Counselling, what a rip off!!

lynzpower

I have to agree. Counsellors have to put in years. I put in two, and had another 6 to go to get to the practice stage, and due to other pressures in my life I couldnt commit to so much longer.

To be fair, youll pay more than 40 quid an hour for a half decent hairdresser.

lynzpower

RoxsiScotland wrote: »

ive been on the waiting list for a year and a half for a psychologist for my severe depression among other problems.

i have literally begged different doctors to get me some help but theres nothing they can do exept throw me more pills and hope i dont kill myself that week.

ive been told my only option at the moment is to pay for one, doesnt seem likely that i can pay £40 an hour from my £45 a week benefits though! i know they cant do it for free all the time but they really are profiting of peoples misery.

i really feel for you, and i hope you and your partner can work it out, i wish you all the best.

have you spoken to MIND? they usually have a list of private counsellors who take on free work for those on benefits, certainly worth a call Roxi x

alant1000

£40 is definitely the going rate, its not a rip off, its a fair price for someone who has a very tough and stressful job (basically listening to poeples problems all day everyday).

Also bear in mind that the job of a professional councellor is to LISTEN and not give advice, but just guide you along and get all your problems out in the open. What they aren't supposed to do is give you answers to solve your problems, what they can do is help you to learn to cope with problems and deal with things yourself.

mae

bestpud wrote: »

Many private counsellors/psychologists do keep a certain number of reduced rate sessions for those who cannot pay. Have you actually spoken to different ones and asked?

Becoming a fully trained and accredited counsellor is not cheap (I'm talking many thousands!!!) plus, many work on a voluntary basis for years before getting part-time work - and full-time jobs are like gold dust! As a profession, they recieve very little recognition and almost all of them will have put in an awful lot of unpaid hours before getting regular hours. It's not a job for those who want to be rich or make a quick buck!!!

Thank you for this honest and insightful answer. I am a newly qualified counsellor, took me 3 1/2 years and cost a fortune which I fully funded did not get any concessions on the fees. I also had to put in alot of voluntary hours as part of the course and also pay £20 per 8 (free) counsellings hrs I did for my supervision. I am still doing voluntary and paying for my supervision as it is very dificult to get a job without having accreditation which is 450 hrs of counselling which again I will have to pay for the privelidge of being accredited and I have to pay to be a member of BACP and also have to pay for Supervision for all those 450 hours!! I have paid out an absolute fortune and still need to and as yet have not earnt a penny. I am pleased to say though that the upside is I have been able to help many clients who have given me very positive feed back. So you are right this is not a profession to go into if you want to earn a quick buck.. Although I hope one day with experince I will be able to reap some rewards as I am not a saint even though I did choose to go into this profession and I love it unfortulately I cannot do this for free forever I need to earn a living like everyone else.

I am in the process of setting up a free counselling service which takes alot of my time and actually costs me for example I need insurance and then all the costs I have already mentioned.

I wish the OP luck with her search for affordable to her counselling and I hope it helps.

cattie

bestpud wrote: »

Becoming a fully trained and accredited counsellor is not cheap (I'm talking many thousands!!!) plus, many work on a voluntary basis for years before getting part-time work - and full-time jobs are like gold dust! As a profession, they recieve very little recognition and almost all of them will have put in an awful lot of unpaid hours before getting regular hours. It's not a job for those who want to be rich or make a quick buck!!!

I have to disagree about the thousands of pounds part. I trained & qualified as a person centred counsellor some years ago as there was a particular group of people I wished to work with.

The field of counselling is actually too overloaded with people wanting to train, so many see it as an easy way to make a living and alas many of them are totally unsuited to such sensitive work. Also there is a lot of competition for the voluntary work necessary to qualify, as there are far too many people chasing each vacancy.

You've only got to listen to the news for when some minor disaster happens & they announce that hundreds of counsellors are standing by to help. If there are so many standing by just waiting for somebody to counsel, then why aren't they willing to help the ordinary person at a reasonable rate when that person is in need?

mae

cattie wrote: »

I have to disagree about the thousands of pounds part. I trained & qualified as a person centred counsellor some years ago as there was a particular group of people I wished to work with.

The field of counselling is actually too overloaded with people wanting to train, so many see it as an easy way to make a living and alas many of them are totally unsuited to such sensitive work. Also there is a lot of competition for the voluntary work necessary to qualify, as there are far too many people chasing each vacancy.

You've only got to listen to the news for when some minor disaster happens & they announce that hundreds of counsellors are standing by to help. If there are so many standing by just waiting for somebody to counsel, then why aren't they willing to help the ordinary person at a reasonable rate when that person is in need?

I am surprised at this if you have trained as a person centred counsellor and you don't think it is expensive. How much did the course cost you and how many years did it take you?

Yes it is a very hard profession to get into as the competition is fierce but I feel this is the case with many jobs and if you keeping putting in the work I believe you will get the job you want.

I presume if you are fully qualified, given your view that you still counsel people voluntary so people who can't afford it can get your help??

ixwood

I never knew it was an expensive commerical thing.

And they don't offer solutions? It's an expensive listen IMO!

Although, if it works, then it'll have been worth it.

Maybe you should both start a thread on here instead..

Kimitatsu

£40 to save your relationship???? :rolleyes:

I would think you would be begging to sign on the dotted line! :eek:

The average divorce is £15,000 for that you could have had 375 hours of counselling (thats one a week for over 7 years) sorted out loads of issues and still come away with the girl you must love to have bought a house with, no emotional scars and the equity in your house.

Personally I think its a bit of a bargain. :cool:

You are also very lucky that they do not have a waiting list, many relate centres have an at least 6 week waiting list. Relate is a charity so all of its overheads such as electricity, professional indemnity insurance, business rates have to come out of that money every week. In the city centre none of that is cheap.

tomstickland

£30-40 an hour is a perfectly reasonable rate IMO.

cattie

mae wrote: »

I presume if you are fully qualified, given your view that you still counsel people voluntary so people who can't afford it can get your help??

I work for free with bereaved people, particularly those who have lost a child, which I have done myself. This was my sole reason for wanting to train as opposed to wanting to actually earn money from it.

Sometimes when you've been through a dreadful tragedy in life, you just want to try to give something back to others who you can truly empathise with, when you manage to come through it.