Counselling job prospects

SATSUMA

Hi all, just wondering what are the job prospects like once someone has qualified as a counsellor? I haven't started a diploma or anything I am just looking for info. Is it that after a diploma and sufficient requirements are met to be accredited one can set up their own practice full time? Can one make a decent living doing this? Any info around the topic much appreciated.

Odysseus

Once your qualified and have ticked all the boxes your free to set up a private practice. In fact the way things stand you don't have to tick the boxes at all. However, its has been a while since I have done any private work, but it takes a significant amount of time to establish a firm client base, in fact in this current climate I won't like to be dependent on private work to put food on the table. Most of the therapists I know who who have a sucessful practice also engage in work for agencies and lecture or provide training courses as well.

If this is something you plan to take serious then I would say get a serious qualification, a diploma will get you stareted, and I know some sucessful therapists who did not take their training any further, however, I would suggest that you look at getting to masters level. Personally I won't recommend or refer anyone to a therapist who is not of that standard.


To give you an example I work fulltime for the HSE and do a small amount of lecturing. I am considering starting private work again, however, I would not expect to make a full time job out of it at the moment. Actually, I don't intend to do that at all, I would really expect to see a small amount of client privately. I would consider myself luckly if I was seeing three to four a week for the first six months really.

Most of the therapists I know would have a steady back-up position with some type of agency and then supplement this by seeing a certain amount of clients privately. Hope this helps a little.

SATSUMA

Thanks for the advice,

A couple more questions...Is a (Post graduate) diploma not a serious qualification? ie One that is recognised by the IACP and others? And takes three years?

I dont think that a masters would be viable for me as i already have a degree and a post graduate degree in an unrelated field.

Also, what do you mean by agency as back up?

It's really helpful to be able to ask these questions

Odysseus

SATSUMA wrote: »

Thanks for the advice,

A couple more questions...Is a (Post graduate) diploma not a serious qualification? ie One that is recognised by the IACP and others? And takes three years?

I dont think that a masters would be viable for me as i already have a degree and a post graduate degree in an unrelated field.

Also, what do you mean by agency as back up?

It's really helpful to be able to ask these questions

By angency I mean working an organisation such as the HSE or even smaller community based projects or various services such as the various bereavement services. So for example few of the people I work with within the HSE use that as their main income, with that they then see clients in the evening or work a four day with the service and do their private work on the other day.

Ok I thought you where referring to an undergrad dip. However, I would still see that as a starting point. Getting your qualification and and becoming a member of a professional body is only a starting point. However, we all have to start somewhere, so I hope I don't sound too snobby. So take my views merely as that my own, however, I'm sure that there will be others alot to add their own viewpoints too.

Out of interest which course are you considering?

hotspur

On the issue of level of education it should probably be mentioned that the vast majority of counsellors have "only" a diploma in the field of counselling. Most of the IACP recognised courses, for example, are at diploma level and do not require an undergraduate degree.

It's a tricky issue. Part of me would like for counselling / psychotherapy to be a postgraduate specialisation for those who studied psychology or a cognate area, but that would exclude so many people who could be wonderful counsellors.

Counselling still somewhat straddles the professional / paraprofessional divide. The reality is that unless one wants to be a psychoanalytically trained therapist there are few good postgraduate options available here.

Trinity do a doctorate in counselling psychology and UCC do a masters in it. But that's not enough. I regard practically all the other non-psychoanalytic accredited counselling courses in the country to be of similar quality to each other. Whether it's a 3 year diploma which is open to everyone or only postgraduates doesn't much matter to the quality of the programme itself as far as I can tell from studying them all.

3 years of study for a counselling diploma is a significant commitment, and along with all the other aspects of doing such a course it really doesn't meaningfully compare to a diploma in anything else I feel.

Odysseus

I know what your saying Hotspur, but the are a few other options out there. Whilst DBS are somewhat analytically inclined they also have a undergrad and two post grad options in psychotherapy. DCU have a few options too some I know someone who is considering doing a PhD in psychotherapy there. PCI have a degree opition too, so whilst I agree that we doing need better training and CPD options things have improved a little in the past ten years.

Your spot on about the committment when you add on personal therapy and supervision as well as the practical work its a significant amount of work to undertake.

The postgrad thing is a problematic area for me, in that I feel really strongly about the level of training that therapists should have, sorry I meant to state that I know some therapists who only have a diploma and the just continued with their CPD in terms of short courses but for the work they undertake they are fully competent. Regardless of whether you continue to study or not the diploma route seems to be the starting point of a signigicant amount of therapists. Its the minimum entry point for work as a counsellor in my service.

HARVEY gab

I have just started a councelling on-line course with CMIT. I dont really know much about the proffession as a whole but i am greatly interested in it and i am taking this as a starting point.

i am looking for information on how to become a councellor in general and the CMIT course if anyone has any relevant information i would greatly appreciate it

Odysseus

HARVEY gab wrote: »

I have just started a councelling on-line course with CMIT. I dont really know much about the proffession as a whole but i am greatly interested in it and i am taking this as a starting point.

i am looking for information on how to become a councellor in general and the CMIT course if anyone has any relevant information i would greatly appreciate it

As no one else answered you, becoming a counsellor is comprised of the following: [IMO]

Theoretical Study,
Personal counselling,
Clinical practice,
Supervision of said practice.

