FAQs

All the courses listed in this section have been awarded either accredited, advanced specialist or quality checked recognition by the National Counselling Society. The Society cannot recommend a specific training provider or course and we advise you to take time to research all courses to help you make a decision.

We would advise you to contact the training provider you are interested in – they can advise on any grants or funding that may be available.

There are many different approaches to counselling and as many routes to becoming a counsellor. This is reflected in the large variety of courses that are available. If you know what you want to do in the future, find out what qualifications you will ultimately need and then work back from there. For example what type of clients do you want to work with? Do you want to work full time or part time? Do you want to work in private practice or another forum?

Counselling is not regulated in the UK and there are currently no plans for statutory regulation so there are no ‘regulated’ courses as such. Professional bodies like the NCS recognise some courses as being safe, ethical and delivered in a competent fashion, and as providing their graduates with enough training to join their Accredited Register of practitioners. Our register is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, providing an additional assurance of quality.