If you're a student studying on a nationally recognised diploma or equivalent course and interested in what we have to offer our trainees on placement, please see below for more information. If you meet our criteria and wish to apply, application forms are below for you to complete and return via post or email (the details for this are on the forms!)

 

No two placements will be the same, and just like people differ, so do agencies. We think placements need to be the right fit, and try to establish this early on in our application process. 

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A general overview

We take a whole person approach to mental health and wellbeing, not only with our clients, but in all aspects of the services we provide. We are big on autonomy and personal responsibility, encouraging our trainees to manage their own caseload and take as much of a lead in their client work as they feel comfortable with. We are of course on hand to help as much (or as little) as you need, but our aim is for you to build your confidence, so you feel ready to step into the world of counselling on qualification, whether that means starting your own private practice, or advocating for your services in a bigger environment, such as a school or wider mental health provision. 

 

We work exclusively with adults experiencing a range of mental health difficulties and common life problems. We work on a low-cost basis and don’t currently have any limitations on the number of sessions that we offer to clients, which means you get to experience building relationships with clients of varying lengths and managing a caseload more similar to that a private practitioner might expect. 

 

What we are looking for

We exclusively seek students who are interested in working relationally, training in either person-centred, integrative or pluralistic ways of working, and with an interest in the significance of what’s going on in the relationship between client and counsellor, rather than intervention-based ways of working.

 

We also only take on students who have experience of having counselling as a client prior to undertaking their studies, as we find this builds a greater awareness of power dynamics and the intense vulnerability of a client’s experience, without already having counselling knowledge alongside therapeutic support. 

 

Before you start seeing clients you will need:

• To be a member of a regulatory body, such as BACP, UKCP or NCPS.

• To be registered with the Information Commissioners Office for GDPR and data protection purposes.

• An Enhanced DBS Disclosure (which we can arrange for you)

• Public liability and professional indemnity insurance

• A private supervisor to offer 1-1 sessions in addition to the supervision we provide.

• To be ‘fit for practice’, confirmed by your training provider.

 

We provide during your training:

• Group supervision once per month with our Agency Supervisor. This is on a Friday afternoon and attendance is mandatory (you will need to top this up with private supervision to meet professional standards/training provider requirements).

• Agency check ins and line management support, as well as a full bank of policies in place to support your client work.

• An agency report for your training provider requirements.

• Further support as needed, both professionally with client work and personally with your self-development