The Student Room Group
Reply 1

All depends on what type of counselling that you want to go into.

I think the basic qualification that you can do is a Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy, and that'll make you basically qualified... but the more qualifications and letters you have the better really, if you want people to come to your door.

for alevels:

Psychology and Philosophy are two subjects that would be good for you.
Psychology for obvious reasons, how the brain/mind works etc etc.... Philosophy is good because it'll make you think about ethics and enable you to help a client to look beyond the question or problem that they may be having difficulties with. Existentialism is really interesting.

Sociology might be a good choice too, as that'll give you an insight into all the cultural implications that might affect how a person thinks/acts and behaves. such as religion/media and the importance of family structures and a smidgen of anthropology as well.

Drama would be good for the confidence of speaking to people, and if you wanted to be a cognitive behavioural therapist, it would give you a good range of skills for various therapies....

at degree level theres Psychology and Counselling degrees which would be a good place to start. Theres a person on here under the username ~sweetness~ who is studying that. she might be able to provide you with more answers....


Do you know what type of counselling you'd like to do?
Reply 2
I'm not intending to tak any of those A-levels hmmm so perhaps couselling wouldn't be for me. I would really like to take philospohy n ethics but my school doesn't do it which is a bummer. Basically i wanna do counselling cos the thing best at is listening but i know there's a lot more to it than that. well i'm keeping my options open i just wanna see where I stand when it comes to couselling which doesn't look very high! haha ta anyway
Reply 3

all depends on the degree you take really.
Reply 4
i think you just need to do the diploma in counselling and you don't really need any particular alevels or degree to do this, so i would do a level subjects that you enjoy and choose a degree that you would be good at. if you want to do it, then you should go for it. however it can be hard to get good paid jobs as a counsellor as a lot of the posts are voluntary but there are jobs available. i think psychicatry pays more but i don't know how the qualifications vary
Reply 5
mojo_06
however it can be hard to get good paid jobs as a counsellor as a lot of the posts are voluntary but there are jobs available. i think psychicatry pays more but i don't know how the qualifications vary


Psychiatry is a medical specialty.
= requires a medical degree (~5 years in the UK, A levels you'd need Chemistry & Biology for most courses), then foundation/registration years as a junior doctor (~2years at the moment), then specialist training (variable!) with Royal College exams. :smile:

Re counselling - the British Psychological Society have a section on their website re. being a Counselling Psychologist - what the job entails, entry routes, gaining relevant experience, pay, jobs, further links.