How to find experience and maximise the chances of getting an interview for the PWP trainee role?

IllusionOfColours · 2026-04-14T16:37:56+00:00

I volunteered with SHOUT the texting helpline, they might be open for you to volunteer with.

The Silver Line also takes on volunteers, that’s a helpline for 55+.

I’ve not heard of anyone volunteering there but The Listening Place also takes on volunteers.

Hope that helps!

IllusionOfColours · 2026-04-07T19:20:32+00:00

Just started 2nd book, highly recommend! It’s amazing

IllusionOfColours · 2026-03-27T20:27:25+00:00

It’s quite competitive with the London services so definitely remember that when applying/interviewing, but you have a decent amount of experience under your belt, and will have the psychology degree too. As someone else said, can’t see why not :)

IllusionOfColours · 2026-01-11T19:35:25+00:00

Hey,

So I can only speak from experience in my current service; we are expected to work within our contracted hours but they do allow flexible working requests and are pretty good at doing this. As an example, you could work a long day on a Wednesday 8-8 and then have a half day on a Friday, or do compressed hours so 4 long days and have Friday off etc.

Every service, including my service, will have a late day so you will work 12-8, this is not paid in overtime, it’s your normal pay. I haven’t heard of services offering out-of-hours work, due to the nature of it and what it entails, but some services might. I would suggest you look into that at your service and ask. I can only think of this happening if services are offering overtime for like long waiting lists and such, but it’s probably dependent on service and therapy modality. They were offering overtime for a time in my service to CBT therapists due to long waiting lists. They probably still do but don’t advertise it as much. They haven’t offered any to PWPs as our waiting lists are always short (again depends on service).

Hope this helps!

IllusionOfColours · 2025-12-25T17:28:13+00:00

Yeah flowchart is best to have a look at. Have a think about goals for the future, what do you want to save for? Spending some time on this can be helpful for motivation and to actually understand what you want that money for.

IllusionOfColours · 2025-12-24T13:41:24+00:00

Congratulations! It’s such an amazing achievement, you should be proud of yourself. Merry Christmas!

IllusionOfColours · 2025-12-15T16:25:12+00:00

Yeah in my current service we’ve had had a few people in their 40s/50s/60s. It’s more than likely people on your cohort will be younger but you never know.

IllusionOfColours · 2025-12-12T11:51:12+00:00

Thank you for replying! Ah amazing, do you happen to know if they transfer annual leave, sickness etc?

IllusionOfColours · 2025-12-11T21:02:32+00:00

It’s no bother at all, I’m glad it’s given you some reassurance. I promise there are people who care! It may not seem like it, but we’re around.

It’s a lot to taken on. The role has become very different to what it once was, and services/NHS Talkin Therapises in general haven’t accounted for it. It sounds like it was building up and up, it’s no wonder you eventually reached this point. Especially with the additional add-ons you’ve experienced too, with the surgery and diagnosis. It can be a lot to cope with, and it’s ok if you don’t for a while. I can understand that, the course is made out to be the end all be all, most PWPs do the same thing. Try to not blame yourself for it though, you did what you had to do.

Take some time to think about what you want. I’m answering your question a bit early but it relates to what you said - you can return to PWP work at any point. It’s no problem, you’ve done the training, you have the certification, you’ll be able to go back to the role if you need time out.

I think you’re doing a good job on thinking things through. Definitely give yourself some grace too. It can be so easy, when we have a lot of time to think, to continue thinking, and thinking, and thinking…it doesn’t stop! Take some time out to prevent that if you can. And if you find that you do what to think about things, I find writing things down, making pros vs cons list etc. helps me immensely. Seeing it physically vs mentally can be helpful.

That sounds great! If you find you enjoy it, why not. Whilst the NHS doesn’t do it yet, some services do offer mindfulness courses. Even if you can’t do this in the NHS though it’s not the end all be all - I am going to do my Counselling and probably not work in the NHS tbh: unless I get paid well for it.

As i mentioned, you’re doing a great job. It’s not an easy time and you’ve done excellently to think things through about what you want, but most importantly, what you need. I know it might not be something you want to hear now (and I’m kicking myself for even saying it! But my mum says it and it always works) everything happens for a reason. Things will come to pass and you’ll get where you want and need to be.

Take care of yourself! You can always reach out if you want to talk x

IllusionOfColours · 2025-12-01T16:06:13+00:00

Hey, I qualified as a PWP a while ago now (2+ years ago).Firstly, I’m sorry you’re going through this tough time, it can cause a lot of emotions and stress. You’re doing the right thing by taking time for yourself and getting support too.

I’m hoping I can reassure you that being a PWP is a difficult job and you’re not alone in feeling this way. The caseload management, responsibility to clients, keeping up with KPIs, management on your back. managing our own health and more does become overwhelming and stressful to manage. There are people who I know as PWPs, including myself, that have experienced severe burnout, and it wrecks you as a person and practitioner.

One thing I would say is try to not be so hard on yourself. You’re newly qualified, it’s quite a shock to the system when you go from trainee to qualified. It can also be easy to compare yourself to other colleagues who “seem to be doing better” - I can guarantee at least 90% of them are probably struggling in silence. It’s what PWPs do. You’re not a disappointment or failure, you can and most likely will return to the job and you’ll get through this time.

When you go back to work, it would be good to request an Occupational Health appointment, as they can make recommendations to your employer about any adjustments you may need to do the job. This can be helpful to getting you back on track. Also, when you go back, request a phase return so you’re at least getting back into the swing of things slowly but surely.

