Counselling diploma online

[Gistbury]

Hello

I am interested in becoming a counsellor and I was wondering if anyone had embark on a online qualification and to what end?

I am currently a SHM and realistically will not have the childcare to attend a university course for a few years. I was hoping to get the ball rolling with an online course and wanted to know if anyone had experience with this or counselling in general?

Lots of FE Colleges offer Level 2 online for free so check those out first before paying more online . Level 3 is usually face to face ( again look at local FE colleges for a cheaper deal ) as the whole point of training to be a counsellor is that you are able to talk to others , not learn facts ( that said I’ve seen a few online ones ) . These are pretty intensive . Level 4/5/6 ( depending how far you want to go ) will be face to face as you have to do set counselling hours with real people to qualify . If you don’t have a degree it’s worth looking up local unis as you could take student finance . If you already have a degree some unis offer post grad dips and masters ( with funding ) but you need to do level 2 &3 first to meet BACP or CPCAB entry requirements . For all Level 4+ courses you’ll also need to pay for your own counselling ( supervision )

Thank you for this. I already have a psychology degree and I have found some online courses level 3 and 4 diploma but solely online without any face-to-face element etc. I am sure that these qualifications are not recognised in terms of being a licensed practitioner as they don't have the elements you outline. I'm wondering if it is still worth doing to put me in a better position when I have more time to commit to a course with the practical elements- maybe allowing me to go in at a higher level and bypass the foundation elements of a course?

Online counselling courses are, to all intents and purposes, worthless.

Personal development and skills sessions are a critical part of counsellor training.

You also need to be able to complete 100 hours of counselling practice.

if you have a psychology degree, you could do a level 3 in counselling (1 Yr very part time) and a masters in counselling.

Do you have a modality in mind? Person centred, CBT, psychodynamic, integrative etc.

Depending on where you are there are courses that are spread out. E.g near Newcastle there are 2 year courses where over 10 months of the year you do two days of study (weekend or evenings) plus your practical time and supervision.

It's called Northern Guild, I'm sure there will be other places like it, it is accredited as well.

Good luck OP!

This was my concern really. I have been an A level psychology teacher for many years and I hope to transition into counselling adolescents. I'm not set on a modality as you put it but have good appreciation and knowledge of many of them- something I will explore further on whatever course I embark on.

Perhaps I should just wait until time allows me to fully commit to an accredited university course with all the placement infrastructure required to become licensed.

I hoped I could get 'ahead of the game' with an online course and also maybe quench my housewife boredom!

I will explore this, thank you. I'm not in a position to do this at the moment but perhaps this could be the way forward for me in a few years

I'm in the same boat as you OP. Not in a position to do it now but I will likely follow the training model of the Northern Guild when I do.

Wish you all the best with it! X

And to you! Thanks for your help 😊

BACP will allow a proportion of study online but a large proportion has to be face to face. Prior to covid it all had to be face to face.

If you are interested in finding out more I’d recommend joining the ‘counselling tutor’ group on Facebook. It’s really helpful and informative.

You’d need a level 4 qualification to be able to practice. There’s a large amount of counselling ‘skills’ practice needed to qualify. I can see that level 2 might be doable online, but to get to the level where you could work, I do think you’d need face to face, to learn the required disciplines.

You don't need a psychology degree to do any kind of counselling course ( I know the OP does, just stating this for anyone else reading).

It's not been clearly mentioned on here but to qualify as a counsellor you need a diploma or a degree which range from Levels 4 - 7. Depending on where you live, you probably can do a Level 3 without doing a Level 2 course - several people on my Level 7 didn't have Level 2 (but you absolutely have to have a Level 3 qualification to progress). BACP don't give a shit if you've got Level 2 or 3. I did Level 2, 3, then jumped to 7.

I wouldn't bother with an online counselling course, personally. The face-to-face courses at college or universities are usually one afternoon a week, so maybe more doable than you think. Also, with some courses, supervision is included.