Placements with a real difference
We are a highly unique placement provider, and strongly believe in providing only the highest quality of placements for students, in order to ensure our clients receive the best experience of counselling.
Within this, we have set the highest example to fellow placement providers since 2022, when we started to pay our students for their sessions with our clients.
Our Founding Managing Director and Clinical Lead now advocates on a national level for students to be paid for their clinical hours whilst on placement, as well as for qualified counsellors and psychotherapists to be paid appropriately. She additionally acts as an adviser many other placement providers who are following our lead and adopting a policy of payment for their students, as well as robust requirements for both students and training colleges.
What can students and training colleges expect from a placement with our service?
- We provide clear policies and procedures from the outset of the placement, and a thorough induction into our service with Senior members of our team.
- We pay our students the minimum wage for all counselling sessions.
- We provide consulting rooms for counselling sessions, free of charge, for a specific clinic time each week.
- Students will complete their placement hours alongside a range of professionals working within our service, and with our Centre Manager attending the premises during the clinic time.
- We provide fortnightly group supervision at a vastly reduced rate of £20 per 2 hour supervision session (based on 4 students).
- Our supervisors are BACP / UKCP accredited Counsellors / Psychotherapists, who have completed post graduate level, BACP approved Individual and Group Supervision training, and meet the standards set out by reputable training colleges.
- We provide our students with a maximum of 3 weekly, face to face, clients as well as active support from a Supervisor to build up their caseload during the first 1-2 months of placement.
- Should a client move to fortnightly sessions, we will endeavour to provide an additional fortnightly client to ensure 3 weekly sessions for the student.
- All clients working with students are fully assessed by the Clinical Lead, or nominated Senior Counsellor, prior to allocation.
- We provide access for students to our CPD programme, which includes real time workshops and on demand recorded training in key areas of practice.
In partnership
In line with our industry move towards higher standards, and ultimately the regulation of counselling and psychotherapy, we have taken the decision to actively support programmes who meet the highest standards within their training programmes.
This includes an assurance of students having fully engaged in 1:1 personal therapy as part of their training programme, and having been appropriately assessed by the training college as being competent to work with clients, before they commence applying for a placement.
As a result, we have chosen that we will limit our placement provision to students from the following training colleges:
- West Sussex Counselling Training
- East Sussex College
- University of Chichester
- Varndean College, Brighton
- CPTA, Brighton
- University of Brighton (both modalities and also the additional Masters qualification)
- University of Roehampton
Our requirements of students and training colleges
To be considered for a placement, or to agree for us to become a recognised placement provider, students and training colleges must be able to:
- Provide written confirmation that the student is attending weekly personal therapy during the placement OR that the student will continue to attend weekly personal therapy during placement, and has already been engaged in this therapy for a minimum of 10 weeks immediately prior to applying for placement.
- Provide written confirmation that the student will remain on placement for the full academic year (Oct - May / June), even if they have achieved their required hours earlier than the placement end date.
- Ensure that the student does not require a period of leave which is longer than 2 weeks in total, during the placement period.
- Provide written confirmation that the student is able to attend fortnightly group supervision, at the stipulated time provided by our supervisors. This is currently a Friday afternoon.
- Provide written confirmation that the student is reliably able to attend a weekly clinic time - the student will be supported to find a mutually appropriate working time by our Centre Manager.
- Produce copies of confirmation of the student's ICO membership, and insurance for practice.
- Complete documentation to confirm a three way agreement between student, training college and placement, with a mid point review and a commitment to ensuring a fully transparent agreement between all parties throughout the period of placement.
- Complete documentation in agreement that student feedback will be provided to the placement at the end of the placement period.
In addition:
The student will also be required to attend an interview with the Clinical Lead and an additional Supervisor, where proof of ID will be required, along with a copy of an up to date DBS certificate.
