If you’re thinking of applying to a therapy training course, you might be wondering what sort of qualities a course team are looking for in an applicant. You’re not alone! A common question we’ve received from our prospective students is “What kind of students are you looking for?”.
Here are the top 3 qualities we know that course teams are looking for in applicants:
 

Preparedness

All course teams pay an enormous amount of attention to the preparedness of applicants to undertake training in therapy. The last thing they want is for people to start the programme and not be able to complete it (this is disruptive for everybody, particularly the student).
Being able to demonstrate preparedness through:

• a clear understanding of the nature of the programme and what it involves
• having clearly thought through how logistics, costs and attendance will be managed
• being sufficiently experienced in the various demands of the course - both personally and professionally
• having a clear understanding of employability and with some understanding of realistic career plans once the program is complete is essential. 

If you are not prepared - please remember course teams are very experienced in identifying this -  it is  likely you will be seen as somewhat of a risk which could endanger the possibility of you being offered a place.
 

Maturity

The second common element that course teams look for is personal maturity, this is not necessarily about age, but about your ability to understand yourself and to cope with the psychological and emotional challenges presented to you in a training environment, and also working professionally in a therapeutic role. Maturity comes from experience and therefore can be cultivated, for example in undertaking therapeutic caring activities, reading/personal experience/therapy and so on. It is, however, a hugely important aspect that a course team will be looking for, and if you are on the younger side they will be paying attention particularly to the extent to which you are mature enough to handle some of the scenarios you might be faced with in a therapeutic role.
 

Academic skill

The third element that many course teams will look for in prospective students is the ability to demonstrate academic skills such as writing essays, using literature sources/evidence, critically analysing concepts and so on. This may seem counterintuitive for therapeutic professions emphasising relationships; however, the use of theory and research is an important part of many training programs in counselling, psychotherapy, psychological therapy (CBT) and applied psychology, and course teams are keen to ensure students will not struggle on these aspects if the course includes assessments requiring academic outputs. Many programmes will support students in these areas as they know confidence can be a challenge for some, but it is important to be aware of the ways in which academic skills have increasingly become part of the training curriculum in this area and that demonstrating an understanding of this, and preparing this to learn/and develop is essential in reassuring the course team that you are a suitable applicant.