Financial pressures are creating significant barriers for people training to become counsellors, according to research we funded.

The study explored the costs of training and the challenges trainees faced in progressing into paid employment, including unpaid placements, course fees and other expenses.

Published as an open access paper, it drew on interviews with 30 trainee counsellors from across the UK.

The project was one of three supported through our research grants programme, which shared a total of £120,000.

Clare Symons, our Head of Research, said:

“High quality, independent, peer-reviewed empirical research strengthens the evidence base for counselling and psychotherapy and underpins our wider work to inform the development of the field.

“We developed our research grant programme to commission projects that directly address our research priorities. Supporting research like this helps us to credibly represent what we already know from members about the realities of entering the counselling profession and provides robust evidence that shapes the future of training and the profession.”

The financial realities of counsellor training

The researchers found that many trainee counsellors completed lengthy unpaid placements while balancing paid employment and the rising cost of living.

Alongside course fees, participants described the costs of supervision, mandatory personal therapy, insurance, travel and equipment. Some also needed to create private spaces at home to work safely with clients.

Many trainees said they relied on savings, partners or family support to continue their training, while others worked multiple jobs alongside unpaid placements to cover the costs.

Some participants also described continuing to volunteer after qualifying to gain the experience needed to secure their first paid counselling role, extending the time before they could earn a living from the profession.

Barriers to entering the counselling profession

The researchers suggested these financial pressures could create barriers to entering and remaining in the profession, particularly for people from lower-income and underrepresented backgrounds.

Dr Mariya Ivancheva, one of the study’s authors, said:

“This research shows how financial pressures can shape the experience of becoming a counsellor, from the costs of training through to the challenge of finding paid work after qualifying.

“It’s important that we look at these issues not only from trainees’ perspectives, but also understand how educators, regulators and placement providers are experiencing the growing pressures on the system.

“We’re continuing this work by exploring those perspectives and are also developing a follow-up project comparing placement-based learning in teaching, nursing and counselling. Our aim is to identify and share good practice across these professions and help inform more supportive approaches to placement-based training.”

Research informing workforce planning

Jennifer Smith, Parliamentary and Public Affairs Officer, said:

“This gives us an important evidence base to support what our members have been telling us about the financial pressures involved in training and establishing a career in counselling.

“People from all backgrounds should have a fair opportunity to enter the profession and progress into sustainable careers. Addressing financial barriers will be important if we want to build a diverse and sustainable workforce with the capacity to meet future demand for counselling and psychotherapy.

“We expect the Commission for the Future of Counselling and Psychotherapy’s findings and recommendations, due later this year, to help inform conversations about the future of the profession, including training, employment and workforce planning.”

Read the research

The study, Free labour and precarity in mental health provision: trainee counsellors’ experiences across the UK, is available to read as an open access article.

References

Published in The Sociological Review. The authors are Jennifer O’Neil (Edinburgh Napier University, Business School) and Mariya P. Ivancheva (University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Education).