Is counselling a valued health service?
We have so many advocates for mental health these days in the celebrity, royal and business community but there appears to be a huge disconnect between counselling and other front line health services in the UK.
An online debate was sparked recently because some Employee Assistant Programs (EAPs) in the UK have been cutting their rates for counsellors. EAPs provide counselling services to organisations for their staff to access when required. One counsellor commented “How can they charge a client £65 per hour but pay the counsellor £12?”. The average in the UK for telephone counsellors is £11.50ph (nuevoo.co.uk) which equates to roughly £22,000pa. What really got me was the alleged attitude expressed along the lines of “you are ten a penny, take it or leave it”. As a comparison I found adverts for cleaners, waiting staff and bar staff getting paid £15ph.
Is counselling a professional career?
Counselling and psychotherapy training is expensive, challenging and takes several years to gain an entry level qualification. This part is no different to countless other professional qualifications, I know this as a professionally qualified accountant. There are degree routes, full-time or part time diploma routes, Masters, PhDs etc. However, one main difference is that counsellors must volunteer their time, between 100-400 hours, to achieve levels of accreditation; it’s a life limiting training cost and once qualified, there are very few paid counselling roles, many of which are in the third sector. Qualified counselling positions currently advertised in the UK average around a £30,000pa salary, which is less than the UK average of £35,000pa.
A junior doctor out of university can earn more than a fully qualified and experienced counsellor. Once qualified GPs can earn a starting salary of £80,000pa (source: bma.org.uk). According to media sources the highest earning GP in the UK is on £700,000pa, with over £200,000pa a common occurrence.
Do we have a shortage of counselling professionals in the UK because of this disconnect? Should the counselling and psychotherapy profession even be compared to the medical profession? Why are we still reliant on charities to provide the every increasing gap in counselling services?
How much do you value your mental health?
