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.

There are a lot of routes to train. It's best not to train full time, as you need a lot of time and space to process, and build up your hours. I know many people who worked alongside part time training.
Most therapists are self employed, if you want to be employed, thoroughly research the type of counsellors the NHS employs, because most level 4 courses won't make you eligible for NhS employment. You'll need to look at specific modalities for employment (CBT, systemic)

I would always advise the UKCP masters route into psychotherapy if you have a degree. It's the most robust training, and will give you the most options. It requires a lot of supervision, and more placement hours than other routes, but you will be accredited at the end. With other routes, you may need to get accredited afterwards to get some types of work. It doesn't matter if your degree is not related, but you may have to do a basic skills course first.
Look for a course that requires you to have a lot of your own therapy.
Hope that helps, but please ask me if any questions.

I would always advise the UKCP masters route into psychotherapy if you have a degree. It's the most robust training, and will give you the most options. It requires a lot of supervision, and more placement hours than other routes, but you will be accredited at the end

I don’t think that’s right. After training on a UKCP Masters accredited course, you gain clinical membership, so similar to what happens when you complete a BACP accredited counselling course.

https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/join-us/full-clinical-membership/

https://www.regents.ac.uk/postgraduate/psychotherapy-psychology/ma-psychotherapy-counselling

Or have I misunderstood?

Also, plenty of people who I trained with on my BACP accredited Level 7 course are working in the NHS and got these jobs pretty soon after finishing. The modality we trained in was person-centred.

Thank you. I meant the study.

You have misunderstood. BACP accredited courses don't give you accreditation. You have to go through a separate accreditation process, after you have done post qualification clinical hours. UKCP accredited courses are longer and have more clinical hours included so you get accreditation straight away.

The NHS has a specific way of training for person centred courses. I see loads of people finishing level 4 courses and not being able to find jobs, so it's important to check before embarking on a specific route. UKCP have a specific one now for counsellors wanting to work in the NHS.

I wondered if it would get me into the level 3 course and would something I could do while waiting for the academic year to begin? Still no?

@benfoldsfivefan UKCP works differently to BACP - you get accredited by your training org when you complete an accredited course - that allows you to apply for full clinical membership. BACP accreditation and BACP accredited courses are not the same thing.

There are multiple training routes and it is very confusing. What helped me was deciding which professional body I wanted to be registered with.

For me that is UKCP. For others it might be BACP, BCP, HCPC etc.

Making that decision helped me shortlist training courses. Then it was down to practicalities, feel, preference etc.

I will say (at the end of training) that I really value my own therapy and the personal process parts of training above all.

Having a good placement for learning on the job is also invaluable.

That’s absolutely not clear that completing a UKCP Masters course gives you accredited UKCP membership, not on their website and not on the website of Regents College. And I never said that completing a BACP accredited gives you accredited membership. You need, amongst other things, 450 or 500 clinical hours for that.

Maybe these person-centred NHS pathways are new, but my peers never did this, and neither did old counsellor who saw me privately who was trained in the PCA and works in the NHS. This post us fairly typical for a band 5 NHS role:

https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/jobadvert/C0021-23-0902?keyword=Counsellor&language=en&page=2

There is a new framework for all counselling/psychotherapy trainings on the way. https://www.bacp.co.uk/about-us/advancing-the-profession/scoped/
Worth looking into it and asking how any qualification you are considering will map onto this.

I can't speak for the Regents course, but it is clear on the UKCP site, that you are accredited by your course, and that enables you to apply for clinical membership. It's a different way of doing it than BACP, but still needs the clinical hours (and a lot more supervision) It looks as though you have to do an extra 2 years on the Regents course to get UKCP membership.

I'm really glad for your peers and your therapist. I guess it depends a lot on where you live, because based on posts in counselling groups, it's really hard to get employment with a level 4 counselling diploma.

Yes, there was absolutely no way I would do a level 4 or 5 counselling course, the higher the better because you’ve got that added extra. Twenty minutes ago I saw a few NHS counselling jobs that required a Level 7 qualification.

Location is also important when you’re self-employed, because of my peers I’m in touch with and who went down the private practice route, the people who have waiting lists (and therefore earn at least £60K) are the ones who work in affluent locations. I know there’s other variables, though.

A problem with the level 4 or 5 diploma courses is that there seems to be no way to progress to a higher level from them. You presumably have to begin at square one again and do a master's from scratch, as there's no separate level 7 onwards (there's just a level 6 supervisor course). It's an odd omission as, from what I've seen of friends' essays, reading lists, etc., there's not much difference between the diplomas and the MSc trainings until the final year of the MSc, which includes assessments and a research dissertation.

