Real clinical experience
Build your client hours through regular one-to-one counselling work.
COUNSELLING PLACEMENTS · THE ASH
Grow your practice.
Be held while you learn.
Whether you are a trainee building your first clinical hours or a qualified counsellor developing towards accreditation, The Ash offers space to practise, reflect and grow within a culturally attuned, inclusive clinical community.
Clinical work grows through reflection, supervision and relationship.
A PLACEMENT WITH PURPOSE
Clinical experience with support around it.
The Ash welcomes trainee counsellors who are ready for supervised client work, as well as qualified counsellors who are seeking voluntary clinical experience while working towards accreditation.
Our aim is to create a placement environment where counsellors can gain meaningful experience while remaining connected to supervision, safeguarding support, peer reflection and clear clinical boundaries — and where culturally attuned practice, diversity and inclusion are part of the clinical culture rather than an afterthought.
Supervision around the work
Clinical supervision sits alongside placement work so you are not holding difficult material alone.
Safeguarding support
Clear escalation routes help trainees understand when and how to bring concerns into the wider clinical team.
A reflective community
Peer spaces and clinical conversations support learning beyond the therapy hour.
SUPERVISION & CLINICAL SUPPORT
You should not have to figure everything out by yourself.
Trainees receive group supervision as part of the placement structure. Individual supervision is provided once a counsellor is consistently working with four or more clients.
Safeguarding, risk and clinical questions can also be brought into the appropriate support routes within The Ash, alongside your university and professional responsibilities.
Current supervision structure
Fewer than 4 clients — group supervision
4+ clients consistently — individual supervision
CULTURALLY ATTUNED BY DESIGN
We want counsellors who are curious about the whole person.
People arrive in therapy carrying culture, family, faith, race, identity, migration, class, language, community, relationships and experiences of belonging — as well as whatever has brought them to counselling.
At The Ash, culturally attuned practice means being willing to notice these contexts, think about difference and power, reflect on your own position, and remain curious rather than making assumptions.
You do not need to share a client’s identity to work with them well. You do need openness, humility, reflection and a genuine willingness to understand their world.
TRAINEE COUNSELLORS
Build your clinical practice.
For students whose training provider has confirmed readiness for supervised client work and who want a supportive placement in which to develop.
QUALIFIED COUNSELLORS
Continue growing after qualification.
For qualified counsellors seeking voluntary clinical experience, a reflective clinical community and further practice while working towards accreditation.
WHAT WE VALUE
Difference is welcomed here.
We want a counselling team with varied backgrounds, cultures, identities, experiences and therapeutic perspectives so that our service better reflects the people who come to us.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Different modalities. Shared clinical values.
We welcome applications from counselling and psychotherapy trainees whose course has confirmed they are ready for supervised client work, and from qualified counsellors seeking voluntary experience as they develop towards accreditation. We are particularly interested in broadening both the modalities and lived perspectives represented within The Ash.
Psychodynamic
Trainees developing a psychodynamic or psychoanalytic way of thinking about relationship, meaning and the therapeutic process.
CBT
Trainees working within a structured cognitive-behavioural framework and able to practise within the limits of their training.
Integrative
Counsellors who thoughtfully integrate more than one therapeutic approach within a coherent framework.
Person-Centred / Humanistic
Trainees grounded in relational, empathic and person-centred ways of working.
WHAT MATTERS TO US
Readiness is more than having reached the right year of training.
Clinical curiosity
A willingness to think about your work, receive feedback and keep learning.
Professional boundaries
Reliable communication, appropriate record keeping and respect for the therapeutic frame.
Safeguarding awareness
The confidence to notice concerns and seek support rather than holding risk alone.
Cultural attunement & inclusion
A willingness to work thoughtfully across culture, race, faith, identity, class, sexuality, disability and different lived experiences — with humility and reflection.
BEFORE YOU APPLY
What we will ask you about.
Your application helps us understand your training or qualification stage, modality, readiness for client work, existing experience, approach to culturally attuned practice and the practical shape of the opportunity you are looking for.
01
Your current counselling or psychotherapy training and institution
02
Your modality and stage of training
03
Existing client hours and relevant experience
04
DBS status, safeguarding training and professional membership where applicable
05
Your availability and the number of client hours you are seeking
06
Confirmation from your course that you are ready to work with clients
THE APPLICATION JOURNEY
From application to placement.
Apply
Complete the placement application and upload the requested documents.
Review
We review your training, readiness, availability and the fit with current placement capacity.
Conversation
Suitable applicants are invited to discuss the placement, expectations and clinical framework.
Onboarding
Once checks and references are complete, we agree your onboarding and readiness to receive clients.
PLACEMENT APPLICATION
Apply to join The Ash.
Tell us about your training, experience, availability and the kind of placement you are looking for.