ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the dramatic rise in the number of people emerging from counsellor training in the 1980s and 1990s, many of whom were looking for areas of practice, which included primary health care. There is plenty of evidence that patients often request to ‘see a counsellor’ rather than take a prescribed drug for moderate depression or anxiety, and that they are satisfied or very satisfied with the counselling intervention. Of great importance is the recognition of counsellors by the National Health Service in the staff and grading structures. The chapter focuses on the advantages to counsellors themselves of spending their time, energy and money on achieving a specialist standard of practice. The last advantage to practitioners is that they are able to contribute to the broader issues of complex mental health issues in their employment practices because they are confident about their own skills repertoire.
