Thank you for your interest in a trainee therapist placement in the Low-Cost Therapy and Counselling service at HQ. We are currently accepting trainees who can work in person as well as online and who have in-person weekend availability.

Please read the following information about the trainee therapist onboarding process and some initial questions for you to answer in the form below.

Some information about our placement:
We provide a low-cost counselling service for clients from a wide range of backgrounds and presenting with a wide range of issues.

Placements are for psychotherapy and counselling students in their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years of training. Some training organisations we work with include Metanoia, Minster Centre, University of East London, Institute for Art in Therapy and Education, Regents University, and the Roehampton School of Art Therapy.

We offer trainees:

• Client assessment process prior to allocating clients to trainees
• Support for online and face-to-face work
• Peer supervision
• Support transitioning to private practice
• Low-Cost mentoring program
• A community of both trainees and fully qualified therapist

Time commitment:

• We ask for a minimum commitment of 3 low-cost clients per week and an 18-month minimum commitment.
• 1-hour monthly ops meeting on the last Friday of each month. Please note this is a mandatory requirement.
• Complete our free CPD training for assessments and assist with client assessments for 3 months during your placement. Please note: the assessment training calls will take place Monday- Friday 9am-5pm. So please ensure that you can be available for 3 x 1-hour calls during these times.

Supervision:

• Every trainee therapist must have external supervision and insurance in place and be registered with the BACP, UKCP, or similar.

Requirements:

• We ask that all trainee counsellors who meet the criteria to provide us with evidence of a current DBS check. If you do not have one, these can be obtained using the online DBS service and are normally returned between 24- 72 hours.
• Please note: If accepted for a trainess therapist position with us at HQ Therapy, you will be given 1 week to return all the relevant documentation, so please ensure you have your BACP/UKCP membership details and insurance certificate ready. If this is not provided within the 1 week period, you may be asked to attend another assessment and pay a further assessment fee.

For in-person work, we have room availability at these times:

• Saturdays  > 7am – 10am > 4pm – 7pm > 7pm – 10pm
• Sundays > 7am – 10am > 4pm – 7pm > 7pm – 10pm

All potential trainee therapist candidates who have met the criteria once we have your details on the form below will be contacted by Lucy Howchen, our Low-Cost co-ordinator, and asked to submit their CVs and arrange a time with Lucy for an interview.

There will be a one-off £30 administrative fee directly payable to HQ Therapy Rooms before your interview is confirmed. Please note that this fee can be used towards your key deposit if you join the service and this key deposit will be refunded at the end of your placement with us.

Please only fill in the form below if you are serious at this point about wanting an interview and joining the HQ Therapy Low-Cost team. If you are not ready yet, or unsure, or need more information, email Lucy at [email protected]