Working therapeutically with children and young people is one of the most sought-after (and most needed) specialisms in counselling. Demand for young people’s mental health support in the UK consistently outstrips supply, and many counsellors come into the profession precisely because they want to work with young people.
But the route in isn’t always obvious, and there’s one thing worth understanding right at the start: counselling children and young people is a specialism you grow into as an established practitioner, not a separate career you start from scratch. Here’s the full pathway, step by step.
The one thing to understand first
You become a children’s counsellor by first becoming a counsellor, and then, once you’re practising confidently, specialising. Working with young people demands everything general counselling training provides plus a distinct layer: child development, age-appropriate ways of working, safeguarding, and the particular ethics of working with under-18s.
There’s an honest reason the strongest route runs through consolidation first. Fresh out of core training, every counsellor (however capable) is still finding their feet in the fundamentals of independent practice: assessment, formulation, and working with risk. Specialist work with young people asks a great deal of exactly those skills. Consolidating your practice first isn’t a delay on the way to the specialism; it’s what makes you genuinely ready for it.
The pathway, step by step
Steps 1–3: Qualify as a counsellor (Levels 2–4)
The foundation is the standard CPCAB practitioner route:
- Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills: The entry point; core listening and helping skills
- Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies: Theory, ethics and deeper skills development
- Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling: The two-year practitioner training that qualifies you as a counsellor, including a supervised placement with real clients
We’ve covered this journey in full in our guide to how to become a counsellor in the UK. If you’re starting from zero, begin there.
A tip if young people are your goal from day one: you can steer your training towards it early, choose placement settings involving young people where available, take CPD in child development and safeguarding, and read into the field as you go. Your specialism can shape your journey long before it formally begins.
Step 4: Consolidate your practice: The Level 5 Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling
Once qualified, the strongest next step isn’t the specialism itself, it’s consolidating who you are as a practitioner. The Level 5 Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling develops the depth, autonomy and professional maturity to work fully independently: more sophisticated assessment and formulation, confident risk work, and the readiness to manage complex client work on your own judgement.
It also does something concrete for your professional standing. Level 5 study supports you in meeting the competencies of the SCoPEd framework, the shared standards the major professional bodies (BACP, NCPS and others) have aligned their training and accreditation requirements around.
Our Level 5 Psychotherapeutic Diploma is accredited by the NCPS as meeting SCoPEd Column B competencies, which puts you in a much stronger position when you apply for accreditation a couple of years after qualifying.
For anyone heading towards work with children and young people, this stage matters doubly: young clients deserve a counsellor who is already secure in the fundamentals, because the specialism will stretch every one of them.
Step 5: Specialise in children and young people
With your practice consolidated (and ideally with accreditation achieved or underway) you’re ready to specialise. The recognised CPCAB specialism is the Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People, which gives you the specialist knowledge, skills and competencies to counsel young people aged 11–18. Expect to cover:
- Child and adolescent development, and what it means for therapeutic work
- Age-appropriate ways of working and building trust with young clients
- Safeguarding in depth. The legal and ethical framework around under-18s
- Working with the systems around a young person: families, schools and agencies
Step 6: Build experience in young-people settings
Alongside and after the specialism, experience is what turns the qualification into a career: supervised practice with young clients, roles or volunteering in schools and youth agencies, and specialist supervision from a practitioner experienced in CYP work.
Where the jobs are
Qualified children’s and young people’s counsellors work across a genuinely varied landscape:
- Schools and colleges: the largest employer of CYP counsellors, from primary pastoral support to sixth-form services
- Charities and youth agencies: young people’s services, family support organisations, bereavement charities
- NHS and commissioned services: children and young people’s mental health services and partner organisations
- Private practice: many CYP counsellors build a private caseload, often alongside school or agency work, frequently with referrals coming from parents seeking support for their child
It’s worth saying plainly: this is a field where demand is real and persistent. Waiting lists for young people’s mental health support are long nationally, and schools and agencies consistently seek qualified specialists.
What about working with under-11s?
The CYP diploma covers ages 11–18. Working therapeutically with younger children (roughly 4–11) typically involves additional specialist training in play-based and creative approaches, since younger children communicate through play far more than words.
If that’s where your heart is, the CYP diploma remains a strong foundation, with play-therapy-oriented training as a further step. (As a counselling service ourselves, our own children’s counsellors work with children from age 5, so we know this need first-hand.)
How long does the whole journey take?
Honestly: this is a specialism you build towards over years, not months. From a standing start, allow around four years part-time to qualify as a counsellor (Levels 2–4), a further year consolidating through the Level 5 Psychotherapeutic Diploma, and then the CYP specialism when you’re ready, with accreditation developing along the way. If you’re already a qualified counsellor, the consolidate-then-specialise stages are the path ahead of you.
That’s a serious commitment, and it filters for the right reason. Young people deserve well-established, well-trained specialists. And every stage is valuable in itself: you’ll be a qualified, practising, increasingly accredited counsellor throughout, earning and gaining experience as you go.
What can you earn?
CYP counselling spans employed and private work, so earnings vary. Employed roles in schools, charities and services broadly track general counselling pay. NHS-aligned roles commonly sit around Band 5 (roughly £31,000–£38,000), with specialist and senior roles above. In private practice, UK counsellors typically charge £45–£80 per session, and CYP work benefits from a distinctive referral stream: parents actively seeking support for their children, in a market where specialists are scarce. (Figures indicative; they vary by region, setting and experience.)
Why this specialism matters
Behind the career logic sits the real reason most people choose this path: early support changes lives. The struggles that bring adults to counselling very often trace back to things that happened (and went unsupported) when they were young. Counsellors who work with children and young people get to be the support that arrives early. Few careers offer that.
Train with Mindspace
At Mindspace Foundation in Basingstoke, we deliver the complete pathway under one roof: the Level 2–4 practitioner route, the Level 5 Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling to consolidate your practice and prepare for accreditation, and the CYP diploma for established counsellors ready to specialise. We’re also a practising counselling service for children (from age 5) and young people ourselves, so you’ll be training with a college that does this work every day, not just teaches it.
Already qualified? The Level 5 Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling is your next step, with the CYP diploma beyond it. Starting from the beginning? Begin with our guide to becoming a counsellor or the Level 2 Certificate, or contact us and we’ll map the route with you.
