magda71

Hi

I have a BA in Psychology and I'm looking at getting further qualifications so that I can work as a Counselor when I move to Canada in about 4 years.
Ideally I'd like to work privately, from home.
So, first of all, can I get away with just a diploma (not a degree) in counseling on top of my BA or do I need a MA?
Secondly, to work from home, do I first have to get a certain number of hours working under supervision before I can do this? Or is there some other requirement?
I keep thinking that Life Coaches can work from home, so why not Counselors?
Anyway, any info would be very much appreciated.
Thank you so much.
magda

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!

Do you have a route to come to Canada?
Which Province are you considering - each Province has it's own regulatory body.. but it will depend on what you believe your 'title' may be and what licensure you will be required to have..
https://cpa.ca/public/whatisapsychol...ulatorybodies/
https://cpa.ca/practice/practiceregulation/
https://cpo.on.ca/applicants/how-to-...de-canada-usa/

This thread has links that may be of use Cognitive Behavioural Therapist working in BC

We have a member who was intending on working as a home-based counselor - if I can find their thread I will post it

LoveWalking

My partner and I work in different areas in mental health here in the UK, and have been researching this for quite a while. Your best first point of call is the professional bodies for Canada wide, and then look into the bodies for individual provinces - so if you are looking at psychotherapy related I suggest CCPA. Each province has their own, and some are not regulated yet - so have a look into the province that you're planning on going to. The qualifications aren't like for like based on a different view of specialisations - but is possible to get professional registration from here based on your education and experience, but additional bridging courses may be required when you get there. Getting registration with CCPA takes a fair amount of time, effort and money so worth getting a good sense of what is needed before, and the individual provinces, and if you are thinking of studying in the UK perhaps try and select a qualification that feeds well into their system - but usually international qualifications aren't always accepted at the same weighting professionally - so if you can - why not look into doing your next round of studying in Canada? You then get a better route into your chosen profession, gain business contacts, and get to know the local mental health field. Do also look into Social Work qualifications and Psychologist qualifications (and professional bodies) as we've noticed these have higher job postings even for Counsellor roles. Counsellor's and Counselors from what I see are different, and not just different spelling from the UK.

Another area to research is job postings on indeed, the health authorities job postings, and charity jobs and you'll be able to get a good sense of what general specifications look like from counselling job postings too.

All the best with your research and journey.

LoveWalking

And as a second note - you can work remotely as a Counsellor, but pre-covid in the UK this wasn't the norm, but now it's mostly online and from home. A lot of support services are moving to get back their service provision in person as soon as possible, but I suspect it will depend on the organisation you work for or if you run a private practice, and the client's desires to work remotely or in person when allowed to do so. Coaching is, from what I can tell often done remotely.

rabrol

Unfortunately, we have found the process not very easy. However a lot depends on the Province you wish to practice in, and if you can practice without being registered.
My wife has an MA in Counselling & Therapeutic Communication from a UK University, but her course did not include over 150 hours of clinical practice with supervision. This means she is unable to proceed with registration in Alberta.
The registration bodies have said they will only accept supervised hours as part of a university course, they will not accept privately arrange supervision, even with their own accredited members.
Furthermore, when my wife contacted several universities to enquire about undertaking the Practicum components only, she was told she would have to enroll on the full course and do another Masters. Not happening. Right now, she is working in a completely unrelated field :-(

Siouxie

I believe this is the bit you meant to post Woops!

DarwinCharles

Gosh I need some sleep. Apologies Siouxie! 😁

Siouxie

No apologies necessary, we've all been guilty of misposting from time to time (even with sleep, LOL)

mdonald1987

I'm a (UK-based) CBT Therapist (PGDip, considering completing masters) qualified with 200 hours of supervised practice. From my understanding, you must register with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) and then a regulatory body within your province. To register with CCPA, you would have to get your qualifications assessed. I would like to move to BC, so it would be the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellor (BCACC) I would have to also register with. This would give me the title of Registered Clinical Counsellor, which will allow me to take up a counselling role for Interior Health (public health provider).

