getting involved in counselling

W

woddle

Registered User
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I recently have been going through some marriage difficulties, but with the help of marriage councelling, I can see a future in this marriage again, I have now become interested in the marriage councelling as a job, does anybody know what path I must follow
 
You could start by contacting the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy; their website is at [broken link removed], telephone 353 1 2723427
 
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Re: getting involved in councelling

No offence intended but many people who become counsellors bring a lot of their own baggage to the table. If you are serious then you should take the time (years) to get a general degree and then specialise in marriage counselling. As a counsellor you have to be in a position to offer constructive impartial advice but you also have to be able to pick up other underlying problems, which may require medical attention. In these cases you also have to know how to refer your client on.
Many counsellors do more hard than good. Many people go to their GP for counselling. This can also be a mistake.
 
Re: getting involved in councelling

PURPLE IS SPOT ON. No offence intended either. It is a very complex area and a good counsellor needs a lot of "life EXPERIENCES" WHICH YOU NEED TO ACQUIRE FIRST .If you are really serious try to get that experience through ACTIVELINK.IE. and/or arrange an appt with your marriage counsellor and ask his/her advice first
 
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Re: getting involved in councelling

The whole area of amateur, untrained and/or what I would term "dodgy training course" counsellors is a serious problem for those who are unfortunate enough to use these so-called counsellors.

To the OP, I would say, be very very careful of what you are doing if you follow this route. If you make mistakes in the advice and guidance you give, you will unwittingly and unintentionally (but inevitably) harm people, and you might end up ruining their lives. This is one area of life that is best left to the professionals - whatever their own faults, at least they are legally and professionally accountable for their actions and advice.
 
Re: getting involved in councelling


I did a counselling diploma a number of years ago. More for self development than anything else. Of the 15 people in the class I'd say 7 or 8 had serious problems whether emotional or mental health issues. Some of these people set themselves up as "counsellors" on completing the course. I pity anybody who'd go to them with a problem!

ETA I know thare are well trained Counsellors and Psycotherapists our there too.
 
Have a look at NUI Maynooths Cert in Counselling Skills - foundation level, offered at many of campus locations throughout ireland. It's a good taster, and will help you judge if counselling is what you really want to study.

[broken link removed]
 
Number one, as far as I know counsellors do not give advice, they are a sounding board for their clients and the clients makes his/her own
decisions and choices.

If you are interested first of all do a part time course in Counselling Skills, Psychology, Listening or some thing similar and see if you think you may like it or not.

To become an accredited counsellor you then would need to do a degree course which part time takes 3 to 5 years depending on placement hours etc and costs approx 4000 easily per year, this would not include your own therapy and supervision which you have to pay for separately!
Websites of interest:
[broken link removed]
www.tivoliinstitute.com
www.iacp.ie
www.iahip.ie


Hope they help!
 
footsteps said:
Number one, as far as I know counsellors do not give advice, they are a sounding board for their clients and the clients makes his/her own decisions and choices.
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That is what they should do but it is not what always happens.
They should also be able to pick up underlying problems. Depression, addiction, other mental heath problems as well as physical health problems for which psychological problems can be symptomatic all fall within this category. Everything from renal disorders to cancer to syphilis can have psychological symptoms. Without the correct training this will not be detected and the client will not be referred on to the correct party.
 
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