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PWP/Counselling/Psychology

Hi,

I'm currently looking at some options after studying an undergraduate course in healthcare. I'm interested in Psychology +/- counselling (huge difference!).

What would be my steps to becoming a counsellor? I understand there are other roles such as PWP, what is recommended?

Any advice regarding counselling/IAPT/PWP would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Reply 1

Nerol

Original post by Sunflowerblue

Hi,
I'm currently looking at some options after studying an undergraduate course in healthcare. I'm interested in Psychology +/- counselling (huge difference!).
What would be my steps to becoming a counsellor? I understand there are other roles such as PWP, what is recommended?
Any advice regarding counselling/IAPT/PWP would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Possible routes could be:

A conversion masters degree in psychology and then further training after that, such as PWP training.

You could train as a counsellor by doing a level 3 counselling skills course, followed by a level 4 or 5 diploma - you can look at local colleges for these.

Once you are a qualified PWP or counsellor, you can look into further training in other therapies, such as training as a high intensity therapist.

You will need relevant work experience for any of these routes as well. Also, these are not the only ways to go, so it might be worth doing further research.

My route started with a psychology and counselling degree, then trained as a counsellor by completing level 3 and 4 qualifications, then trained as a high intensity therapist. I am now an accredited CBT therapist. I worked in relevant roles along the way, such as support worker on a mental health ward, drug and alcohol recovery worker, and assistant psychologist.

I hope this helps!

Reply 2

Sunflowerblue

Original post by Nerol

Possible routes could be:

A conversion masters degree in psychology and then further training after that, such as PWP training.

You could train as a counsellor by doing a level 3 counselling skills course, followed by a level 4 or 5 diploma - you can look at local colleges for these.

Once you are a qualified PWP or counsellor, you can look into further training in other therapies, such as training as a high intensity therapist.

You will need relevant work experience for any of these routes as well. Also, these are not the only ways to go, so it might be worth doing further research.
My route started with a psychology and counselling degree, then trained as a counsellor by completing level 3 and 4 qualifications, then trained as a high intensity therapist. I am now an accredited CBT therapist. I worked in relevant roles along the way, such as support worker on a mental health ward, drug and alcohol recovery worker, and assistant psychologist.
I hope this helps!

Hi,

Thanks for your reply I really appreciate it. How did you find the statistics within your psychology degree? Are they doable? I feel this is the only thing that worries me about psych!

Reply 3

Scotland Yard

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by Sunflowerblue

Hi,

Thanks for your reply I really appreciate it. How did you find the statistics within your psychology degree? Are they doable? I feel this is the only thing that worries me about psych!

I'm a mayor statistics hater. Like you have no idea. But I do reasonably well with statistics. Plus, most courses are happy to just teach you how to use statistics rather than make you understand some of the more illogical aspects of statistics, and it's not like A level statistics in which you have to learn all the formulas - you have handy computer programmes that do it for you.

Reply 4

Autumn223

Original post by Sunflowerblue

Hi,
Thanks for your reply I really appreciate it. How did you find the statistics within your psychology degree? Are they doable? I feel this is the only thing that worries me about psych!

A lot of universities have a maths and stats help group (almost like ICT help for when you are stuck!). I was awful at maths, had to work really hard on it at GCSE so was terrified for stats in Uni, but its honestly not the worst thing, there are sections of it that are difficult! But most members of staff should be happy to help out, especially if you have a supervisor!
Definitely wouldn’t let stats put you off doing psychology 😊

Reply 5

CardiffUni Rep 2

Official Rep

Original post by Sunflowerblue

Hi,
I'm currently looking at some options after studying an undergraduate course in healthcare. I'm interested in Psychology +/- counselling (huge difference!).
What would be my steps to becoming a counsellor? I understand there are other roles such as PWP, what is recommended?
Any advice regarding counselling/IAPT/PWP would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Hi there!

Also just wanted to add that many trainee psychology counselling roles such as IAPT and PWP work almost like an apprenticeship - you work while you study. However, you typically don't apply for the course/through the university - you usually apply for it as a job, if that makes sense. It does get quite competitive - and a lot of trainee roles do ask for additional work experience in a caring/similar environment. Sometimes students can take a placement year to develop this experience, or have a year or so of working in a particular role before applying for the trainee role itself.

Also to add that whilst still quite competitive, there are a lot of other types of NHS trainee roles that have a counselling element. I'd recommend having a look at MHWP (mental health wellbeing practitioner) and CWPs (childrens' wellbeing practitioner). There is another trainee role known as CAP (Clinical Associate in Psychology) where you do counselling-related interventions, but often in junction with non-direct work such as service development research.

~ Fatiha, Cardiff University Student Rep

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 6

Nerol

Original post by Sunflowerblue

Hi,
Thanks for your reply I really appreciate it. How did you find the statistics within your psychology degree? Are they doable? I feel this is the only thing that worries me about psych!

That was the thing I worried about, too, but I found the stats fine. There's software that does all the hard work for you, and everything outside of that wasn't too terrifying!

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