Who are NECS?

North East Counselling Services have been providing high quality counselling to people across the North East of England since 2006.  In that time we have supported over 15,000 people.  Our mission to is create a world where high quality counselling is available and affordable to anyone who needs it.

Our placement counsellor recruitment program has formed the basis of our service over the years.  In fact, many of the counsellors delivering counselling for NECS started on the placement counsellor program with us.

Since 2006 we have increased the number of paid counsellors we have from 0 to 53.  These counsellors are a mixture of contracted counsellors or associate counsellors, but they all get paid for the counselling hours they deliver.

Why get a placement with NECS?

NECS understand the valuable work that counsellors do, and we are passionate about developing a career pathway for counsellors.  For too long counselling has been undervalued due to the voluntary nature of the posts available.

Our career pathway has been designed to allow counsellors to become independent and confident, while giving the security of working for an organisation with a sound quality framework in place.

What can I expect from my placement?

Your 100 hour placement will be delivering counselling to clients who have been screened by a qualified counsellor.  You will access 2 x 1 hour of supervision free of charge per month.  You will also be able to attend group supervision with a range of counsellors at different stages of their counselling career.

Towards the end of your placement, your supervisor will talk to you about the next steps and guide you through the NECS assessment process.

NECS require all placement counsellors will pay a fee of £245 to contribute to supervision, DBS and insurance costs.

What next after placement?

At the end of your placement, your supervisor will talk to you about continuing to work with NECS.  The next stage of our recruitment program is a 50 hour probationer placement.  This allows you to assess clients and work with more complex cases with less supervisory support than a placement counsellor.

It also lets us get to know you better as a qualified counsellor and assess how you work within the NECS framework.

As a probationer counsellor you will be eligible to apply for any contract work that we advertise.

Becoming a paid counsellor

As you approach the end of your probationer counsellor your supervisor and the counselling manager will talk to you about becoming an Associate Counsellor.  You will be a self-employed counsellor and, providing you are willing to deliver a minimum of 3 counselling sessions per week, you can work the hours that suit your availability.

You will be provided with supervision free of charge appropriate for the number of clients you are working with.

Associate counsellors can apply for any contract counselling roles with NECS, and we primarily recruit internally from our associate counsellor pool.

Placement recruitment.

After a year with no placement counsellors due to Covid-19, we are now ready to start our recruitment for 2022.

We will aim to recruit 3-5 counsellors this year to complete a 100 hour placement.  To make sure we can get you the clients you need to complete your placement, we need counsellors who can deliver sessions face to face, on the telephone and via zoom (or another platform).

We also need counsellors who can take clients from all of our funding streams – we work with Newcastle/Gateshead CCG, Gateshead Local Authority, local companies and private individuals and couples.

Please check with your college on whether this is possible for their placement requirements.

Our placement counsellors are not permitted to record sessions with clients, so we cannot accept placement applications if this is a stipulation of your placement.

Time scales

Our recruitment process will start 1^st February 2022 and close to applications on 31^st March 2022.

We will then shortlist the applications we have and invite the shortlisted applicants to an “open day” which will get a number of people together so you can find out more about us and we can find out more about you.

You must be able to attend one of these events to progress to the next steps – all dates will be during April 2022.

A second phase of interviews will take place in the first 2 weeks in May for the successful candidates from Step 1.  These will be individual interviews with 2 members of NECS staff.

The successful applicants will be advised of their placement by 31^st May and we will then start the process of taking up references, obtaining DBS checks and ensuring we have all the necessary paperwork in place.

We expect you will start counselling in September.

If you are interested in applying for a placement with NECS please click to button to complete our application form, we will be in touch with shortlisted applicants the first week in April 2022.