Hi Tatiane,

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond. It will very much depend on the specific area of work you’d like to go into. In the UK some titles are regulated and legally defined (such as clinical psychologist) and others (such as counsellor) are not. If you haven’t already, it would be worth contacting the British Psychology Society (BPS) to see if your qualifications would make you eligible for graduate basis for chartered membership. If they would then this would open up the possibility of training as a clinical psychologist, counselling psychologist, sports psychologist, etc (see https://www.bps.org.uk/public/become-psychologist/postgraduate-study-and-qualifications).

Provided your Counselling MA was taught in a group and included at least 100 hours of clinical practice, overseen by a qualified supervisor, then you are likely to be eligible to join one of the UK professional bodies and practice as a counsellor. The two main ones that you may be eligible for are the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the National Counselling Society (NCS). If your course doesn’t meet their requirements then they should be able to advise you what else you would need to do in order to join.

In terms of gaining experience, there are a huge number of different opportunities you could pursue, both paid and on a voluntary basis. Paid support worker and mental health support worker roles come up on a regular basis. If you are eligible to join the BPS then you could look for roles such as assistant psychologist or associate psychologist. If you would like to volunteer then organisations such as the Samaritans, Mind, Relate, and any local charities would be worth exploring.

Good luck!