Opportunities for students to partake in a counselling placement
Student Placements
Bedfordshire Open Door provides the opportunity for students to join our counselling placement programme that is specifically tailored to provide experience in the counselling field related to young people’s services. Placements are open to counsellors in training on Year 1 of the Level 4 counselling qualification, as a minimum requirement.
Our student placement project is carried out in partnership with local colleges and independent training providers and is managed and overseen by the Clinical Manager for Bedfordshire Open Door.
Recruitment for placement is a two-stage process. During the month of October students are invited through their training provider to a Tour & Talk open day at our Tavistock centre where they are given a tour of the building, introduced to key members of the team, and given a talk on what to expect as a student on placement with our service. The open day ends with a Q and A session and an invitation to make a formal application to the placement project. Once applications have been received, shortlisted candidates are invited to interview.
The interview process is carried out during December through to January. Interviews with the Clinical Manager are 1.5 hrs duration and include a 30-minute observed role-play, followed by constructive feedback. Successful candidates will commence their placement with Bedfordshire Open Door in February/March and when signed off for placement by their training provider.
Bedfordshire Open Door’s student placement project has been commended by the BACP “We commend the service on the protocol described to assess students’ competency when working with clients under the age of 18. This is evidence of a high standard of professional practice” (BACP Accreditation Assessor, 2019)
As a counselling service accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), Bedfordshire Open Door provide our students the opportunity to experience an accountable, ethical, professional, and responsive service to our clients, staff, volunteers, and stakeholders.