Training to be a child counsellor…

In recent years, counselling has become an increasingly popular career path. More and more adults are training to become therapists, and while this is incredibly valuable, there is still a noticeable gap when it comes to child counsellors. The number of adult counsellors continues to rise, yet those who choose to specialise in working with children remain comparatively few.

This difference matters. Supporting adults often means helping them untangle patterns that have become deeply rooted over decades. In contrast, working with children offers a unique opportunity: to make a difference developmentally before behaviours and defences become entrenched. Early intervention can shape a child’s emotional landscape for life, offering them tools, resilience, and healthier ways of relating to the world.

The Reward of Making a Difference Early

Imagine the ripple effect of helping a child learn to regulate their emotions, process their worries, or feel safe enough to express who they are. That impact doesn’t just stay with them—it influences their family, friendships, school life, and eventually the adults they become. Many counsellors find this developmental window the most rewarding part of child therapy: knowing that the right support at the right time can shift a child’s entire trajectory.

The Joy and Playfulness of Working with Children

There’s also something uniquely life-affirming about counselling children. Sessions often involve play, creativity, art, movement, and storytelling. As a child counsellor, you’re invited into a world of imagination and curiosity, where toys and games become tools for healing. Many therapists describe this as deeply joyful—it’s work that can awaken your own sense of wonder.

And there’s a hidden bonus: during training and practice, your own inner child is often given space to play, explore, and even heal. It can be a transformative process for counsellors themselves, reconnecting them with parts of their own story that may have been silenced or overlooked.

The Demand Has Never Been Higher

Alongside the personal rewards, the professional demand for child counsellors has never been greater. In the UK, child mental health services are facing unprecedented waiting lists in 2025. Families are often left waiting months, even years, for their children to access support through CAMHS or school-based services. This gap means skilled child counsellors in private practice, charities, and schools are urgently needed. By choosing this path, you’re stepping into a profession where your skills will be valued and in demand.

Why Choose This Path?

Training to be a child counsellor is both challenging and life-changing. It requires patience, creativity, resilience, and a willingness to meet children where they are. But in return, it offers some of the most profound rewards the counselling profession can give:

• Making a difference early, before struggles harden into lifelong patterns.

• Bringing creativity and play into your work.

• Seeing the world through a child’s eyes again—and letting your own inner child breathe.

• Answering a growing need, with families actively seeking support.

If you’re drawn to counselling but want a path that is both joyful and impactful, specialising in child therapy may be the most rewarding choice you could make.

Introducing: The Level 5 Diploma in Counselling Children (4–11) by Circle Therapy

If you’re ready to step into this fulfilling path, our Level 5 Diploma in Counselling Children offers an ideal training foundation:

• Accreditation & Focus

A robust postgraduate qualification, accredited by CPCAB, designed for counsellors with a Level 4 or higher qualification who wish to specialise in working with children aged 4–11  .

• Experiential and Integrative Learning

This course combines theoretical rigour with hands-on, experiential learning. You’ll deepen your knowledge of child development, explore your own personal history, and strengthen your child-centred therapeutic approach  .

• Course Format & Location

Held face-to-face once a month Friday–Sunday from October 2025 to May 2026, hosted at Langley Therapy & Training in Soulbury (LU7 0JL)  .

• Entry Requirements & Placement

Applicants need to:

• Hold a Level 4 Diploma in Counselling (with at least 20 hours personal therapy and 100 client hours)

• Provide DBS check and two references (one from a Level 4 counselling tutor)

• Complete a 70-hour voluntary placement in a junior school and engage in 1.5 hours of supervision per month  .

• Learning Outcomes

You’ll master fundamental competencies including:

• Ethical and safe practice with children

• Relationship-building and reflective skills

• Diversity-awareness and professional engagement

• Safeguarding, confidentiality, and multidisciplinary work with schools and carers

• Creative therapeutic techniques and self-awareness in counselling 

• Why This Training Is Unique
  It’s not just about gaining a qualification—it’s about stepping into a role where playful creativity, therapeutic impact, and personal insight converge. This diploma enables you to make a developmental difference early, while enriching your own emotional capacity and practice.

Final Thoughts

Training to be a child counsellor is one of the most deeply rewarding paths in mental health. You get to:

• Intervene before emotional patterns solidify

• Bring joy, curiosity, and creativity into your practice

• Answer a growing professional need in 2025

• Honor and heal your own inner child

• Gain a qualification that’s rigorous, experiential, and deeply meaningful

If you want to know more about our Diploma Training, visit our website site at www.circletherapy.co.uk or email us at team@circletherapy.co.uk