Bridging the Gap between Education and Lived Experience
Practicum Students & Student Placements at A Positive Start CIC
At A Positive Start CIC, we champion the creation of safe, non-judgmental, trauma-informed environments where individuals feel acknowledged, understood, and supported as part of their healing journey. These values shape not only the support we offer to our community, but also the learning environment we create for students.
To nurture the next generation of trauma-informed practitioners, we offer counselling practicum placements for students seeking meaningful experience and professional development within a supportive community setting. As a recognised practicum placement site, we take professional responsibility for our students through regular supervision, ongoing support, routine evaluation of clinical practice, and weekly face-to-face consultation.
Counselling sessions with placement students are offered on a suggested donation basis of £10–£25 per session. These contributions help cover supervision, insurance, premises costs, administration, and the infrastructure required to support safe and meaningful placements within the community. When funded places become available, we are sometimes able to offer a limited number of fully supported sessions for people on low or no income, and updates about funded availability are shared on our website.
Placement students at A Positive Start CIC are welcomed as part of a wider wellbeing community. Alongside delivering supervised counselling sessions, there may be opportunities to contribute to psychoeducational activity, workshops, and community wellbeing spaces that help reduce isolation, strengthen confidence, and support earlier access to emotional wellbeing support across the Scottish Borders. This reflects our commitment to prevention, relational safety, and accessible support in rural communities.
We work collaboratively with our students to design counselling sessions and match them with clients appropriate to their stage of training, ensuring placements feel both supportive and professionally stretching.
As A Positive Start CIC develops its wellbeing community at Harestanes, placement students become part of a wider trauma-informed environment where connection, psychoeducation, and early access to support are central. Alongside one-to-one counselling work, there may be opportunities to contribute to workshops, wellbeing activities, and community spaces that strengthen confidence in seeking support across the Scottish Borders.
The practicum experience at A Positive Start CIC is designed to balance flexibility with responsibility, helping students grow into confident, ethical practitioners while remaining grounded in relational, person-centred values. To provide the highest level of support for both students and clients, placement numbers are intentionally kept small.
Placements at A Positive Start CIC are provided free of charge to students as part of their professional training. We are pleased to offer supported placement opportunities within a trauma-informed community setting that includes supervision, clinical infrastructure, and access to client work.
As a Community Interest Company, we are not able to offer paid placement positions; however, we are committed to providing meaningful learning environments that help students develop confidence, experience, and readiness for professional practice.
Placement availability and timelines
Due to the level of supervision and support provided within our placement programme, applications are reviewed carefully and placement offers are made in line with organisational capacity. From initial application to placement start, this process can take up to 12 weeks.
Students are encouraged to plan ahead and may wish to secure both an online placement and a face-to-face placement to support continuity of client hours during training.
For students living outside reasonable travelling distance of Harestanes Tower, placements with A Positive Start CIC are often most suitable as a second placement alongside an online setting.
Placement numbers are intentionally kept small to ensure students receive consistent support and appropriate clinical experience within a trauma-informed environment.
What we sometimes call attention-seeking behaviour from a ventral perspective is often connection-seeking from a place of fear — whether expressed through sympathetic distress or dorsal withdrawal.
What we sometimes call attention-seeking behaviour from a ventral perspective is often connection-seeking from a place of fear — whether expressed through sympathetic distress or dorsal withdrawal.
— Deborah J Crozier, Founder & Trauma-Informed Practitioner
Working within secure practice systems during placement
Placement students at A Positive Start CIC work within our secure client management system #MyClientHub, which supports safe and professional counselling practice throughout placement.
Students receive induction guidance in how to:
schedule and manage appointments
send confirmations and reminders
hold secure online counselling sessions
maintain confidential session records
record sessions (with appropriate consent) to support training requirements
prepare transcripts for college coursework
manage payments where appropriate
Working within an integrated clinical system helps students develop confidence in the practical responsibilities of professional practice alongside their therapeutic learning.
Preparing for professional practice beyond placement
Students will also become familiar with #MyClientPlatform, an enhanced version of our client management system designed for counsellors, therapists, coaches, and third-sector organisations.
The platform brings together appointments, secure notes, online sessions, communication, and practice administration within one environment, supporting practitioners as they move into independent or organisational roles after qualification.
Graduating placement students may be eligible for a reduced subscription rate should they later choose to continue using the platform in their own developing practice.
Recognised Placement Provider for Students From
