Any Counsellors in the house?

[Peaceseeker]

I currently work in the voluntary sector, and my job is pretty unstable as everything relies on yearly funding.
I'm pretty much unqualified, but I think I'd like to get into counselling and start up on my own. I just wondered if anyone here has any experience that could help me out, I've done a lot of research, but most of the info I've found is conflicting and confusing!

:blush:

[Miss Understood]

I'm not a counsellor myself, but I recently worked with someone who was one in his spare time.

You say you're unqualified, well, in order to be 'accredited' as it were, the chap I worked with spent a year or so gaining recognised qualifications in his spare time which then enabled him to set up in practice as a side line. however, he did find it didn't bring in quite as much business to enable him to 'give up the day job' as it were. But then he freely admits he didn't pursue it as hard as he could have done.

I sympathise with posts in the voluntary sector struggling with funding.

But, maybe you could find another charity or something that would take you and perhaps pay for your formal training?

[Neighboured]

You will need formal training and qualifications.

These are not only to look after your clients but to look after you, too.

These links might help:-

www.bacp.co.uk/education/training.html (http://www.bacp.co.uk/education/training.html)

www.le.ac.uk/ad/counselling/training.html (http://www.le.ac.uk/ad/counselling/training.html)

http://www.relate.org.uk/workforrelate/becomeacounsellor/

[sapphirelily10]

You might want to check out RSA qualifications in therapeutic counselling/counselling skills. There is an absolute glut out there of training that is not widely recognised or valued (and some of it is a down-right rip-off). Check with your local technical college what they offer for a good basic start - and it won't be an arm and a leg :)

Sapph :)

[Peaceseeker]

Thanks guys, I've looked at the BACP stuff and also COSCA (Scottish equivalent) I've been told that to be able to call yourself a "counsellor" you have to be accredited, however I've also found conflicting information that says there is no regulation on counsellors/therapists and that basically any one of us could set up tomorrow as a counsellor with no formal qualifications!
To go the "official" route and go for the diploma I have worked out would set me back around £4k and take about 4 years, what I'm wondering is, if I could do a cheaper non-accredited course to start off with and work towards an accreditation while I'm practicing.
I know it sounds like a bit of a short cut route, but I truly believe that counselling would be something I would have a natural ability for, and time is against me, I'm in constant fear of redundancy with nothing to fall back on! :bigeyes:

[Peaceseeker]

Thanks Banana, I understand your concerns, but herein lies the confusion! Unaccredited is not the same as unqualified - looking at it closely, although both BACP and COSCA will try and persuade you that accreditation with them is the only way to go, it's really a licence for them to print money, not only do you have to pay through the teeth to do their accredited courses, you also have to pay them significant amounts to actually use the accreditation and to be affiliated!!
There are lots and lots of counselling training courses out there that are not accredited but on the face of it seem almost identical in content, it is also my intention to gain experience as a volunteer (supervised of course!) and work towards my accreditation as budgets allow!
I should have also said that the kind of counselling I intend to practice in the long term would be quite specialised in one area which I already have several years of (non-qualified) experience in.