easier cases at first, to build experience

OP, if you can find a specific niche area, that might help. I met someone who was v niche and had no shortage of business

Please don’t do this course. I’d start with a CPCAB course, at L2 or 3 which should be taught face to face. You’ll find it much harder progressing with an online course and employers won’t touch you as you won’t be able to register with the two main organisations, BACP and NCS.

Part of the training is about working with peers, building relationships, holding and working through your vulnerabilities and supporting others to do the same. This is not something that can be replicated through online learning.

The L4 course should have 100 hours of supervised placement as a minimum. I’d start with the CPCAB COURSE finder if you’d prefer this route:

https://www.cpcab.co.uk/centre-finder

My friend did a 3-year degree in psychology and counselling at Brighton University, followed by a masters.

Pretty brave career move for someone in their late 40s, I thought, but she's got loads of clients after only 4 years in practice and has a waiting list.

A close family member has an MA in psychotherapy so I've just seen her go through the whole process.

The first part of the course will be focused on building up practical skills before the course leader has to evaluate the trainees as fit to practice. Once they've passed fitness to practice, they can then go and do a supervised placement as a trainee working with real clients. The clients will always be told beforehand that their therapist is still in training and they can always choose not to work with that therapist if they'd prefer someone fully trained.

That course wouldn’t get you onto the Diploma course at a few places I know of, including where I trained. It’s a Level 3 face to course you should be looking at.

The OU's foundation degree is run in conjunction with CPCAB, I think there are a couple of OU modules and then level 4/5 face to face with CPCAB. If you go that route then you need to make sure there is a CPCAB course closeby.

If you look on the BACP and the NCS websites they will have details of accredited courses, usually they start out at Level 3 and are face to face. Local further education collages might have courses as well, I don't think a level 2 online course is necessary.

All training courses, as far as I'm aware, to be accepted by professional bodies such as the NCP or BACP, require students to "practise" on clients for a minimum of 100 sessions in a training placement before they are allowed to practise independently. The students have fortnightly supervision as well as being overseen by tutors and a placement manager.

As a result, when the counsellor is newly qualified, they've usually had at least 150 - 200 sessions with clients already.

(They also have about a year practising with fellow students and have to be assessed and passed as fit to practise before they're allowed to take up a training placement.)

That's the same for both for level 4 and 5 diplomas and for the MSc courses I know of. Some courses require more.

I completed my level 2 and level 3 with adult education centre found them brilliant
Uni do level 4/5 or i can go private and there also accredited
brighterteaching.co.uk

There's a group on Facebook called Counselling Tutor where you can ask these questions, there are many valid training routes but avoid online only courses.