Training as a counsellor

CharlieRabbit01

I work full time in an office job which I've done for 10 years, I've decided I would like to work more closely with people, helping them over come dilemmas and improve their quality of life.

My Current role is a front facing office job at a university with a student reception my favourite bit is working with the students even though I have very strong administrative and computer skills I still find myself wanting to help the students more however with my current job there is only so much I can do before I have to pass them on to another department.

So I've considered moving to said department however currently no jobs, whilst I wait for the right job I thought about taking up a course in counselling to help get me one step closer, but some people think I'm too young and a careers website said counselling is normally a 2nd or 3rd job.

I don't want to waste money on training for something no one will employ me for, the first course is £625 with the OU, if only I still lived at home with my mum in Wales then it would only cost £270 a much easier decision to make.

is 26 too young?

CharlieRabbit01

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I don't know what official guidelines are but my student support advisor at university is only in her 20s and she does a fabulous job. How old are the advisors in the dept you wish to move to? Have you asked their advice?

This is the kind of thing I was looking at as well Student Support, I'm not sure how old they are though.

I've been given the contact details of someone there to speak to but as your probably aware due to the summer break no one is in, so I've got to wait till September.

dizzyrascal

You might be better suited to a student support role for the near future. That does not mean you can't climb the ladder in student support and make a difference to the students you work with. By this I mean working in a student support and guidance role which would be working with individual students on their needs and helping them sort out problems. You would need good listening skills and this would help you prepare for life as a counsellor.
In the meantime you could be getting some BACP accredited qualifications to help with your ambition.
I have to be honest, you do need a little more life experience to help people deal with the sort of problems people present at counselling sessions. It is a big responsibility

CharlieRabbit01

I realise I'm not quite ready for the big step into life counselling but its finding that first step in.

westv

I had heard that the market is flooded with counsellors but that info may not be up to date now.

CharlieRabbit01

westv wrote: »

I had heard that the market is flooded with counsellors but that info may not be up to date now.

That could be a problem then. But I don't want to be an administrator for the rest of my life. There's nothing wrong with it just not for me.

Josky

From what I have heard, it can be tough to make counselling a full time job - in many cases you will be self-employed, and will need to put a significant amount of effort into promoting yourself. I would personally be very wary of Open University courses, as many of the professional bodies for counselling will not accept qualifications that were conducted via long-distance learning - so just bear this in mind if you were thinking of registering with these. Kudos on finding something you want to do, I wish you the best of luck with it.

Are there any organisations locally that you could perhaps volunteer with to get more experience working with people? I'm thinking of maybe the Samaritans, or Relate, something like that? Have a peek at Do-It.org perhaps and see if there is anything there that can help you to get experience. They may even be able to help with training and qualifications for you. It's not necessarily the same work that you would be carrying out as a counsellor, but it will show your commitment to working with people and could help you to develop useful skills.

skattykatty

I think you have to be at least 25 to enter counsellling training, but there are plenty of courses that any adult can undertake to begin accruing training. In terms of training, it is a long term commitment and moving into some sort of student support role would, I'm sure, be looked upon favourably by a training institution. There are many community based courses as a way in. If you want to look at more intense courses then check out the list of accredited providers on the BACP website: http://www.bacp.co.uk/accreditation/Accredited%20Course%20Search/index.php

skattykatty

Just a thought - there is also work with charities like the Samaritans, who train people...so there are various ways to show your commitment before undertaking counselling training.

Racheldevon

Hi, I've spent the last 3 years training as a supervisor in this field, so hopefully can offer some guidance. Personally I would steer clear of the OU for this type of course. Look to find out courses that are either BACP or UKCP registered, both organisations have websites and will have a section on training courses. You need to be in face to face contact with other students to develop your practical skills you can't do this via long distance. Bear in mind you would also be expected to fund your own therapy throughout training, and have a commitment to going through this process. You often need to fund your own supervision once at the diploma stage unless you are very fortunate to find a placement which includes this - with cut backs this is often no longer available for many. Some courses appear to have a slightly odd structure of level 1 etc building up, however in constrast many of the UKCP/BACP ones are structured in terms of a certificate stage, followed by a 2 year diploma, which is the route personally that I would go for. Also bear in mind in the near future it's likely that counsellors may need an MA in counselling as things seem to be progressing in that direction. In which case you might want to consider a course that allows you to do a post grad certificate, following by the post grad diploma.

Age isn't potentially a barrier, and any good course will have structured itself to carefully interview and decide who's ready to enter the course, with other opportunities/stages that students needs to demonstrate various skills/qualities etc in order to progress to the final stage - there is an ethical responsibility to ensure counsellors are safe to practice.

Don't let this put you off, but use it as a chance to go for the role you want in student support - i'm sure this will provide you with lots of experiences on which you can reflect and develop. Also look out for other opportunities, can you fit in some volunteering each week - perhaps the nightline service that universities often offer, or places like the samaritians or other listening services. I wonder if as a memebr of staff you can access the volunteering society/group within the uni to see what local projects you could get involved in?