Ensuring your therapist is competently trained to support your needs.

In this episode, we explore the importance of understanding your therapist’s or counsellor’s training, experience, and professional journey. With the growing awareness around mental health, wellbeing, mindfulness, and personal growth, there are now countless ways to train as a therapist, from online courses and distance learning to in-person programmes, short courses, live sessions, and recorded teachings. But with so many pathways available, it can often feel difficult to know what truly sits behind the title of “therapist” or “counsellor.”

Speaking from personal experience and professional training, this conversation offers an honest reflection on the varied routes into therapeutic work and what those differences can mean for clients seeking support. We also discuss the reality that, here in the UK, the titles “counsellor” and “therapist” are currently unprotected, meaning there is no universal regulation or standardised training framework in place.

This episode invites listeners to think more deeply about the people they choose to work with, the value of lived and experiential learning, and the importance of connection, reflection, and challenge within therapeutic training.

Phiona 

Connect, Follow & Continue Your Journey

If this episode resonated with you, you’re very welcome here.

To stay connected and continue exploring these gentle, supportive conversations:

Follow & Subscribe
Make sure you’re following the Mindful Moments Podcast on your preferred platform so you never miss an episode. New episodes are released regularly to support your understanding, growth, and wellbeing.

Leave a Review
If you’ve found this episode helpful, leaving a review or rating really helps the podcast reach others who may need this space too.

Explore More & Work With Me
You can find more information about my work, upcoming sessions, and one-to-one support here: www.mindfulmomentstherapies.co.uk

I offer counselling, hypnotherapy, and somatic-based approaches, working with adults, children, couples, and groups,  both face-to-face in Havant and online across the UK.

Stay Connected
You can also explore more resources, updates, and insights via the website, with more ways to connect coming soon.

A Gentle Reminder
You don’t have to have everything figured out.

Sometimes, the most important step is simply giving yourself space to pause… and notice.

Until Next Time…
Take things at your own pace.
And allow yourself to reconnect in whatever way feels right for you.
 

Take care.

