Written by Simon Hughes
At Hope Therapy and Counselling Services, we want to ensure that counselling is affordable for those who may otherwise struggle to access it and take pride in contributing to the next generation of counsellors.
What is a trainee counsellor
Our counsellors at Hope have completed robust training to be a counsellor, which is typically a minimum of four years. They are members of professional bodies such as NCPS or the BACP that ensure they counsel ethically, safely, and competently.
In that final year of training, trainees are required to have a counselling placement in which they conduct at least 100 supervised sessions of counselling. Beginning in May, Hope are welcoming a number of experienced trainee counsellors to the team who we have vetted and got to know as individuals.
If you’d like to know more about the individual trainees on the team, do book in for a call and we’d be happy to send you some profiles:
Benefits of seeing a trainee counsellor
Cost
Trainees are able to offer counselling at a reduced rate of £20 less a session. The session fee is being used to recruit a trainer to guide our trainees and ensure they offer you the best possible service for your needs at an accessible rate.
Convenience
Our trainees will be conducting sessions remotely e.g. through Google Meets or phone, which means you can speak with them from the comfort of your own home and don’t need to travel. This can help with the anxieties of navigating a new space, and help settle us into a first session. Research since covid has also consistently proved remote counselling to be as good as face to face.
Diverse Approaches
Our trainees come from a range of different ages, walks of life, backgrounds and approaches to therapy.
They can offer Counselling approaches such as CBT, Person Centred, Psychodynamic, Gestalt, Existential, Transactional Analysis, Mental Health First Aid, Attachment based therapy, coaching, NLP, and hypnotherapy.
If this list seems confusing, we can talk on a consultation call about the approach that might fit you best and most of our trainees are integrative or pluralistic which means they draw on a range of therapeutic approaches to tailor their support to you.
Our trainees also herald from a diverse range of professional backgrounds and demographics which helps us match you up with someone who is likely to be able to quickly build the rapport needed for therapeutic work.
Supervision
Trainee counsellors are required to have a lot more supervision than qualified counsellors, which means your counsellor will be regularly getting supervision from one of our most experienced supervisors to reflect on the work you do with them.
Reflection
Trainees write confidential case studies, process notes, and journals reflecting on the work they do meaning you are being thought about outside of session, and your counsellor will be considering the best interventions to support your growth.
Training
Our trainees are being freshly taught theories, interventions, and about different issues that bring people to therapy. This can mean you’re getting evidence-based treatments and the latest interventions to support your needs.
What can Trainees support with?
Mental health & emotional wellbeing
- Anxiety and worry
- Low mood and depression
- Stress and overwhelm
- Self-esteem and confidence
- Imposter syndrome
Grief, loss & bereavement
- Bereavement and the loss of a loved one
- Loss through redundancy, relationship breakdown, or significant life change
- Anticipatory grief and supporting those facing serious illness
- Existential questions that arise from loss and change
Identity & relationships
- Gender identity and sexuality
- LGBTQIA+ experiences
- Relationship difficulties
- Family dynamics
- Belonging and identity
- Understanding Neurodivergence
Life challenges
- Life transitions and change
- Personal development
- Finding meaning and direction
Trauma & difficult experiences
- Experiences of abuse or trauma (historical)
- Processing difficult life events
- Building safety and resilience
Some things our trainees cannot support with
In our initial consultation, we will check to make sure our trainees are competent to provide you with counselling that is effective and safe for you. As they are still training, there are a number of things that trainees may not be able to support with
- Face to face counselling
- Couples counselling
- Support for clients under the age of 18
- Clients who have been coping through self-harm or active suicidal ideation within the last 6 months
- Certain more specialist therapeutic interventions e.g. EMDR in trauma work
- Certain presenting issues that need more established counsellors to support with
- Some trainees may not have training with working with certain demographics of people e.g. specialist neuroaffirming training that some have and others do not.
How to proceed with working with one of our trainee counsellors
Book in for a free consultation with one of the team at Hope. We will hear a little about what you’re looking for support with, and if we have a trainee counsellor on the team who is able to offer you support.
After you have registered with us, we’ll just need to go through a contract with you and then we’ll get you live and you should hear from your trainee counsellor within 48 hours.
Trainees will be going live in May 2026, but you are welcome to sign up from now.