Counselling Pathways

Rick Hughes qualified as a counsellor in 1996, at the University of Strathclyde, under Professor Dave Mearns, where he was awarded an Honorary Research Fellowship for his MPhil. He has worked across a wide range of counselling settings, including private practice, NHS primary and secondary care, higher education, employee assistance programmes and workplaces, as well as being a coach and mentor. He is currently editor of the BACP University and College Counselling journal, a self-employed writer, BACP-accredited counsellor, coach and wellbeing consultant. Previously he was Head of Service at the University of Aberdeen Counselling Service, Lead Advisor: Workplace with BACP and editor of the BACP Workplace journal. He has published widely, including books on stress, trauma, people support and wellbeing.

In Counselling Pathways: Developing your career, Rick Hughes and his contributing authors offer an accessible, rich, and thought-provoking introduction to the main contexts in which UK counsellors are currently building their careers. Each chapter provides the opportunity to hear from a range of experienced practitioners who are both passionate about their work and realistic about the challenges it poses. This book is gold dust for counsellors embarking on their careers as well as those considering a change in direction - Dr Susan Stephen, Lecturer in Counselling, University of Strathclyde; As counselling students approach the end of their training, the conversation in the classroom turns to what next. My thanks to Rick Hughes - this book is very welcome and will be a most valuable resource for those conversations. Contributors speak about their careers and experiences in healthcare, education, workplaces and private practice. Offering insights, advice and guidance for those embarking on their careers, and for those seeking new directions, this book will be key reading - Professor Stephen Joseph, University of Nottingham, author of Think Like a Therapist; Rick Hughes' book on counselling careers pathways should be essential reading for students and counselling practitioners considering their future career development. It's packed with information about online counselling, counselling in the private practice, workplace counselling, counselling and coaching. It is extremely well organised, and provides readers with a variety of options for future career development. A must read for all in the counselling field - Professor Sir Cary Cooper, CBE, University of Manchester & Chair of the National Forum for Health & Wellbeing at Work; An essential aspect of doing good work as a counsellor or psychotherapist involves finding a role or niche within the profession that makes it possible to put one's skills and experience to best use. Counselling Pathways is an invaluable resource both for students of counselling and psychotherapy and for more experienced practitioners to learn more about the options and what it is like to work in different therapeutic settings. This book offers a series of vivid and authentic snapshots of the realities of being a therapist in the UK at the present time and how colleagues in the varied branches of the profession handle the distinctive challenges with which they are faced. This is an accessible, consistently informative, hopeful and unique book that is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the diversity of contemporary therapeutic practice - Julia McLeod, Lecturer in Counselling, University of Aberdeen; This unique text provides a straightforward and engaging map of the diverse landscape of employment in counselling and psychotherapy. The contributors offer a wealth of personal insights gained from real-world experience in the field, showing clearly how to succeed in a range of therapy settings. Inspiring, thorough and accessible, this book is a goldmine of information for everyone training as a therapist and planning their future career, as well as qualified therapists wanting to understand and break into a new sector of work - Nicola Blunden, Programme Leader for the MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy at UWE Bristol, co-author of Next Steps in Counselling Practice; This is a handy pocket mentor offering essential guidance, information and a steadying influence during and post-qualification in what can seem like a mystifying maze of options (hidden and in plain sight) in the counselling profession. Your training will teach you about the healing and transformative effect of counselling and the costs and benefits to you and clients. In this book, you will learn what counsellor/psychotherapy practitioners continually do to ensure effective safe and ethical practice of what goes on 'in the counselling space/s' with clients, including the important components of creativity and spirituality in those relationships - Val Watson, independent coach, counsellor, psychotherapist and supervisor, formerly head of Nottingham University counselling service.

• Foreword by Professor Andrew Reeves; Introduction; 1 Counselling in NHS primary care settings by Vicki Palmer; 2 Counselling in private practice by Rick Hughes; 3 Online counselling by Sarah Worley-James; 4 Workplace counselling by Vianna Boring Renaud; 5 Counsellors who coach Lucy Myers; 6 Counselling in higher and further education settings by Geraldine Dufour; 7 Counselling in the third sector by Jeremy Bacon; 8 Counselling in hospice settings by John Wilson; 9 Counselling children, young people and families by Sarah Watson; 10 Spirituality in counselling practice by Alistair Ross