Counselling placements at Unmasked Mental Health
Developing confident, ethical counsellors while expanding access to mental health support.
Unmasked Mental Health provides structured, supportive counselling placements for students working towards qualifications from Level 4 to Level 7.
With up to 50 student counsellors on placement at any one time and as many as 155 counselling sessions delivered each week, we offer students meaningful experience within a busy, established community counselling service.
Our placement model combines supervised client work, ongoing development and close collaboration with colleges and universities. This enables students to build their skills safely and ethically while helping more people access compassionate, subsidised counselling at the point of need.
Leadership
Experienced leadership, built from within
Our counselling service is led by Lynsey Judson, a qualified counsellor, counselling supervisor and Mental Health First Aid trainer.
Lynsey is supported by a team of counselling coordinators who understand the student journey first-hand. Every member of the team completed their own counselling placement with Unmasked Mental Health before qualifying as a counsellor and progressing into their current role.
This continuity creates a supportive learning environment shaped by people who understand the challenges, responsibilities and opportunities that come with completing a counselling placement. Students benefit from a team that is invested in their development and knows what it takes to grow from trainee to qualified practitioner.
Our service
Our counselling service
Meaningful experience within an established community service
Unmasked Mental Health provides low-cost, subsidised counselling to adults through face-to-face sessions at our Halifax centre and online appointments across the UK.
Our student counsellors form an essential part of this service, collectively helping us deliver up to 155 counselling sessions every week. Clients come to us with a wide range of experiences, including anxiety, low mood, bereavement, trauma, relationship difficulties, life changes and challenges affecting their overall mental health and wellbeing.
Every client completes an initial consultation with a qualified counsellor before being carefully matched with a student whose training, experience and therapeutic approach are appropriate for their needs. This helps protect client wellbeing while giving students valuable, supported experience of working within a busy counselling service.
Why Unmasked
Why complete your placement with Unmasked?
More than client hours
A placement with Unmasked Mental Health offers more than the opportunity to complete your required clinical hours. Students become part of an experienced, welcoming team and are supported to develop their confidence, professional identity and understanding of ethical practice.
Students benefit from:
- Experience within a busy, established counselling service
- A varied and meaningful client caseload
- Regular contact with our counselling leadership team
- Structured personal development reviews
- Opportunities for continuing professional development
- Clear policies, procedures and professional boundaries
- A supportive community of fellow student counsellors
- Experience of both face-to-face and online counselling, where appropriate
- Guidance from qualified counsellors who completed their own placements with Unmasked
We recognise that every student develops at a different pace. Our team works alongside each trainee, their supervisor and their education provider to help them build their skills safely and make the most of their placement experience.
Support
How we support our student counsellors
Supported practice at every stage
Student counsellors are never expected to manage the demands of placement alone. Our counselling leadership team provides structured guidance and ongoing support throughout each student’s time with Unmasked.
This includes:
- A comprehensive placement induction
- Clear guidance on policies, procedures and ethical responsibilities
- Regular personal development reviews
- Support with client matching and caseload management
- Guidance when working with risk, safeguarding or complex circumstances
- Opportunities to reflect on practice and identify development needs
- Ongoing communication with supervisors, colleges and universities
- Access to relevant training and continuing professional development
Our counselling lead and coordinators invest significant time in supporting students and overseeing the quality and safety of the service. This creates an environment where students can ask questions, reflect honestly and develop their practice with confidence.
Approaches
Our therapeutic approaches
Person-centred and integrative counselling
Our placement community includes student counsellors training in both person-centred and integrative approaches.
Person-centred counselling places the client at the heart of the therapeutic relationship. It provides an empathetic, accepting and non-judgemental environment in which clients can explore their experiences, develop greater self-understanding and identify their own way forward.
Integrative counselling brings together elements from different therapeutic approaches, allowing the counsellor to adapt their way of working to the individual client and their needs.
We recognise and respect the different theoretical approaches taught by our partner colleges and universities. Students are expected to practise within the boundaries of their training, competence and placement agreement.
Ethics
Ethical practice and client safety
A placement built around responsible practice
The wellbeing and safety of our clients and student counsellors are central to the way we operate. Our counselling service works in accordance with the principles and commitments of the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.
