Counselling Trainee Placements and Volunteer Counselling

The Changes counselling service wouldn’t be possible without the contribution made by our fabulous volunteer counsellors and trainee counsellors.

We are a small, thriving service of just over 10 counsellors with limited opportunities for trainee and qualified volunteer counsellors to join our team, offering short-term (up to 8 sessions) generic counselling to over 16s in the East Lothian community.  We offer a hybrid model, with options of face-to-face, telephone or video counselling. Counsellors in the team are trained/training in a variety of relational, non-directive approaches such as person-centred, psychodynamic and transactional analysis (please note that individual CBT is not offered by Changes).

Our counsellors consistently comment on how satisfying it is to work in such a vibrant agency, offering a real breadth and depth of therapeutic, health and wellbeing opportunities for clients.

Our counsellors see a minimum of 3 clients per week and work in a supportive team, with regular individual support from the Therapy Coordinator, mentoring for trainees and occasional therapy team gatherings. Volunteer counsellors who are qualified are offered a contribution towards clinical supervision costs. All counsellors are required to be cleared under the PVG Scheme Membership Disclosure (Working with Protected Adults) and be members of COSCA or the BACP.

Counselling Placements

There are presently no vacancies for trainee positions at Changes and unlikely to be openings before spring 2023. Changes always receives far more applications for trainee placements than we are able to accommodate, and we will advise on our website when we are receiving applications.

Please note that Changes counselling placements are suitable for diploma trainees who have already completed around 50 hours of supervised client work (excluding triad work with peers). This is due to the complex nature of our client base. Where trainees have equivalent experience, such as working with clients in allied fields e.g. mental health nursing, peer-support work, bodywork therapy, we can sometimes make an exception and waive this requirement.

Read about Shweta’s and Camille’s experience as trainee counsellors at Changes during their studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Qualified Volunteer Counsellors

We welcome applications from more experienced counsellors qualified to diploma level who may be working towards accreditation.

Please send a copy of your full CV, and a short statement outlining why you would like to volunteer with us to the Therapy Coordinator Rebecca: info@ChangesEastLothian.org  Please also include the days and times you would be available to see clients, and the name of two referees who are familiar with your counselling work (e.g. supervisor, tutor).