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Counsellors and Psychotherapists as Mental Health Practitioners: A Mental Health Familiarisation online series

This dynamic 4-part series of online workshops has been designed to support trainee and qualified Counsellors and Psychotherapists to develop a critical appreciation of our professional roles within the wider system of mental health care. They will also support those seeking to fulfil the UKCP’s Mental Health Familiarisation Placement requirements.

Whilst our core training and practice provide us with the theory and skills required to engage clients in the therapeutic endeavour, an appreciation of ourselves as mental health practitioners working within the systems of mental health care provision is all-too often missed. So, as we tend to our clients in private practice and service clinics, we can often feel set apart and unfamiliar with the experiences of our clients as mental health ‘patients’ and from our mental health colleagues with whom we are effectively working with. This can mean we often feel deskilled in providing the informed, collaborative care essential to so many of our clients.

Workshop aims

This series of workshops has been designed to support counsellors, psychotherapists and trainees to develop a critical appreciation of themselves as mental health practitioners. Participants will be familiarised with the language, systems, stakeholders and processes of mental health care as it is currently delivered within the UK today and will be invited to critically engage with the philosophical and socio-political principles that underpin this. We have brought together a range of experts to deliver this programme including Psychotherapists and Psychologists with significant experience of delivering therapeutic care within mental health services.

Mental Health Familiarisation Placement

Each online workshop has been designed to meet the four criteria for the Mental Health Familiarisation Placement (MHFP) required to gain registration as a Psychotherapist with the UKCP. You can view the UKCP Mental Health Familiarisation requirements here. The UKCP stipulate that prospective Psychotherapists should be able to demonstrate their learning and experience of the following four areas of mental health, which map on to our online workshops as follows:

• Working within a wider system of care 

Workshop 1: Counsellors and psychotherapists in the wider system of mental health care with Geoff Hopping – Friday 14th November 2025 09.30-16.30 (6 hours and 1 hour break)

• Working within a social responsibility framework 

Workshop 2: A socially responsible understanding of mental health with Ngozi Cadmus – Friday 12th December 2025 10:00 – 17:00  (6 hours and 1 hour break)

• Awareness of diagnosis and treatment 

Workshop 3: Diagnosing and treating mental ‘ill-health’ with Giovanni Felice Pace – Saturday 17th January 2026 09.30-16.30 (6 hours and 1 hour break)

• A range of models of assessment 

Workshop 4: Models of assessment: how the mental health care system understands clients with ‘mental illness’ with Dr Rachel Hopping –  Friday 6th March 09.30-16.30 (6 hours and 1 hour break)

Delivery: Live and interactive via Zoom. Sessions will not be recorded.

Cost: £110 per workshop. A discount of 10% will be applied to group bookings of all four workshops for a total of £396. Link Centre Members please book via admin@thelinkcentre.co.uk

Participant numbers: Spaces are limited to 40 participants.

Recognition: A Link Centre Certificate of Attendance for the number of hours completed.

Pre-Course Requirements: Participants should be qualified or trainee Counsellors or Psychotherapists.

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