Psychological counselor training

Qualified psychological counselor training can help you build a systematic subject knowledge framework, master basic counseling relationship building and intervention skills, and obtain the necessary compliance training certificates to enter the industry. However, it absolutely cannot allow you to directly become a mature counselor who can practice independently after completing the course, and it is impossible to guarantee that you will "earn more than 10,000 yuan a month" and "free time to make money" after completing the course.

Last year, I helped three friends who wanted to change careers to screen training institutions. Eight of the ten promotional pages dared to write "training practicing consultants in 30 days", which made me dumbfounded. What impressed me the most was a girl who had been working as an HR for 5 years. After she resigned, she signed up for a 999 quick-effect class. After two months of taking the course, she patted her chest and told me, "I can already use Fang Shu Ren to test personality, and I will go to the community for free public welfare consultation next week." I was so frightened that I stopped her quickly - she couldn't even figure out the "exceptions to the confidentiality principle." She would only panic and be at a loss when she met a visitor who said he had suicidal tendencies.

The industry still often quarrels over the training path, and no one can convince anyone: consultants from academic circles always say that "a weak foundation will shake the mountain." People who have never even studied general psychology or developmental psychology are "streaking" when taking on cases. I I did meet a novice before, who received a case of adolescence who was tired of studying. He had never even heard of the concept of "adolescent self-identity". He advised the child, "You must understand that it is not easy for your parents to make money." He broke up with the visitor on the spot and never came back. However, many consultants who have struggled all the way from actual practice feel that there is no need to get stuck in obscure theories at the beginning. They first do simulated cases with mature consultants, and supplementing the theory in practical practice will help them absorb it faster. There is actually nothing wrong with both statements, but they are suitable for different groups of people - if you have graduated with a psychology major, it is absolutely fine to go directly to the school's practical classes. If you are a complete cross-disciplinary person with zero foundation, it is best to spend 3 to 6 months to complete the basic subject knowledge first, and don't just learn some wild way of "solve the problem of the original family in 7 days".

Don't believe the "national certificates" and "practice qualification certificates" boasted by training institutions. After the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security canceled the second- and third-level psychological counselor professional qualification examinations in 2017, all the certificates you can get on the market are essentially "certificates of training qualifications" and have no legal validity. But you don’t have to think that taking the exam is completely useless. Whether you are applying for an online consulting platform or applying for an offline psychological counseling agency, you will be asked to provide proof of system training. These certificates are one of the most direct materials - but you have to understand that it is only a stepping stone to the threshold, and never a guarantee for you to accept cases.

Let’s talk about an open secret in the industry: Consultants in the first three years of entering the industry basically have negative income. Consultants around me who have been practicing for 5 years have invested an average of more than 150,000 yuan in training. Based on personal experience (that is, the consultant acts as a client and seeks out more senior consultants for review) once a week, ranging from 300 to 800 per time. In a year, at least more than 10,000 yuan, plus individual supervision, group supervision, and genre advanced courses, it is normal to spend 30,000 to 40,000 yuan per year in the first two years of the industry. Don't believe that "you can earn more than 10,000 a month part-time after studying." For novice consultants who have just entered the industry, the case fee is mostly between 100 and 200, and the platform's share is deducted. If you can take 10 cases a month, you are considered to have good resources. If you exclude the cost of supervision and training, you can already outperform most of your peers without losing money.

My criteria for selecting training are actually very simple. First of all, don’t listen to the sales bragging. First check the case length of the lecturer. If he doesn’t even have 1,000 hours of case experience and is just reading theory through PPT, I won’t apply for it no matter how good the promotion is. Another thing is to see if there are supporting practical exercises and supervision. Many classes lasted for two months, and the teacher taught clearly and clearly. You have not even done a simulated case once, and after learning, you still don’t know how to talk to the visitors. It’s useless. It is best to have a fixed peer supervision group and a teacher to teach and conduct case exercises after class. Even if it is more expensive, it is much more useful than a recorded class that costs thousands of dollars.

Oh, by the way, if you study psychology and just want to regulate your emotions and deal with the relationship with your family, there is no need to sign up for professional training worth tens of thousands of yuan. Find a reliable personal growth short course, or directly go to a consultant for a few consultations. It is much more cost-effective. After all, the profession of psychological counselor can never be accomplished by just taking a few courses. All the techniques you learn in training must eventually be applied to your own life experience in order to really help clients.