You should have the following personal requirements for counseling training in the psychosocial field:

• Empathy
• Patience and flexibility
• Sense of responsibility

If you bring these things with you, you have good prerequisites for a successful further education consultant.

Getting into counseling does not happen overnight and should really not be rushed. After all, you want to support people in the future, help them and offer professional advice. This is not recommended without sound counselor training, as otherwise you will lack the basic knowledge and counseling skills required for this sensitive work. You should therefore first look for providers who offer courses in the area of counseling that interests you and then request some training materials from them. Read through the courses carefully and see which ones are most suitable for your needs. As you have no previous training as a psychologist, counselor, doctor, coach, therapist, social pedagogue or similar, you should choose a course that introduces you to counseling from the ground up and gives you an understanding of this subject area. Some weekend seminars will therefore not be sufficient without prior training and are more suitable as specific continuing education, further training. As a complete reorientation, counselor training will certainly take a few years, but you can do it alongside your current job.

The following activities are carried out by counselors in the psychosocial field with a federal diploma after psychosocial counselor training:

• Personal discussions with people seeking advice for help with a specific problem, the desire for personal development or the improvement of social integration
• work in various fields such as personal, educational, relationship, pregnancy conflict, student and addiction counseling or grief work
• At the beginning of a counseling session, inquire about the client's personal situation and, after thorough evaluation and weighting, derive the appropriate procedures and their main objectives
• Create a structured consulting plan in terms of content and timing
• Build up a personal relationship of trust in the first few sessions
• Designing the counseling process in relation to the situation - individually and creatively, taking into account the social and cultural environment (promoting personal responsibility and supporting personal efforts to further develop patterns of behavior and experience and improve personal well-being)
• apply different counseling approaches from the psychosocial counselor training (person-centered, process-oriented or body-oriented methods, transactional analysis or counseling on a religious level)
• Recognize crisis situations and react appropriately, refer if necessary
• reflect on and evaluate professional practice and continuously develop counseling skills through supervision, intervision or further training
• are obliged to act ethically

Some of the training courses you will find here are considered preparatory courses for federal qualifications, such as training to become a trainer or a Bachelor of Psychology (UAS or university). However, counselor training can also be recognized by a professional association, such as the EMR or ASCA, which enables you to bill your patients for your services via supplementary health insurance. You can also obtain a cantonal practice permit with training in counseling. Please always clarify the recognition of the individual counselor training courses in advance and make sure that you are choosing a professionally conducted and reputable continuing education, further training course.

After the counselor training in the psychosocial field, there are the following further development opportunities as a counselor training:

• Courses from professional associations and training institutions
• Certified special education teacher (EDK)
• Bachelor's or Master's degree at universities of applied sciences in applied psychology or social work

You can become a counsellor by completing a counsellor training course, which should be recognized and certified by the Swiss Association for Counselling (SGfB). This is because they train psychologically oriented counsellors from the fields of individual, couple and family counselling as well as from the field of counselling for groups, institutions and organizations. With the Psychosocial Counselor training, you will be able to counsel people with the aim of managing their lives independently, overcoming crises and developing themselves further. Those who successfully complete the higher professional examination become experts in the professional world and can use the protected title "Counselor in the psychosocial field with a federal diploma".

The training concept of the Counseling in the Psychosocial Field training course comprises an in-service training course in counseling. This takes three to four years and includes 600 lessons and self-study. Professional and personal counseling skills are trained through theory, self-awareness, supervision and practical counseling work. The transfer-oriented training courses are then carried out in learning groups. The qualifications required for the examination are generally acquired in the form of courses - in accordance with the examination regulations and guidelines of the SGfB.

There are various official consulting professions:

• Consultant early childhood
• Consultant for respiratory disease
• Counselor in the psychosocial field
• Consultant SGfB
• Animal psychology counselor
• Teaching consultant
• Career counselor
• Fitness consultant

Here at Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch you will find a wealth of offers relating to training and continuing, further training in a wide range of specialist areas, including offers for consultant training. However, as most of the courses on offer do not lead to federally recognized qualifications, such as a Federal Professional Examination (FPE) or a Diploma of Higher Education (CHE), the courses are structured very differently depending on the school and award different qualifications, such as the Diploma in Stress Regulation, Intermedial Art Therapy or the Federal Diploma of Higher Education (SVEB 2). Therefore, please inform yourself comprehensively about the individual offers of the schools for a counselor training and have all the necessary documents sent to you by e-mail.

At the start of the examination, the following prior training is required for the Counselor in the Psychosocial Field course:

• Professional qualification at tertiary level or equivalent qualification and at least 6 years of professional experience in a psychosocial context

or

• without a tertiary degree at least 8 years of professional experience in a psychosocial context

and

• Proof of at least 20 counseling processes with at least 100 sessions, of which 5 counseling processes with at least 5 hours
• Proof of 40 hours of client-related supervision
• Proof of 40 hours of psychosocial counseling as a client
• Participation in at least 8 sessions of a supervision or revision group for at least 2 years
• Accompaniment by a supervisor for at least 1 year (min. 20 hours) in a counseling competence-related supervision

The following training consultants are frequently offered:

• Coaching and consultant training
• Psychosocial counseling training
• Systemic counseling training
• Psychological counseling training
• Life counseling training
• Family counselor training
• RAV consultant training

The target groups of the individual training courses and continuing education, further training in the field of counseling are very different, depending on the focus and degree. In addition to counselor training for those without specific professional experience, you will also find courses aimed primarily at psychologists and doctors who wish to gain in-depth training in psychotherapy, for example. Training in existential analytical counseling is very suitable for teachers and pastoral workers, while continuing education, further training in person-centered counseling is suitable for all professionals in counseling, education, social work, health or human resources who are involved in psychosocial counseling and want to expand their knowledge. Please contact the respective educational institutions and enquire about the exact target groups and admission requirements for the individual courses.