Looking Back - Counselling Skills

When I look back at how I got here, the next opportunity following the A level in Psychology was an introduction to counselling skills course run at the local college. This was much more akin to what I had expected of the psychology course - Practical skills that can be used in normal life or in a professional environment.

The students were a mixed bunch (many of them were in need of counselling – so it made for good practical sessions), but I got lots out of the course. Much of it was inward looking.

As an introduction to counselling skills course it was not designed to make a counsellor out of me. Just give me enough to make the next step to train as a counsellor.

I work full time. The counselling course required an afternoon and an evening a week. That would have been manageable if I could shift my hours around at work. But working in the financial services industry didn’t give me the necessary practical hours I would need. Many of the delegates were already working for charities or paid employment where counselling was seen as an advantage. I would need to take on some voluntary work too. I decided that it was too difficult to fit the hours in my week without giving up some of my leisure time or sacrificing salary. Looking back, I could have done it if I really wanted to.

See previous looking back post