A Pass Meant Everything to Me
Rob, from Sheffield, first began honing his skills as a Counsellor in 2011 when he enrolled on to a course at his local college. He then went on to study the Diploma in Counselling Level 4 qualification at North Notts College in Worksop.
Rob has completed placements working in bereavement counselling at Bassetlaw Hospital and Cruse Bereavement Care which is the leading national charity for bereaved people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Rob has practiced since October 2016 as an associate for Krysallis who lends services to Gamcare, a partner of Krystallis in Sheffield. Rob provides specialist counselling for problem (addicted) gamblers and others affected by gambling on behalf of Gamcare which is a national charity funded by the gambling industry that provides support for gamblers as well as their friends and families.
Rob has a young family and has worked full-time in the engineering industry for many years. Looking back over his school years Rob mentioned he always enjoyed interacting and connecting with people and being a mentor. Rob said “You’ve got to do it to find out, I took to it straight away and it felt so right that I’ve carried on.”
The North Notts College counselling course involved a lot of group work, introspection and keeping a weekly journal. Rob said “There was a lot of self-reflection and theory. It was difficult but I had an appetite for it and that gave me the momentum to get through it. At first I wasn’t great at essay writing but my skills improved throughout my course.”
Rob has had some of his writing published in an article in the BACP Private Practice Journal in Spring 2017. He wrote a letter expressing his appreciation for an article in the Winter issue and how it had helped his work at GamCare. Rob was proud his opinions had been shared and felt encouraged by how much his writing had improved throughout his course.
In addition to improvements in his writing Rob has experienced many benefits from his course, not only has it improved his work in the counselling sector and given him a great sense of pride at how much he has developed throughout but has influenced all aspects of his life.
“To pass the course has meant everything to me”, said Rob, “I feel really proud of my personal milestones but it’s also a continuous journey. It has made me look at things differently and it’s very much about personal development as well. I would absolutely recommend the course.”