Coronavirus Procedures & Standards for Training Providers

The NCS is implementing the following policy for the continuation of placements during the current public health crisis.

Based on the placement provider's individual assessment of each student's safety and competence to transition their current face to face placement work to an online or phone based alternative, the NCS temporarily permits, for the duration of the current public health crisis, placement work to be continued online or by phone.
Trainers may reserve the right not to accept this and this is an individual decision for trainers to make based upon their own assessment of their students and the way in which they wish them to work.
It is particularly important that trainers and placement providers ensure that their students have specific competencies in place to deal with this change in working, that students are well supported, and that students have the right to decline to work in this way without prejudicing either their placement contracts or training outcomes.
It is also important that the decision to change the manner of working is based upon not only an individual student assessment, but also an individual client assessment, and that where it is considered inappropriate for either student or client to work in this way then it should not be permitted.
This policy is based on weighing any increased risk to clients from abruptly halting (or delaying the start of) their counselling against any risks arising from moving the placement counselling relationship away from face to face work. The NCS believes that, provided that placement providers, supported by robust supervision arrangements, are happy to temporarily conduct this work online or by phone, this will be acceptable.
For the avoidance of doubt, placement hours accrued in this way during the current public health crisis will count towards the hours required for registration and accreditation with the NCS.
Trainers are advised that they may accept online or phone based placement hours as part of their training requirements at this time.
Placement providers, trainers and students are advised to check insurance where relevant to ensure that cover is extended to this eventuality. We have been in communication with two of the major insurance providers, both of whom assure the Society that their cover will be applicable, but the onus remains on placement providers and students to check their insurance policies for confirmation.
Consideration should be given to prioritising online video technology (e.g. Zoom) as this may be preferable to phone base counselling in terms of it more nearly replicating the face to face environment.
The NCS will update this policy as required.

This guidance is in addition to our other coronavirus information.

With no clear end to the pandemic in sight, we are aware that some students may reach the end of their core practitioner training without any face to face, ‘in the room’ experience with clients. For the purposes of this guidance we will refer to this method of working as ‘in the room’.

We recognize that providers and students have had to adapt their way of working extraordinarily quickly, and that a great deal of valuable learning has taken place where online and telephone work is concerned. We want to help both training providers and students continue with training and placements as safely and effectively as possible.

We recognize that there is a range of views regarding the differences between traditional in the room counselling and psychotherapy and that provided live via telephone or online via platforms such as Zoom. We feel that some provision should be made for ensuring that students and graduates are fully supported to be able to commence or resume in the room therapy.

This guidance offers recommendations and considerations to ensure that students are confident and competent to work in the room with clients on completion of their training.

It is a condition of registration that a counsellor can practice in the room.

Our underlying principles for training are to support providers in:

• being as flexible as possible while maintaining standards
• acting in the best interest of both students and clients
• ensuring students are competent in online or phone work with additional basic training where necessary
• being flexible and exercising extension policies where appropriate to enable students to complete their 100 placement hours
• ensuring students can sufficiently support clients when transitioning from in the room to remote working, and back (when safe to do so.)

• ensuring students with no in the room client experience are competent to work in this way

Training providers should carry out an assessment to ensure that students who are likely to have completed all of their 100 placement hours remotely are competent to work in the room before they complete their studies.

Suggested options for ways in which this assessment could be done include:

1. Specific criteria within a supervisor’s report

The student’s supervisor could be well placed to understand their ability to work in the room and be given set criteria appropriate to the individual training model to cover in their report. This could constitute good evidence that the student was able to practice in the room.

AND/OR

2. A written assessment devised by the provider

For all cohorts qualifying during the pandemic period, regardless of which option courses choose, we recommend providing students with confirmation that they have been assessed as competent to work in the room with clients. This will help to prevent any issues when the student wishes to apply for registration, as to gain access to the Society’s register does require the ability to work with clients in the room.

Assessment should enable the student to show an understanding of the differences between working in the room and online or over the phone, and in particular:

• an understanding of the therapeutic relationship when the full range of sensory experience is involved

• an understanding of the contextual and practical considerations of working in the room

The following topics are not prescriptive and are intended as guidance regarding what assessors should be looking for. Providers will have their own expertise to bring to this task.

The therapeutic relationship

When the full range of sensory experience is available, the counsellor can pay attention to the client’s overall presentation, including

• posture, dress, smell
• skin tone and breathing patterns
• body language and subtle nonverbal clues

all of which can provide further information about the client and their lifestyle and may influence the process and interventions chosen.

The counsellor should also consider:

• their own body language and non-verbal cues and how these may be interpreted or perceived by the client
• how working in the room can influence the emotional impact of the work on the counsellor
• changes to the power balance as compared to working remotely, for example the client may feel they have more power when online or over the phone, whilst in the room they may feel they have less or vice versa
• the impact on the level of challenge; for example, does the trainee feel as safe to challenge the client when working in the room or conversely, are they more challenging? Do they feel more or less able to take risks in the room?
• the disinhibition effect and the potential for increased or decreased disclosure depending on the client

Contextual and practical considerations

When working in the room the counsellor bears the responsibility for arranging and maintaining the setting and environment. They need to consider:

• contracting awareness of any differences regarding confidentiality and other ethical and professional boundaries when working in the room
• negotiating the physical space, for example positioning of seating
• preparing the room after other counsellors or if the room has been used for other purposes
• the provision of waiting areas
• managing interaction outside the room on the way to a session
• working with disturbance, noise and interruptions by others using the building or counselling rooms
• changes to the consulting room between sessions
• decreased flexibility in the timing and frequency of sessions
• awareness of risk and risk assessment when working in the room, including safety considerations when lone working
• opportunities for more spontaneous and creative interventions in the room, for example use of art materials, chair work

AND/OR

3. A peer counselling model

Students conduct a number of in the room sessions of 50 minutes with the same volunteer client, including a tutor observation of at least one live or recorded session.

Additional guidance if the peer counselling assessment model is used

It is important that:

• sessions are not ‘skills practice’ but are formally contracted sessions
• the sessions are in addition to the core 100 placement hours required for registration
• peer clients come from a different training cohort if possible; student ‘clients’ from the same cohort may be used if this is the only option necessary.
• the limitations of the counselling being offered are made clear and agreed with the peer ‘client’
• social distancing measures are observed