Students are expected to work within the limits of their training and competence and to follow Unmasked Mental Health’s policies relating to confidentiality, safeguarding, record keeping, professional boundaries and ethical practice.
Before beginning client work, every student must be approved as fit to practice by their education provider and complete our placement recruitment, screening and induction process.
Our ongoing oversight, client-matching process and close working relationships with supervisors and education providers help ensure that placements are safe, supportive and professionally accountable.
Partners
Our education partners
Working together to develop future counsellors
We work closely with colleges and universities to provide high-quality placement opportunities that complement students’ formal learning and support the development of safe, ethical and confident practitioners.
Our current education partners include:
- Leeds Beckett University
- Calderdale College
- Edge Hill University
- University of Salford
- Manchester Training Academy
- Barnsley College
We welcome conversations with counselling course leaders and placement coordinators who are looking for a trusted community placement provider for their students.
Our team maintains regular communication with education providers and supervisors, sharing appropriate feedback, addressing concerns promptly and working collaboratively to support each student’s development.
If your college or university would like to explore a placement partnership with Unmasked Mental Health, we would be pleased to hear from you.
Expectations
What we expect from student counsellors
Commitment, compassion and professionalism
Our placements are suitable for students studying towards counselling or psychotherapy qualifications from Level 4 to Level 7 who have been approved by their education provider as ready to begin supervised client work.
We look for students who are:
- Compassionate, empathetic and non-judgemental
- Reliable and able to commit to a regular placement schedule
- Open to feedback, reflection and continued learning
- Committed to ethical, inclusive and client-centred practice
- Able to maintain appropriate confidentiality and professional boundaries
- Willing to follow Unmasked Mental Health’s policies and procedures
- Engaged in the supervision required by their course and placement
- Prepared to complete required records and placement documentation promptly
- Committed to ongoing personal and professional development
Providing consistent support to clients is a significant responsibility. We therefore ask students to consider carefully whether they have the time, emotional capacity and commitment needed to undertake a placement alongside their studies and other responsibilities.
Apply
How to apply for a counselling placement
Start your placement journey with Unmasked
If you are studying with one of our education partners and would like to be considered for a placement, please complete our online student placement enquiry form.
As part of the application process, we will:
- 1Review your enquiry and confirm whether suitable placement opportunities are available.
- 2Check your course, level of study and readiness to begin supervised client work.
- 3Invite suitable applicants to meet with members of our counselling team.
- 4Liaise with your college or university to confirm placement requirements.
- 5Complete the necessary checks, agreements and induction before client work begins.
Placement availability depends on the needs and capacity of the service, and submitting an enquiry does not guarantee a placement.
Impact
The difference our students make
Learning that changes lives
Our student counsellors are volunteers, but the contribution they make is invaluable. By giving their time, skills and compassion, students help Unmasked Mental Health deliver up to 155 counselling sessions each week. This enables more people to access subsidised mental health support without the lengthy waits or financial barriers they may experience elsewhere.
For students, every placement hour is an opportunity to develop their practice and professional confidence. For clients, every session is an opportunity to feel heard, understood and supported.
Together, our students, qualified counsellors, coordinators and education partners are building a service that develops future practitioners while making a meaningful difference to people’s lives.
For education providers
Information for colleges and universities
A trusted partner in counsellor development
Unmasked Mental Health provides structured placement opportunities within an established, high-volume community counselling service.
We understand that a successful placement requires close collaboration between the student, education provider, supervisor and placement team. Our counselling coordinators maintain appropriate communication throughout the placement, helping to ensure that students meet professional standards and receive the support they need to develop safely.
Education providers can expect:
- A clear placement application and selection process
- A structured induction before client work begins
- Careful matching of students and clients
- Ongoing oversight from our counselling leadership team
- Regular personal development reviews
- Appropriate communication about progress or concerns
- Clear expectations around ethical practice and professional conduct
- Collaboration with course leaders, placement teams and supervisors
- A supportive environment in which students can build meaningful clinical experience
We are proud of the strong relationships we have developed with our education partners and welcome enquiries from institutions interested in working with Unmasked Mental Health.
Ready to work with Unmasked?
Whether you are a counselling student looking for meaningful placement experience or an education provider seeking a trusted placement partner, we would be pleased to hear from you.