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Original poster

Training as a counsellor - any recommendations for courses, please?

74 replies

ItWasAllYeIIow · 01/04/2025 18:15

Hi,

I am 50 and need a change of direction work-wise.
Any counsellors here? I am looking at courses, but would relaly value some recommendations, and any advice too.
I already have a Psychology degree from just under 30 years ago, but didn't actually do anything related afterwards.

Thanks in advance.

OP posts:
Original poster
ItWasAllYeIIow · 04/04/2025 08:31

TherapyName · 02/04/2025 19:03

I was moved to make a username to answer your questions because I think there are lots of misunderstandings about our roles.

It's not a profession to go into for high pay for lots of reasons. The training can be very expensive largely because it is usually self-funded. On top of the upfront training costs you will be paying for a lot of personal therapy and supervision. Additional CPD helps you specialise and find a niche but can be very expensive- I have paid almost £10,000 on training in the last year alone. So when I charge a client £60-70 for a session those hidden costs aren't seen by clients they are just horrified by the cost! This is before even factoring in tax, national insurance and business costs.

You will also find your hours of work will be limited by your own capacity and situation. I'm in private practice partly because I have to manage a chronic health condition. I like having the freedom to work with clients I can choose to work with in my favoured modality - I know so many NHS practitioners who enjoy the salary and perks but hate being restricted to mainly CBT and short term work. Balancing my caseload is on me too so for example I am careful not to overload on trauma work. I have seen a few therapists who overloaded themselves in various ways and they have ended up burning out. It's a marathon not a sprint this profession!

The work can be very rewarding but huge online companies and charities have changed the landscape. They offer counsellors lots of hours but at offensively low salaries- think £25 an hour. I have clients who were offered counselling through these companies because they got sessions free through work / college - they have ended up working with me privately because the whole experience was so disappointing. Their workplaces are just ticking the 'employee wellbeing' box and the companies make huge profit while paying the therapists insulting wages. I know therapists who used to find this work rewarding and well-paid but conditions have deteriorated.

I'm sorry if this is off-putting but I want to be honest with you. The people I know enjoying this work are single with no children or married with the reassurance of a second income. The most stressed counsellors / psychologists I know are single parents in private practice. They are constantly worried about market forces hitting their client base. Many are very good at their jobs but they find it hard to find clients willing or able to pay. There can be huge entitlement in clients- they expect us to be charities or assume we are a branch of the NHS when we're not. It's a shame because good therapy is absolutely life changing.

Best of luck as you make your decision! Always start by HAVING counselling/ therapy then take it from there. Any accredited training course will require this anyway.

Show quote history

I really appreciate the time you took to reply, thank you. Sadly I am a single parent, and am trying to find something to dig us out of this financial hole, plus do something to put back in to the community/help people, but I feel like there are huge hurdles, mainly financial, to getting to a point of having a decent income, and it's looking like it will take too long to get there too.

OP posts:
Original poster
ItWasAllYeIIow · 04/04/2025 09:16

bigyellowtractorface · 02/04/2025 19:40

I work as a counsellor and mentor to students on placement. I think I am fairly well versed in what’s what. I haven’t read all your replies so apologies if I am repeating. However, as you already have a first degree in psychology you should be able to go straight onto a masters or post grad diploma which will put you at level 7. Cost would be 9k or upwards but you would complete in a year, if disciplined and full time. You’d have to work very part time or not at all. Level 7 would put you in a good place for the BACP Scoped plans which is going to change things muchly for many newer counsellors and those who aren’t yet accredited. If you do it in CBT and then get accredited with babcp you should be able to work for NHS at band 8 and earn circa 50k outside of London. CBT is the most commonly offered NHS therapy.

Crysalis is sneered at but if you work in private practice it won’t matter too much. You would need to pass a proficiency test with BACP (I’m only really familiar with that ethical body) to be accepted as a member with them, if your educator’s course isn’t accredited by them.

I get a sense most people start with achieving a level 4 or 5 in Person Centred and then add on extra modalities from there. That’s what I have done.

Some go down the TA or psychodynamic route which I think are possibly more academic in nature but are not necessarily more in demand on qualifying. From what I can see, currently CBT and EMDR have the strongest evidence base for efficacy and demand is higher than supply. Many therapists and clients hate CBT. In fact lots of therapist hate on other modalities and it can end up being a well debated minefield. What matters is what speaks to you, makes sense and feels right but seems doable in terms of getting a job or clients if you set up solo.

Lastly, please make sure if you take a degree or masters the course criteria mandates at least 100 placement hours. There are a few that actually don’t and graduates than have to spend another 4k minimum and 2 years getting a lower level 4 just to be able to practice.

