Is the psychological counselor certificate valuable?

To put it bluntly, there is no general standard answer to this question. All the psychological counselor certificates on the market now are not the national admission qualification certificates of the past. The value of the certificate depends entirely on the purpose of getting the certificate and the issuing institution you choose. If you boast that you can reach the sky in one step or if you step down, it will be worthless. Basically, they are all selfish reasons to bring in goods or to persuade you to quit.

Old practitioners all know that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security canceled the second- and third-level professional qualification examinations for psychological counselors in 2017. The previous certificate was really hard, and it was equivalent to legal recognition that you have the qualifications to practice. Now it has been discontinued. Currently, all those who can apply for the exams are training certificates issued by various institutions. In essence, they are certificates that you have received relevant systematic training, not statutory practice certificates.

It is precisely because of this that the industry is particularly controversial about this type of certificate. I attended an industry salon a while ago and met two colleagues who got choked up over this matter: A senior consultant who has been working for almost ten years said that the current certificates are all IQ taxes. People with no basic knowledge can get the certificate in two months of training, and then dare to accept fee-based cases, which has ruined the reputation of the entire industry.； Another non-major girl who had just been in the field for two years was dissatisfied and said that the national examination had been suspended. When she changed careers, she couldn't just tell the interviewing agency that she had studied psychology on her own, right? She got a training certificate from the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. At least they were willing to give her a chance to be an intern assistant, otherwise she wouldn't even be able to get into the industry.

In the cases I have come across, there are both situations. There used to be a moral education teacher in a key middle school who usually had to deal with many students' emotional and interpersonal conflicts. He took the time to apply for formal systematic training and get a certificate. Not only did he learn adolescent psychology and crisis intervention content that can be directly used in his work, but he also received extra points for having relevant professional training experience when evaluating his professional title. For him, this certificate is very valuable. ； There was also a young girl who had just graduated. She was deceived by the salesperson and said that she could get a certificate after taking the certificate. She earned tens of thousands of dollars a year and paid more than 8,000 in training fees to pass the exam.

In fact, to give a very simple analogy, the current psychological counselor training certificate is like a training certificate from a driving school. You cannot use it to directly drive a commercial vehicle on the highway to make money. However, if you really follow a reliable training institution to learn theoretical and practical skills solidly, this certificate can at least prove that you have received systematic training. It is much more reliable than those who have only watched a few short psychology videos and figured it out by themselves, whether they are looking for relevant internships or empowering their jobs. If you expect to just rely on that piece of paper and just want to be a consultant for a fee and make money by being affiliated without doing any follow-up study, then it would be strange if you don't get into trouble.

The consensus in the industry is actually very clear now. If you want to really work as a psychological counselor full-time, it is far from enough to have a certificate. Follow-up practical training, case accumulation, personal experience, and supervision are all more expensive than a certificate and much more useful than that piece of paper. But for non-professionals and professionals who want to empower their jobs (such as HR, community workers, educators), choosing a training program from a certification institution that is highly recognized in the industry, taking a certificate and forcing yourself to turn scattered interests into a systematic knowledge system is actually a very cost-effective choice. The gold content at this time is ultimately given by what you actually learn, not by the beautifully printed paper.