Making the Most of Counselling & Psychotherapy Placements

The book offers invaluable advice on how to locate a placement and, more importantly, what kinds of issues trainees should be considering as they embark upon clinical placements. I particularly enjoyed the sections on personal readiness, which invites trainees to fully consider the many different way(s) in which engaging with a clinical placement will draw upon their time, finances, ethics, work/life balance and emotional resources. The exercises offered are a particularly useful resource for helping trainees to manage the demands of their training and take account of the level of responsibility involved. The chapter on supervision is also invaluable as it forewarns trainees of the importance of preparation when entering a relationship that involves the dual process of professional support alongside formal assessment.

In all, this book is a much needed resource for all students undergoing clinical placements as part of their therapeutic training. I will recommend it to my own trainees and access it when preparing our own university based Placement Induction Training. 

This is a valuable resource for counselling trainees, trainers, supervisors and placement providers. Oldale and Cooke provide a clear, accessible framework including aims and objectives, facilitative activities and further reading. The vignettes are particularly valuable and could help to ease many of the concerns experienced by trainees embarking on counselling placements.

This book usefully and clearly summarises much of the accrued wisdom surrounding the role of placements in training and the placement search held by training providers.  The use of student vignettes helps the reader connect to the material on a personal level, and the emphasis on ethics and reflexivity will prepare trainees well for the placement application and interview process.  I will be recommending this book to new students on our counselling and counselling psychology training programmes.

I felt the book was clearly structured and contained much helpful information. I particularly liked the sections on applying for and selecting a placement. The authors have included plenty of opportunities for reflection through practical exercises, and PDF versions have also been helpfully put online. 

'Bravo' to the writers of this excellent book, which puts together all the information on student placements in an easy to read, accessible format. Valuable not only for students on counselling and psychotherapy courses, but also for trainers, supervisors and organisations, it offers a wealth of practical information...This is certainly a book I would recommend to my students and it would also be a useful addition to any reading list for trainees in the counselling field.