I know little of the course your engaged in but I remember looking at their site awhile ago. Whilst I don't want to put you off the course I'm guessing that it is only addressing one of the above areas. So maybe its a starting point, the theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy is a huge field; so hopefully the course will enable you to discover the area of it your are interested in and you can in turn plot your development.

The other important issued you will have to address is membership of a professional body, there are quite a few in Ireland, but in order to work in any type of service you will need that membership. For example I'm a member of two bodies I.A.A.A.C and A.P.P.I each body will have different requirement for membership; but the criteria will revovle around those points I named above, for example A.P.P.I stress the personal therapy issue more so that the I.A.A.A.C. There are different bodies which you will seen metioned here regularly enough. Anyway, stick around here and ask questions and that should here you find your way.

Best of luck with it.

tascher rose

Hi would like to work as a counsellor. Was planning to apply for H-Dip in Psychology and then maybe the masters in psychotherapy in UL.

Would this be a good route to take?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Odysseus

tascher rose wrote: »

Hi would like to work as a counsellor. Was planning to apply for H-Dip in Psychology and then maybe the masters in psychotherapy in UL.

Would this be a good route to take?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

IMO it would option, if you where accepted a [lace on the H-Dip it would open lots of doors to post-grad psych courses than just having psychotherapy qualifications. Though if you really wanted you could just do a MA in psychotherapy, however, I would suggest the former as it gives you more options throughout you career.

tascher rose

thank you

sallyann23

I've just discovered an excellent site www.psychotherapyinireland.com
The site offers guidance on all aspects of psychotherapy including modalities, courses, accreditation etc. Theres also a 300 page book for sale at low cost on the subject.

22hawkinse

hi, you all posted quite a while ago but i was wondering if anyone could help me out. im a first year university student and im studing theology (so totally unrelated to psychology) but i did psychology at A-level and really enjoyed it and i did quite well in it. i was just wondering what the best way to get into a job that is psychology-related, ie. counselling, without changing the undergrad degree im currently on. i read further up i think that there is a course you can do after you graduate but does this only apply for psychology students or not? and how long would this training overall be? im really interested in pursuing this as a career but i dont want the training to take too long (and cost too much =/ )

any help would be fantastic thanks =D

krankykitty

22hawkinse wrote: »

hi, you all posted quite a while ago but i was wondering if anyone could help me out. im a first year university student and im studing theology (so totally unrelated to psychology) but i did psychology at A-level and really enjoyed it and i did quite well in it. i was just wondering what the best way to get into a job that is psychology-related, ie. counselling, without changing the undergrad degree im currently on. i read further up i think that there is a course you can do after you graduate but does this only apply for psychology students or not? and how long would this training overall be? im really interested in pursuing this as a career but i dont want the training to take too long (and cost too much =/ )

any help would be fantastic thanks =D

Depends what you think too long would be.. You're looking probably at 2 years min, I'd imagine. I don't think that's particularly long myself.

22hawkinse

krankykitty wrote: »

Depends what you think too long would be.. You're looking probably at 2 years min, I'd imagine. I don't think that's particularly long myself.

hey thanks for replying so soon =D and yer 2 years is not long, that sounds gd, is that a uni post grad course then? what is the course called etc? and afterwards what kind of further, on the job, training would i need?

cheers

krankykitty

Here is the list of IACP recognised courses - note, that the IACP is not the only accrediting body for counsellors, I am giving it as illustration only of the type of courses you might do.

http://www.irish-counselling.ie/index.php/recognised-training-courses

You could either do one of the graduate courses which I know little about (someone else here might?), or you could simply do one of the diploma courses which would probably take 2 years also I would imagine. Normally on training courses, well certainly on the Degree course you do have to do a certain amount of supervised clinical hours as part of the course.

Another option, if you're really interested in this sort of thing might be to transfer onto a Psychology undergraduate degree. You'll have much more options open to you afterwards, if you want to go into a different area of psychology. All will require a postgrad course.

22hawkinse

yer thats really helpful thanks. ill give it some thought =D cheers for your help

stuf

Btw - most counselling/psychotherapy courses have a minimum entry age of 25 so it's not the sort of thing you can go directly into on a normal graduation schedule. Personally I think that 25 is even too young in many cases

SPEDFED

does anyone have experience of any postgrad psychoanalytic psychotherapy courses?
namely DBS!
considering applying!

Odysseus

SPEDFED wrote: »

does anyone have experience of any postgrad psychoanalytic psychotherapy courses?
namely DBS!
considering applying!

Yes I did my BA and MA there both in Psychoanalysis, its been a few years but I would still be in touch with the college. What do you want to know?