So I'd suggest looking at master's courses rather than level 4 for that reason, if you have a degree already.

You can get access loans for either if you're eligible.

I am more confused than ever!! I'm sorry if that's deeply irritating to everyone who has offered advice.

What if I did counselling with psychology through OU and the highest level of counselling course I can get into at the local tech at night?

Can I really do a master's degree in counseling with just an arts degree?

I did an MSc in Integrative counselling and psychotherapy, level 7. Have a good think about which modality to train in as that’s a further minefield. Maybe have a few sessions to try different types.
Good luck, it really is brilliant and rewarding work

Can I really do a master's degree in counseling with just an arts degree?

You certainly can! My first degree was in a completely unrelated area to my MA in Counselling.

I'm a huge Ben Folds fan by the way, great user name!

It seems like level 4 is really important - forgive the stupid question but does an MA sort of skip this?

Can I ask if you had any training prior to this? And did your training at this level involve supervised practice? I'm worried that going in too high academically will mean I won't end up with the necessary hands on experience and supervision.

The level 4 training covers most of what the MSc courses cover (including the same reading lists and 100 hours of supervised practice), but, in my experience, there are a lot more essays in the level 4; the MSc courses have a thesis and a module on mental health diagnoses, which are not covered in level 4 usually as far as I'm aware (courses vary).

The MSc does also include the same skills practice and supervised placement. Some require students to begin with a listening volunteer role for the first year (e.g. mentoring, Samaritans) beforebeginning a counselling placement. It's a higher qualification, so worth doing if you can. I'd check what foundation is required before the MSc (levels 2 and 3 are required to go on to level 4; MSc courses ask for a foundation year also, not sure if they accept levels 2 and 3 or not).

Counselling is not regulated so anyone can set themselves up as a self employed counsellor .

To get employed work you will normally have to be accredited . BACP is the most popular.

Level 4 diploma will give you the hours in placement to become a member of BACP . if your course Is not accrediated by BACP but you want their membership you have to do an additional test called certificate of proficiency

A lot of counselling positions are voluntary and therefore to get the additional hours necessary for accreditation you have to be able to work voluntarily. This therefore excludes a lot of people who cannot afford to not earn an income . Hence counselling is seen as a dominated by middle class people .

It seems like level 4 is really important - forgive the stupid question but does an MA sort of skip this?

Any of the qualifying levels (4 - 7) are important but you don’t need to do a Level 4 to do a Masters, you just need a Level 3 certificate, so yes doing a Level 7 course means going from 3 - 7. Also, some Level 7 courses allow you to step off the program with the Postgraduate Diploma, and not get the MA or MSc. Most people in my cohort didn’t continue to get a Masters.

A master's would be best, but you need to check what foundation course they require first, whether it's levels 2 and 3 or similar.

Yes, I did.

To be recognised by a major membership body, you need a face to face course with a placement. There are some courses that are just about theory, and you need one with a practical element to practice ethically.

Cost is a good point, courses aren't exactly cheap so it's worth comparing a few, plus you will usually have to pay for supervision during your placement - and I know a few of the counsellors who were on my Level 5 ended up paying hefty admin fees to their placement and then most courses insist on you having your own therapy which is another cost. Plus student membership of the governing body, insurance when you start your placement, I'm not trying to put you off, just pointing out that there are a few hidden costs.

It can certainly be an expensive training, but many counsellors offer discounted rates for trainees. A friend did her Level 5 at a FE college and supervision was included as part of the fees (about £5K).

It's a ridiculously complex world, I always say you need a qualification in it to understand how to qualify!

Without any prior training, the process goes like this:

Foundation certificate - part time, can be either one evening a week, a more compressed series of weekends or some combination thereof.

Diploma - over two years, part time, one day a week. I've not heard of any that are full time but that doesn't mean they exist. After this you can get BACP accreditation.

If you wish to go on and do a Masters you can, but it isn't mandatory. Where I've trained, it's this step that gets you UKCP accreditation.

You need hundreds of hours of trainee practice to get any kind of accreditation so bear in mind that this will need to fit around your Diploma learning.

In terms of costs you are looking at at least £15k for the Certificate and Diploma in total, more if you go on to Masters level, plus of course you need to be in weekly personal therapy and be able to fund that. (some therapists give discounts to students).

It's really important to get your head around the fact that these steps are as much about your emotional journey as your learning one in the traditional sense. Many people do the Foundation and realise it isn't for them, or this isn't the right time. It's the most emotionally demanding thing I've ever experienced.