ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the main clinical components of a managed counselling service – how they might be attained and implemented in terms of both the professional requirements of the counsellor and service protocols and design. The counsellor could have been a fully trained counsellor, a psychotherapist, a psychologist, or a practice nurse who had done a weekend course in counselling skills. The professional bodies for counselling in the National Health Service (NHS), such as Counsellors and Psychotherapists in Primary Care, are self-regulating and have set training standards for registration. Many an NHS manager may have little or no idea of what a counsellor or psychological therapist actually is or should be, and therefore finds it challenging to be involved in setting up a service specification for a counselling service. Agenda for Change offers the possibility of a career trajectory for counsellors within the NHS organization.