It is really confusing. Hope this helps though. I actually found it useful, pre training to find jobs on indeed and then work backwards to see what route Inwould need to take to get that job, as well as understand if it would suit me, etc.

Thanks so much, that really is very helpful. I think I need to park this plan for now though, until I meet some rich dude (joke) so I can do this without the financial pressure, plus upfront costs that feel risky right now. It's astonishing how expensive it is, when the government would surely benefit from having more people trained up to help deal with the mental crises many are going through. I appreciate your time in replying, thank you.

OP posts:
Eyesopenwideawake · 04/04/2025 10:02

@ItWasAllYeIIow do have a look at the control system - it might be a option for you to consider. If you want to DM with any questions, feel free.

Original poster
ItWasAllYeIIow · 04/04/2025 10:25

Thank you. I am actually feeling a bit deflated, it's not really enough money for me to cope on in the area in which we live, or not soon enough to be building up to better earnings, plus the hours I'd need to put in right now, the financial outlay, with juggling kids plus current job as a single mother. Ex lives too far away to share the weekly load re kids, I am just not sure how I'd manage right now.

OP posts:
CyclingAddict · 04/04/2025 11:22

As regards costs, I applied for an Advanced Learner Loan (£5,000) and paid about £1,200 out of my own pocket. The required 30 personal counselling sessions cost approx £650 and this cost was spread out over two years. The other costs were for cheap, secondhand books, folders and travelling to College.

applegrumbling · 04/04/2025 11:45

CyclingAddict · 04/04/2025 11:22

As regards costs, I applied for an Advanced Learner Loan (£5,000) and paid about £1,200 out of my own pocket. The required 30 personal counselling sessions cost approx £650 and this cost was spread out over two years. The other costs were for cheap, secondhand books, folders and travelling to College.

I wouldn’t like to work as a counsellor after only 30 sessions over 2 years, and wouldn’t be happy to see someone who’d had that little personal therapy.

Shinyandnew1 · 04/04/2025 12:15

It’s an expensive hobby for most

That's pretty much what one of my ex-colleagues described it as! It's an interesting thing to do if you have plenty of money to train, your own home studio and a rich husband and it keeps you occupied whilst you wait for them to retire!

TherapyName · 04/04/2025 12:24

Shinyandnew1 · 04/04/2025 12:15

It’s an expensive hobby for most

That's pretty much what one of my ex-colleagues described it as! It's an interesting thing to do if you have plenty of money to train, your own home studio and a rich husband and it keeps you occupied whilst you wait for them to retire!

God I thought I was the negative voice on the thread!

I love my work, it's rewarding and challenging and surprisingly fun. It's certainly not something I do to put my time in on this earth nor is it a hobby. I do think the profession as a whole could make training more accessible.

I really don't want to put you off OP but it's just that your particular circumstances mean that I would be very cautious about expecting too much financially as you may have a more secure income in another field. There's also a huge emotional cost of training and I agree with another poster that 30hrs of personal therapy is very low.

cloudglazer · 04/04/2025 12:24

As you already have a psychology degree, I would opt for a UKCP masters route, and if you want to be employed, the modalities the NHS supports are CBT and Systemic family therapy, occasionally psychodynamic.
It’s not possible to train online and get recognition from
one of the major membership bodies, you have to do it in person, and it’s absolutely the best way in my view.
i would try a taster session somewhere. I did a 10 week listening skills course first and I am glad I did.
be prepared to spend a lot of money, and not earn much afterwards, but to have the most challenging and amazing experience of your life.

cloudglazer · 04/04/2025 12:25

Oh and look at the UKCP site - there is a pilot for NHS funded training happening at the moment.

Original poster
ItWasAllYeIIow · 04/04/2025 13:34

I can't afford to spend a lot of money and not earn a lot afterwards, I simply don't have that luxury.
I am not closing the door on this, but I think it is out of my reach at the present time, financially and time-wise.

OP posts:
Riversidegirl · 04/04/2025 19:28

It’s an expensive hobby.

I was the one that related that. I have always held a second job alongside my counselling. We weren’t a rich family and I had help at the time from my employer who used my skills both during training and once qualified. My current employer pays my insurance and supervision fees to keep me. I absolutely love my job and find it so rewarding for both myself and my clients.

if you wish to explore a listening role could you spare any time to train with the Samaritans? It is voluntary work but can also be fitted into your time. Good luck with your quest OP. 💐

Original poster
ItWasAllYeIIow · 04/04/2025 22:19

Riversidegirl · 04/04/2025 19:28

It’s an expensive hobby.

I was the one that related that. I have always held a second job alongside my counselling. We weren’t a rich family and I had help at the time from my employer who used my skills both during training and once qualified. My current employer pays my insurance and supervision fees to keep me. I absolutely love my job and find it so rewarding for both myself and my clients.

if you wish to explore a listening role could you spare any time to train with the Samaritans? It is voluntary work but can also be fitted into your time. Good luck with your quest OP. 💐

Thank you.