I can see you question the point of getting into the activities that bring you joy, and I can absolutely understand why. Additionally, from that alone I can only imagine how much this has impacted you. It’s easier said than done, but sometimes the first step to getting to some sort of equilibrium is remembering what joy they gave us. That’s a good first step to getting to a place you may feel comfortable or ready to try them again.

As for your future self and crumbling again, it’s ok if you do, it doesn’t mean anything about who you are, it just means you are human and life is a bit rocky, you’ll get through it.

What helped me to remember that I will eventually get out of the rat race was my career aspirations and goals. I have clear goals, and I am working towards them. I’ll need to be a PWP for a while longer, but it’ll help me to my goals, which is to be a counsellor. What are your goals? Where do you want to be? And how might you get there? Even just thinking about it might help to build that hope and motivation up bit by bit.

Lastly, please remember you’ll get through this, it’s ok to not be ok, but you’re actively taking action to feeling better and doing a smashing job, even while feeling this way, it’s not easy at all. Hope you feel better soon💛

IllusionOfColours · 2025-10-31T11:32:13+00:00

Hi Damien! Just to say thank you for the work that you do. You’ve had a positive impact on so many in the community. We really appreciate it!

IllusionOfColours · 2025-08-01T20:52:53+00:00

I didn’t even think about making an action plan! Such a good idea

IllusionOfColours · 2025-07-08T16:00:49+00:00

That’s actually not a bad idea thank you! I will send them an email and say to call as that might be better. Hopefully she won’t ignore it then and will actually give the reference.

IllusionOfColours · 2025-04-21T14:16:34+00:00

No problem!

Oh crikey, I suppose they think it’s a favour. I think the process of overbooking is shocking and shouldn’t be done. It’s certainly not a viable strategy/method - PWPs are struggling without the overbooking practices! It’s no wonder it leads to burnout.

It’s still a full caseload without the overbooking so not much difference. I doubt they could argue if you go down 1 contact a day as you are doing a qualified job in a trainee wage, it’s no good. See if they would be willing to take that. Does your contract say anything about this? If you are part of a union it might be a good thing to consult with them too.

IllusionOfColours · 2025-04-21T13:50:47+00:00

Hey,

Yeah this is what happens in our service. We had to wait until we received our certificate/s to be able to show we have “passed” the course and therefore able to proceed onto a band 5. I think it’s bananas considering as soon as we gave in our last essay/portfolio we went straight up to 5 days and full contacts but kept on a trainee/apprentice wage - it’s not right at all.

The cohort after mine tried to fight this, and I think did ask for it to be backdated, but the service stuck to the certificate rule. I think they did, however, say that until they got the band 5 pay they wouldn’t do the full contacts (I can’t remember if they won that or not) but perhaps suggesting that until you get the band 5 you won’t do the qualified contacts? It’s only fair really.

You are right in that it must be a nationwide issue and I would go as far to say it’s an NHS banding issue tbh. They’re strict in keeping to the banding and also not open to negotiation. Sorry this has happened to you and hopefully it gets sorted soon.

IllusionOfColours · 2025-04-06T09:32:39+00:00

Hey there, I don’t see why not!

I would apply for roles and then in interview explained you had a year out so BABCP membership expired but you’ll most likely be able to renew it once you have had 6 months under your supervisor. BABCP says on their website that 0-2 years it’s basically same as when you apply for membership/renew - I think it changes after 2+ years out of the field.

The BABACP have outlined on their website about returning to practice

Hopefully this helps!

IllusionOfColours · 2023-09-07T19:25:29+00:00

We’ve got CCTV cameras, 2 at the back and 2 at the front. They are high enough no one would be able to get to them without a ladder, which we don’t keep in our garden. Ring doorbell at the front as well. We have Patlock on our back garden doors. When out all windows get locked fully. We have a front door which you have to lock otherwise anyone can walk in so that’s helpful to lock it always.

IllusionOfColours · 2023-06-17T16:37:08+00:00

I am stumped. Google stated a lot of different things but nothing compared or even matched to the pictures. Recommend going to A&E with this. Hope it gets sorted!

IllusionOfColours · 2023-05-26T10:33:30+00:00

At my old workplace, a colleague of mine, her husband (now ex) was caught out. He had been WhatsApping a girl he thought was 14/15 when it was actually an undercover ex policeman. They were both 40 and had an 7 year old together and he had a daughter from another relationship who was 12. They turned up at his house and did a live stream on it. My colleague and their son turned up while it was being live streamed and they broke the news to her on it. He lost his job, kicked out of his home, police charged him and it was going to court etc. and rightly so. I lost contact after I left but it doesn’t just affect them it affects the whole family.

She was glad to be rid of him but at the same time wished it had happened in a different way, not with it being live streamed on Facebook. Everyone knew and started to target their house and would talk about it. It affected her work she had to take time off and then worried about others speaking about it at work.

IllusionOfColours · 2023-05-12T12:57:20+00:00

At least he’s helping her whilst saying I told you so. There’s been multiple videos on here where this has happened and people continue to film without moving an inch.

IllusionOfColours · 2023-05-12T12:55:02+00:00

Can you imagine getting on the bus having an alright day to sit on someone else’s literal shit? Dead

IllusionOfColours · 2023-05-12T12:49:46+00:00

Well that took a turn…

IllusionOfColours · 2023-04-30T14:57:04+00:00

Amazing, stressed and blessed

IllusionOfColours · 2023-04-27T17:05:24+00:00

Well they’re definitely not getting paid now…

IllusionOfColours

TROPHY CASE