The Counselling Profession
So to be a therapist, a qualified one at least, it takes YEARS of training. As it should do. I mean your essentially paying someone to explore the inner workings of your mind. To discuss with you, your deepest, darkest, scariest, quirkiest thoughts. The thoughts you feel like you can't tell anyone. The thoughts you think make you sound crazy or would change people's opinions of you. Those thoughts.
I started my road to qualifying in 2012 and passed my foundation degree in 2017. That's 5 years of study working my way from level 2 through to level 5. That wasn't enough for me though, I needed to keep learning and growing and developing, so I continued on to do a further degree and achieved a level 6 qualification (a BSc with honours), I swore I would never study another day in my life as I sat writing my dissertation and within five hours of handing it in, I had signed up for the masters in psychological trauma. I'm either passionate or a glutton for punishment, at this point I am not sure which? Perhaps an element of both applies?!
Different people study and achieve in different ways. Some study for weeks on end, read thousands of books, spend endless nights completing assignments and neglecting sleep. I am not one of these people. Over the years of studying, I have realised that my very best work is achieved in a blind and frantic panic hours before the deadline.
The downside of this approach is that the more I do well, the closer to the deadline I seem to be before I start any work. I like the thrill and the rush that comes with the sheer panic days before the deadline when I'm staring at a blank page wishing I would have started weeks ago and ultimately knowing I will make the deadline. That feeling when the assignment is handed in, completed, done with, is the best!
I rave about my passion for my work, i advocate for people and their emotional health and wellbeing however there is something fundamentally frustrating and terrifying about my profession.... it is not regulated. You do not have to have completed any qualification or an ounce of personal development to call yourself a counsellor or a therapist.
Shocked? So was I!
So what can we do about it?
Well there are many who are working to get this changed to ensure that the profession is regulated, that titles are protected to ensure transparency and client safety. These things take time. You can help though by spreading the word about what to look for in a counsellor/therapist.
Qualifications
Experience
CPD
Memberships
Personal Development
Boundaries
An ethical framework
Don’t be afraid to ask for the best. you deserve it!
I started my road to qualifying in 2012 and passed my foundation degree in 2017. That's 5 years of study working my way from level 2 through to level 5. That wasn't enough for me though, I needed to keep learning and growing and developing, so I continued on to do a further degree and achieved a level 6 qualification (a BSc with honours), I swore I would never study another day in my life as I sat writing my dissertation and within five hours of handing it in, I had signed up for the masters in psychological trauma. I'm either passionate or a glutton for punishment, at this point I am not sure which? Perhaps an element of both applies?!
Different people study and achieve in different ways. Some study for weeks on end, read thousands of books, spend endless nights completing assignments and neglecting sleep. I am not one of these people. Over the years of studying, I have realised that my very best work is achieved in a blind and frantic panic hours before the deadline.
The downside of this approach is that the more I do well, the closer to the deadline I seem to be before I start any work. I like the thrill and the rush that comes with the sheer panic days before the deadline when I'm staring at a blank page wishing I would have started weeks ago and ultimately knowing I will make the deadline. That feeling when the assignment is handed in, completed, done with, is the best!
I rave about my passion for my work, i advocate for people and their emotional health and wellbeing however there is something fundamentally frustrating and terrifying about my profession.... it is not regulated. You do not have to have completed any qualification or an ounce of personal development to call yourself a counsellor or a therapist.
Shocked? So was I!
So what can we do about it?
Well there are many who are working to get this changed to ensure that the profession is regulated, that titles are protected to ensure transparency and client safety. These things take time. You can help though by spreading the word about what to look for in a counsellor/therapist.
Qualifications
Experience
CPD
Memberships
Personal Development
Boundaries
An ethical framework
Don’t be afraid to ask for the best. you deserve it!