I'm a counselling student — can I take this course?

Created by Colette Kelly, Modified on Thu, 7 May at 10:15 AM by Colette Kelly

At a Glance

Yes — the course is open to diploma-level counselling students who are currently seeing clients as part of their qualification. Building autism-informed practice into your work from early on is a real advantage, both for the clients you'll meet and for the kind of practitioner you'll become.

Eligibility for students

To enrol as a student, you should:

Be working towards a counselling or psychotherapy qualification at diploma level or above

Be currently seeing clients as part of your training (e.g. on placement)

Have a professional body affiliation appropriate to your stage

Engage in regular supervision

If you're earlier in training and not yet seeing clients, the course will likely make more sense once you're in placement. Email us if you want to talk it through.

Why this matters for your career

Autism is not systematically covered in core counselling training in the UK. Most practitioners qualify without specific knowledge of how to work with autistic clients — a gap they often only recognise years later, when they realise how many of their clients are autistic, diagnosed or otherwise.

Taking this course while you're still in training has a few advantages:

You build autism-informed practice from the start, not as a retrofit

Your placement work benefits — you're already adapting your communication, contracting, and environment for autistic clients

You graduate with a specialism that's increasingly sought after

You avoid forming preconceptions based on outdated training, because you're working from an affirming framework from the beginning

What students say

Members who took the course as students consistently report that it shaped how they see clients across the board — not just autistic ones.

"I feel this course has aided me in ensuring my practice is more inclusive and reflective of individual clients' need whether they are neurodivergent or neurotypical."

"Tangible things I can immediately implement into my practice to be more inclusive."

The understanding generalises. Working with autistic clients well makes you a better practitioner with every client.

Want to know more?

You can see full course details — including upcoming start dates and current pricing — at the Certificate in Working Therapeutically with Autistic Clients page.

If you have a specific question we haven't answered here, email us at support@counsellingtutor.com — a real person will reply within 24 hours.