Employment

Once qualified, you will face many decisions about where to go next.

Miriam James is a BACP Accredited counsellor and weighs up the options of setting up in private practice versus working within an agency  as well as giving general advice on finding a job.

If you are currently looking for a job you may want to check BACP's jobsonline  section (BACP members only).

More information on counselling careers .

Further Training and CPD

Once you have completed your course whether it be a Diploma, Degree or Postgraduate qualification, you may want to go on to do further training.

You may decide to work within a specific sector and so after your general counselling and psychotherapy qualification you could go on to complete a course such as addiction or bereavement counselling.

BACP is committed to Continued Professional Development and has introduced online learning modules so members and non-members can fulfill their CPD requirements. A range of topics will be covered and you can work through them in your own time. You can even start a module and save part way through to return to it at a later date.

Post regualtion all counsellors and psychotherapists will need to comply with the CPD requirements of the HPC.

CPD and online learning modules

BACP Membership and Accreditation

"Membership brings me within a community of people who care about their 'profession' and their clients"

Individual Member £152.00

If you have successfully completed and graduated from a minimum of a one year full time or two year part time counselling and/or psychotherapy qualification that included a supervised placement with a minimum of 100 contact/client hours as an integral part of the course you are eligible to join BACP as an Individual Member.

You will then have 12 months to progress to the Registered Member MBACP category.

Accreditation

Accreditation enables clients, employers and colleagues to recognise proven, competent practitioners. This means that the selection of a counsellor or therapist can be based on an informed choice rather than speculation. To date, BACP has accredited over 8,000 counsellors and psychotherapists.

To become accredited, you must provide enough evidence to show that you can meet each criterion and that you can meet the overall standard for the scheme.

You will need an application pack to apply for accreditation. The pack contains an application form and information to help you make your application. Even if you are not ready to apply, the pack will show you what is required to be accredited (we recommend that you keep a pack for guidance when you start working towards your accreditation).

Accreditation Application

Accreditation Guide