In this post, Raushan Kamdar reflects on her personal experiences of being a tutor on our professional Diploma in Integrative Counselling and Psychological Therapy.


Teaching on a counselling programme is a privilege – one I hold with a deep sense of responsibility and gratitude.

At its heart, counselling training is not simply about delivering content or assessing competence. It is about walking alongside people as they step into a profession that asks something profound of them. It asks for self-awareness, emotional courage, intellectual discipline, and ethical steadiness. To be invited into that developmental journey, and to witness it unfold over time, is deeply meaningful.

Witnessing growth 

One of the most rewarding aspects of this work is watching students grow. Growth in counselling is rarely dramatic. It happens gradually, often quietly. A student who once rushed to fill silence begins to sit comfortably with it. Someone who felt unsure of their voice starts to speak with clarity and conviction. Self-doubt softens into grounded presence.

In the early stages of training, many students understandably search for certainty. They may compare themselves to peers, worry about ‘doing it right’, or look for the ‘perfect’ intervention to feel secure. Over the course of training, something shifts. The focus moves from performance to presence, from finding the right words to offering steady attention. Witnessing that shift, the emergence of a professional identity that feels authentic, is one of the great privileges of teaching.
 

Teaching as shared inquiry

Teaching counselling is also one of the most powerful ways to continue learning. Students arrive with diverse backgrounds, lived experiences and perspectives. They ask questions that challenge assumptions. They bring contemporary social realities into discussion. They notice tensions within theory that may have become overly familiar to those of us who have taught it for years.

The classroom becomes a space of shared inquiry rather than one-directional instruction. Dialogue is central. Often, the most meaningful learning arises not from planned slides, but from rich, unfolding conversations. A thoughtful question may open unexpected avenues of reflection. A respectful disagreement may deepen understanding for everyone in the room.

These dialogues require humility and attentiveness. They mirror the counselling relationship itself –  collaborative, exploratory and rooted in curiosity. Being part of those conversations is energising and humbling in equal measure.
 

A spirit of collaboration

Counselling training thrives in a spirit of collaboration. Students learn as much from one another as they do from tutors. The diversity within each cohort in age, culture, profession and life experience creates a richness that no textbook could replicate. When trainees reflect together, practise together and sometimes struggle together, something important develops: a professional community.
Collaboration also models pluralism in action. No single approach or perspective holds the entire truth. Learning to sit with multiple viewpoints and to integrate them thoughtfully is part of becoming an ethical practitioner. The training room becomes a microcosm of the therapeutic world: relational, reflective, and shaped by curiosity and dialogue.
 

Bringing clinical practice into the classroom

Continuing to practise clinically alongside teaching keeps the work grounded and alive. Real therapeutic encounters bring nuance that cannot be captured fully in text and theory alone. While maintaining confidentiality, drawing upon clinical experience allows teaching to remain connected to lived practice, real challenges, tensions, moments of uncertainty and the complexity of real human encounters.
It also models something essential: that even experienced practitioners continue to reflect, question, and grow. Counselling is not a static achievement; it is an evolving practice. Students benefit from seeing how theory translates into real-world decisions, how frameworks guide but do not dictate, and how humility remains central at every stage of professional life.
 

Developing training in a changing world

A deeply valued aspect of the role is the ongoing development of modules informed by contemporary research and emerging professional debates.
Counselling does not exist in isolation from society. Social contexts shift. Language evolves. Research advances. Ethical conversations deepen. Ensuring that training reflects these changes is both a responsibility and an intellectual pleasure. 

Engaging with new evidence and theoretical developments keeps the course dynamic and responsive. It ensures that students graduate not only grounded in enduring principles but equipped to practise in a complex and changing world.
 

Working within a diverse tutor team

Teaching does not happen in isolation. Tutors need their village to thrive. Being part of a diverse tutor team adds immeasurable richness to the experience.
Colleagues bring different modalities, clinical pathways and areas of expertise. Some may lean more towards person-centred philosophy, others towards cognitive-behavioural frameworks, compassion-focused approaches or integrative practice. Together, this diversity models the pluralist ethos we hope students will carry into their work.

Conversations within the tutor team are often as reflective as those in the classroom. We support one another, help in refining ideas and approaches with a shared commitment to high standards and ethical integrity. There is something deeply reassuring about belonging to a team that values collaboration, reflection, and each other’s ongoing professional development. 
 

Walking alongside complexity

Counselling training is demanding. Students grapple not only with theory and skills, but with questions of power, bias, identity and responsibility. To walk alongside trainees as they navigate this complexity is a genuine privilege.

There are moments of challenge and self-doubt as tutors too, of course. However, these moments become opportunities and invitations to explore how can we better support the learning of our students. Equally, there are also moments of joy and pride, such as when students recognise their growth or when a difficult experience becomes a source of learning. 

What makes this work truly meaningful is its reciprocity. Teaching is not a one-directional exchange; it is a living, relational process. I am continually enriched by students’ questions, their values, their lived experiences, and their courage to engage with complexity. Their reflections expand my own thinking and sharpen my understanding. In this sense, teaching sustains both, my own learning, and my clinical practice.