Phiona 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello and welcome back to the Mindful Moments Podcast, episode four. And today I was just going to sit and talk about something that personally is really, really important to me. And it's something that I don't think is spoken enough about. And it's in the understanding of your therapist's or counsellors' training and experience. It's understanding your therapist, their training, their experience, the pathway that they've taken to be able to hold and support you. Because in today's world, there are so many courses available, which is wonderful that it is bringing such awareness to mental health, to well-being, to mindfulness, to being able to connect in in so many different and varied ways. Courses can be online now, they can be in person, they can be distance learning, short courses, longer courses, recorded sessions, live sessions. And it can be really hard to know what actually sits behind the title of the counsellor or therapist and what it actually means. I can really only speak from my pathway, my learning, and my journey. And as always, that's what I'm going to do. There is a myriad of different ways of becoming a therapist or a counsellor. And here in the UK, the title counsellor is an unprotected one, as is therapist, meaning there is no regulation behind it, no tight elements to ensure that everybody is learning from a really good structured overall element. If you think back to GCSEs or A levels, you know, they're universal, they're nationwide. But therapeutic training isn't. For me, my training has always been through live learning or in-person spaces where I can engage, where I can reflect, where I can be challenged. Personally, I've always made a conscious decision to undertake training that's going to support me, to support my clients in the best way that I can. So, for example, with my counselling degree, there is also a requirement of 300 clinical hours to accompany the academic learning. That's 300 hours of working with clients through the duration of the course. Those hours are not just done alone, they're supported, they're monitored, and they're held within supervision. Supervision in itself for me is fortnightly, an hour and a half each time, and across the training, equating to around 450 hours of supervised support. Which means I'm not sitting with clients on my own as I'm learning and trying to figure it out. I'm also being guided, supported, stretched, sometimes challenged by a qualified supervisor. Someone who helps me understand the theory. Someone who helps me apply it. Somebody who helps me understand myself and in the work that I'm doing. And alongside that, there's personal therapy. And it's such an important, enriching part of the training. Because it's not just about learning how to support somebody else, it's also turning the lens inward. And on the degree course, that's over 80 hours throughout the duration of personal therapy. Looking in the uncomfortable places, the places where maybe you've struggled, places where things have been hidden. And it's beginning to gently explore those. And that process really informs the therapist that I'm becoming. And when training ends, it doesn't end. Supervision continues, ongoing learning continues, personal development continues. Because this work asks a lot of you. And it's important that your therapist is supported as well as supporting you. So when you're looking for a therapist or a counsellor, please know you have every right to ask those questions. You can ask where they train. You can ask what their qualification is. And you can ask if they're part of a membership body. And not just that. You can ask what their membership body requires. Do they have supervision? Do they require ongoing training? Do they have an ethical framework that they work to? You can ask if they're in supervision. You can ask if they have their own therapy. And yes, that might feel like a personal question, but it's still a question you are allowed to ask. Because you're wanting to understand who is holding you in that space. And something else that feels really important to say, it's not just about training. Because somebody can be highly trained, highly qualified, and still not be the right therapist for you. Because therapy is about relationship. Do you feel seen? Do you feel heard? Do you feel safe in their environment? Or do you feel judged or unsure? Or like you have to hold parts of yourself back. At mindful moments therapies, this is something I come back to again and again. It's not just can I support you? It's can we sit together in a way that feels supportive enough for you to be you, to be fully you. Sometimes you might not be able to explain it, but something might just feel a little bit off. And that matters, because your body will often recognize safety before your mind does. There are also things to be gently aware of. If a therapist rushes you, if they give advice rather than explore, if you feel dismissed or like your too much, just notice that. Whereas a therapist who works at your pace, who welcomes your questions, who is open about their limits, that's really important. There is also a power dynamic in therapy. You're coming into that space often feeling vulnerable, and your therapist or counsellor holds a responsibility in that. A well-trained therapist is aware of that power and works gently with it, not over you. You should never feel smaller in that space, only supported. And therapy itself can look very different. Some therapy is talking, some is creative, some works with the senses of the body. For me, working creatively is such an important part of what I offer. Working with paint, with symbols, with sand, with clay. And because sometimes words just are not enough. And I want to say this next bit really clearly. You are allowed to change your counsellor or therapist. Even if they're kind, even if they're qualified, even if they've done nothing wrong. If it doesn't feel right, you're allowed to choose again. Because therapy is not a quick fix. It takes time. Safe ethical therapy goes at your pace. Not a rushed pace. Not a forced pace. Your pace. If you were buying a car, you wouldn't just walk past and see one and say, I like that. I love that one. I'm sure you'd look at it. You'd sit in it. You'd check how it feels. You might look at the history, what it's been through, how it's been looked after. You may even take it for a test drive. And this, this is you. You're investing in yourself, in your well-being, your safety, your healing. And as your counsellor or therapist is someone you are sitting alongside on that journey. So it's okay to check. It's okay to ask. And it's okay to take your time. Always ensure if you're seeking out a specialist part of the therapy world, such as trauma, bereavement, or working creatively, just make sure that your counsellor or your therapist has the deep qualification to be able to hold and support whatever comes up, however it looks like. How long did they take that qualification for? What did it involve? If, for example, you're looking for support with pet bereavement, what training have they had? Is it just their own life experience of losing pets, which is valuable and brings a different lens and a different empathy into the space? What training have they had to really recognize what's going on? Again, working creatively? What in-depth training have they taken to really understand what that means? And trauma. Another big space in the therapeutic world. What trauma training have they undertaken to ensure that you don't become re-traumatized, move too quickly? You're allowed to ask and to check. You're allowed to get in and have a test drive. Have a chat. Ask those questions. See how you gel together. Because you're investing in yourself. Because you are not asking too much. You're not being difficult. You're choosing someone to sit with you in some of your most vulnerable moments. And that deserves care. That deserves thought. That deserves attention. And at mindful moments therapies, that is always at the heart of what I offer. A space where you can come as you are and be met just there. It's something to think about, isn't it? We live in a world where we buy things so readily without thought. When we do our shopping. Just pick up something, check the date, put it in the basket. But where is it sourced? How is it grown? How is it packaged? How has it been stored? They're all things that really ideally would be amazing to apply that to everything. It's so easy just to live in a world where we don't always go into that depth. So I hope today's just given a little bit of curiosity around sitting with your therapist, or if you're looking to engage in therapy and looking to begin inquiring, it's okay to check your therapist's journey, their training. What does it mean to them? And that you find the right person to work with you at this time in the part of your life where you're beginning to explore those deep inner aspects. So thank you for sitting with me today again. Maybe I've given you something to think about, maybe I haven't, and that's okay, either way. Just being aware, just opening up that curiosity. Such a valuable element. And we'll sit together, and I'll be able to answer something else. So for today's podcast, it was a suggestion by a listener. So I really do enjoy taking your suggestions and being able to record them and have that conversation with you. So until next time, take care.