Work with our trainees as a placement provider

Thank you for your interest in becoming a professional placement provider with Long Valley Therapy Training.Our second-year trainee therapists must complete a 100-hour placement to develop professionally.

This practical experience is essential for applying knowledge, building connections, and developing our trainees’ confidence as they work toward qualifying. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship: our students gain real-world professional growth, while your service and team benefit from their contribution.

Before we move ahead, we feel it’s important to be transparent about what we look for in a placement provider.

1. An established structure — Placement providers must have key policies (health & safety, safeguarding, data protection, etc.) established and accessible.
2. Manageable workload — Counselling is emotionally taxing, so we don’t allow trainees to work with more than four clients a week — a number they should build up to gradually over their first few months. Sessions must also be between fifty and sixty minutes long.
3. Appropriate age group — Our trainees are only taught techniques and theories appropriate for work with adults and late teens. They are not permitted to work with anyone under the age of sixteen, with no exceptions. At least 60% of their placement hours must be with adults.
4. Clinical supervision — Trainees require ongoing, fortnightly supervision with a qualified clinical supervisor, amounting to no less than two hours per calendar month, or a ratio of 1:8 supervision to placement hours — whichever is greater. If you’re unable to provide supervision with a qualified practitioner in-house, you must agree to trainees engaging an external supervisor.
5. Paperwork & line management — As part of their assessment, trainees must submit two key pieces of paperwork: a placement report and a supervisor’s report. You’ll need to support them in completing these within a reasonable timeframe.
6. Physical space — We’re committed to protecting our trainees, their clients, and the reputation of the profession. Counselling requires a space that is respectful, safe, consistent, and confidential. Please reflect on the physical space you’re able to offer before contacting us.

Limitations – We are NOT a good fit if you are:

You’re an independent counsellor. We only work with established services such as schools, colleges, charities, and counselling agencies.

You’d expect trainees to pay for the placement. They’re professional adults already giving significant time and bringing real value, this arrangement is exploitative and something we won’t support.

You’d want a contract that ties trainees into voluntary hours beyond their mandatory 100.

You force membership of a professional body other than the NCPS. All our trainees are student members of the NCPS, a body with an established PSA register and an active member of the SCoPEd project.