When choosing someone to work with it can feel overwhelming. There are so many people out there calling themselves counsellors, psychotherapists, therapists and psychoanalysts, it can be difficult to know where to start. In this post I want to share a little bit about the different training that counsellors and psychotherapists receive and clear up a few misconceptions.
Confusion
Firstly, the hard truth. In the current situation in the UK anyone can call and market themselves as a counsellor or psychotherapist. It is not a registered title. This means that the only way to be sure that someone has been appropriately trained is to check that they are members of a registration scheme accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. The three main registers that most people turn to are the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the British Psychoanalytic Council.
Secondly – just to confuse things further – regardless of training, experience or the scope of the work, many people in the UK use the term counsellor and counselling to describe any form psychological help or process.
A way forward?
Helpfully, the Partnership of Psychotherapy and Counselling Bodies, a collaboration between a number of registering bodies accredited by the PSA, has created a framework defining the training, competence, and practice standards for counsellors and psychotherapists working with adults in the UK. Divided into only 3 categories (A, B, & C), it is hoped that this will be simpler to navigate than the varied titles currently used by counsellors and psychotherapists.
The full document, called ‘SCoPEd’, describes these three categories of training and experience. It is comprehensive and somewhat technical – it is really intended for the providers of counselling and psychotherapy training. However, I hope here to give a brief guide so that, by asking a potential counsellor or psychotherapist about their SCoPEd category, you will have a good idea about their professional background.
Comparison
| Column A | Column B | Column C | |
| Possible titles | Counsellor | Counsellor, Psychotherapeutic Counsellor | Psychotherapist, Psychoanalyst, Analytical Psychologist |
| Minimum length of training | 2 years | 3 years | 4 years |
| Supervised practice during training | 100 hours | 450 hours | 450 hours |
| Minimum academic level achieved | Level 4 (Higher National Certificate, NVQ4, Diploma or Certificate) | Level 4 – 7 (as before, up to Masters or equivalent) | Level 7 (Masters or equivalent) |
| Mental health familiarisation | Not a requirement | Yes | Yes |
| Minimum therapy during training | Not a requirement | 105 hours | 160 – 1000 hours depending on type of therapy |
| Typical roles | A counsellor working with common mental health difficulties and life challenges in structured, regularly-supervised practice. | An experienced therapist, working with more complex difficulties with increasing independence. | An experienced and specialist therapist, potentially working with long-term and enduring difficulties with a high level of autonomy. Often involved in teaching or supervising others. |
Choosing a therapist
Ultimately, we cannot know how our therapy will unfold until we have spent some time with our therapist. However, we can take measures to help us get off to a good start. A therapist should always be happy to share a little about their training and experience with you and be able to tell you which of the above categories they sit in. However, this is not everything. You need to have a sense that this is someone you could work with, even when things get tricky. Counselling and psychotherapy are not always plain sailing and you need to feel you can trust the person you are sitting with to have your best interests at heart, even if they sometimes challenge you.
If you are interested in exploring therapy with me in-person or online, contact me here.
