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1/ Volunteering in counselling:
The 1st thing to say on this topic is that counsellors who CHOSE to volunteer for charities/orgs because they have the time & financial resources to do so, are doing something lovely.
But, volunteer work in #counselling isn’t that straightforward
The 1st thing to say on this topic is that counsellors who CHOSE to volunteer for charities/orgs because they have the time & financial resources to do so, are doing something lovely.
But, volunteer work in #counselling isn’t that straightforward
2/ Volunteering in counselling is often not a choice. Counsellors are often required to work for free in order to gain a requisite number of hours for accreditation
Q: Why is this accreditation so important?
A: Because many paid jobs are only available for accredited counsellors
Q: Why is this accreditation so important?
A: Because many paid jobs are only available for accredited counsellors
3/ This means qualified counsellors who’ve completed their training are being exploited by charities & organisations. These orgs get away with not paying their workforce by relying on therapists needing to build up client hours so they can apply for accreditation and paid jobs.
4/ Qualified counsellors who’ve spent years paying for training, find themselves fully qualified but still in a position of having to work for free. Too often, the choice is between doing this, or setting up in private practice, which is expensive to do & offers uncertain income.
5/ This volunteering cycle is kept going by:
charities and organisations who don’t pay their counsellors
counselling membership bodies who don’t advocate for paid work for ALL qualified members
charities and organisations who don’t pay their counsellors counselling membership bodies who don’t advocate for paid work for ALL qualified members
6/ Often, it’s argued that a lack of government funding provision for mental health services means counsellors HAVE to work for free in order to make sure services can continue.
But where’s the incentive for the government to fund services, if they can rely on this cycle?
But where’s the incentive for the government to fund services, if they can rely on this cycle?
7/ Why are counsellors being left to carry the guilt and burden of having to be the only link in the mental health service chain that doesn’t get paid for their time and skills?
The culture of volunteering in counselling is too often unhealthy, but packaged as being necessary.
The culture of volunteering in counselling is too often unhealthy, but packaged as being necessary.
8/ What’s necessary, is that counsellors have the right to CHOSE whether or not they volunteer. They shouldn’t have to do this in order to progress their careers or access paid employment.
9/ The result of this volunteer culture is those counsellors who can’t afford to work for free are at risk of being restricted from progressing within the profession. Naturally, this further fuels elitism & inequality.
#counselling #volunteering #TherapistsConnect #TraineeTalk
#counselling #volunteering #TherapistsConnect #TraineeTalk
I also need to add it should be *choose* not *chose* - twitter really needs an edit feature for spelling corrections!