For you, I'd say look at the CCPA website and have a look at what you would need to become accredited with them. That will give you an idea of what you have to do over the next 3-4 years.

In terms of working from home, I don't foresee that being an issue. I've been looking through a LOT of jobs and a few of those advertise as virtual therapy. I think post-Covid, this will become much more the norm. In my modality, it seems to work really well (even for PTSD clients). Can't speak for other modalities (Counselling, EMDR), however. My own service (NHS IAPT) plan on keeping the majority of treatment virtual. It saves on clinic rooms, printing costs, mileage etc. and clients are receptive to it as they can do it from the comfort of their own home/office. It also works for those whom have mobility difficulties and those who do not have access to transport. Given the vast distance between towns/cities in Canada, I'd say this is even more important.

DarwinCharles

Be wary of advice concerning online treatment. The reason it's becoming an issue as covid is lifted is because it's different from in person therapy. It will become the norm to have onlime training and that requirement is already taking place as will the stringent changes on UK counselling.

Each province reqs different registration but holding nationwide accreditation helps. Ethics are challenging and changing the requirements to practice as a Psychologist or clinician. Rightly so.
Things are going change so I'd say get a mimum Msc or Cpychol to match Canadian level training.

mdonald1987

I’m intrigued, Charles. Besides the obvious, how is online therapy different from in-person therapy? Again, I’m sure this depends on the modality of therapy you use but for CBT, there is no difference. Recovery rates are slightly better, accessibility is improved, use of educational materials can be more easily shared, supervision works better as it’s easier to record sessions when using a virtual platform. Our service ran a poll and over 70% of active clients said they prefer receiving therapy online. There will always be a need for in-person treatment but you can’t ignore the thirst for virtual therapy. May I ask what modality you use, please?

DarwinCharles

Sure. I studied Psychology /Psychobiology so the 'theories of jungian' ect are becoming too outdated. On it's own, counselling is theory based in the UK which doesn't go far enough. Hopefully in time it will be a minimum of a Psychology degree prior to any mental health training. The UKCP will as they have been, try to address the Counselling bodies over just how well counsellors are being trained.
One book I recommend for practice is Ethics in counselling and Psychotherapy.. It addresses ethics in more depth than the average UK course.
I mix Psychology, Psychobiology and Evolutionary Psychology. I use a mix of theories for questioning styles. I don't offer CBT no. I don't use it.

Regards Darwin

mdonald1987

Thanks. An interesting point though is that an undergraduate psychology degree is 100% theory, with no practical element, no supervised practice at all. It’s great to gain an understanding in your developmental theories, however, and essential to the wanting to become a Clinical Psychologist. For those looking to become a counsellor in the UK (and to a degree in Canada), they’d be better off doing a counselling and psychotherapy degree with 200 hours of supervised practice and then an MA to top up. That should then help them to meet the minimum CCPA requirements for certification.

DarwinCharles

Meeting minimum requirements shouldn never be the aim.
Counselling in the UK is entirely theory. Psychology is now split at various unis allowing people to put aside Freud or theory based ideaology and move in to BioPsyche. That way, we combine behaviour with pheni and genotypes. No longer can we avoid environmental pressures and innate behaviour in therapy.
The MA I sat, fortunately mixes the both and requires ongoing learning.

Clincal psyche is mixed and obviously reqs either an Msc or to go straight for a Phd.

To provide good, sound, theraputic sessions, one should aim for a toolbox approach to the sessions. By picking one theory, therapists leave themselves in a position where the learning and theory reduces the types of issues you can deal with.

I have as you mention, already suggested the OP with a Psyche degree, pursue a Psychotherapy path with a good provider. The UKCP are seeking to implement a strict set of rules and change to protect titles. That means it's certainly better to be covered, especially for myself as I see Alberta and UK clients, I will add the EU soon.

The UKCP I should imagine, will continue to push adequate training for working online. It is certainly something every therapist should now add. The USA are certainly ahead in some ways there. The HIPPA are sticklers for compliant teachnology and online work. The UKCP are taking the same view and certainly the NCHP.

Great to swap information. I'll leave it here as it's hijacking the OPs post.