Counselling
Build your future with a career in counselling
If you’re drawn to helping others heal, build resilience, and navigate life’s challenges, our University Centre in Bury St Edmunds is here to support your ambitions. Whether you’re aiming to establish a solid foundation in theory or pursue professional training as an integrative counsellor, we offer the academic rigour, practical placement opportunities, and compassionate environment to help you flourish.
Counselling pathways
BA (Hons) Counselling (Integrative)
Our integrative approach to counselling is a widely recognised counselling method. Developed over the past half century, the model draws on a range of theories that explore how human beings develop as people, how personality and emotional challenges emerge, and how we each act in the light of universal experiences: freedom, death, guilt, anxiety.
Access to Higher Education Counselling
The Access to Higher Education (HE) Diploma in Counselling is designed for adults who wish to progress to university to study counselling, psychotherapy, psychology, or other related disciplines. This programme develops academic skills, introduces students to counselling theory and practice, and prepares them for study at degree level in the health and social care sector.
Why choose our university?
Placement settings with real clients for practical work
Strong links with local providers for real world experience
Expert tutors with real-world experience in counselling
Careers in counselling
INTEGRATIVE COUNSELLOR
Salary: £20,000-£70,000+
Draws on techniques and theories from different counselling models (such as person-centred, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural, and humanistic) to create a flexible, tailored approach for each client. Rather than adhering strictly to one method, they adapt their style depending on the client’s needs, personality, and goals.
WELLBEING PRACTITIONER
Salary: £16,000-£40,000+
Supports individuals to improve and maintain their overall mental, emotional, and sometimes physical wellbeing. They often work in preventative and early intervention roles, helping people manage stress, anxiety, low mood, lifestyle challenges, or work-life balance.
SUPPORT WORKER
Salary: £16,000-£40,000+
Helps vulnerable people live more independently and improve their quality of life. They provide practical, emotional, and social support tailored to each individual’s needs. Support workers assist people with disabilities, mental health conditions, learning difficulties, substance misuse issues, or the elderly, often working in community settings, supported housing, or care homes.
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