That sounds like a good set up you have! Maybe i need to find such an employer!

Doing voluntary work could be a starting point.

OP posts:
Hoopsmcann · 28/04/2025 22:38

Does anyone have any intel on SEG Level 4 counselling diplomas?

Are SEG well regarded?

The course I am considering is not accredited by any of the ethical bodies but it is in person, 100 placement hours, supervision, 40 therapy hours and you can join BACP as a student.

i did a BACP acc certificate but the training centre is closing so I need to look elswhere and this SEG course is affordable and nearby.

benfoldsfivefan · 19/05/2025 10:20

I did a BACP-accredited MA. It was hard work and at times emotionally gruelling, but hugely rewarding from a personal development perspective.

But as many people have said, there are very few jobs out there. Quite a few of my peers did get jobs soon after they qualified, but they had much more hours than did, so were more experienced. The reputation of the course perhaps had an impact for them as well. Of the peers that are in private practice, they all - and I do mean all - have partners who earn well from their full-time jobs or self-employed work. I'm single and work in an unrelated field as I can't afford to take the risk of having an unpredictable income that comes with self-employment.

For now, I would advise as one or two people have done - the introduction to counselling 10 or 12 week course like this one:

https://www.farn-ct.ac.uk/course/introduction-to-counselling-skills/1650/

isitme111 · 19/05/2025 18:50

Or if you have the time and money I recommend the CPCAB Level 2 course in Counselling Skills. It costs more than the intro course and in my day lasted an academic year ( I believe you can fast track now, as some colleges offer it over 6 months). I only say this because if you decide after the introduction course that you want to carry on the CPCAB route the content from the CPCAP intro course overlaps with Level 2 . Also at the end of level 2 you would achieve a Level 2 qualification even if you decide not to continue to Level 3. I enjoyed the Level 2, learnt so much about communication which has been invaluable even in everyday life. I probably spent about 12 grand on training. There aren't many paid roles out there several people I trained with have gone down the private practice route but not with much success. Yes, you can charge 50 quid an hour so the hourly rate is high but you can't really see more than 20 clients a week or you would burn out and that's even if you could find 20 clients! There's lots of overheads such as room rent, advertising, insurance, professional membership fees, CPD. Its definitely not an easy moneymaker.

CyclingAddict · 19/05/2025 19:59

@isitme111 this is pretty much accurate
the only thing I would say is that I paid for the Level 2 and 3 (I think about £1,700?) but got a Advanced Student Loan for Level 4 (£5,000)

I WFH so don’t pay for room rent and I pick up a very small number of clients which I fit in around my other work. My outgoings are £100 per month so as long as I cover this, I’m happy

benfoldsfivefan · 19/05/2025 23:04

One thing I forgot to say is that doing the level 4 or 5 qualifying Diploma at your local college is always the cheaper route than doing the Diploma at university (either level 6 or 7). Up to £14K cheaper. Because sometimes the mandatory supervision is included in the fees and having your own therapy isn’t always mandatory. It’s not a route I chose but understand it’s suitable for others.

Shuttered · 19/05/2025 23:11

Pamspeople · 02/04/2025 17:42

Do you have any experience in a listening or support type role, OP? You need to be sure this work suits you because it can be an enormous investment, with very few jobs at the end of training. Are you thinking about setting up in private practice, or working in an organisation? What do you see when you imagine being a counsellor? It's worth really thinking about what you're aiming for and check if your expectations are realistic - sadly it's a field where there are an abundance of tempting training courses producing many many trainees competing for unpaid roles to get the hours they need to qualify, then more hours to get accreditation...then not many salaried jobs at the end of it.

Yes, this is certainly the experience of several people I know who’ve done this. Many people o know struggled to make a living in private practice and ended up moving into training, or specialist counselling that required further training (eg addiction counselling, working in prisons).

Lesina · 19/05/2025 23:12

Counselling in what? It is seriously very concerning to see so many people deciding to monitise their own trauma and set themselves up as counsellors. What will be your specialism and what are your credible qualifications?

Shuttered · 19/05/2025 23:18

Lesina · 19/05/2025 23:12

Counselling in what? It is seriously very concerning to see so many people deciding to monitise their own trauma and set themselves up as counsellors. What will be your specialism and what are your credible qualifications?

The OP is asking about pathways to qualifying.

BadSkiingMum · 20/05/2025 09:22

@Lesina Your post bears absolutely no relationship to the OP’s enquiry. She has made a measured and reasonable enquiry about qualification routes so that she can become a professional counsellor. This has absolutely nothing to do with ‘monetising trauma’.

Caffrinjane · 26/01/2026 22:39

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