Membership
In a field where anyone may use the title ‘counsellor’, holding yourself to a higher standard is a choice you make on your own. HICS is where that choice is shared: a professional home that recognises the standard you keep, supports you in keeping it, and lets the people you work with see that you can be held to it.
How membership is structured
Add-on authorisation
Accredited Supervisor
Granted per field of supervision.
The way in
Accredited Counsellor
HICS Accredited Counsellor: the flagship designation.
By application
Accredited Senior Counsellor
HICS Accredited Senior Counsellor: an established and contributing practitioner.
The designation every member holds first, and the only way into membership. Earning it takes a qualification at NQF 7 or above, a counselling programme recognised by HICS, 200 hours of supervised practice, and a pass in the written board examination. It is more than just a certificate to keep on the wall: it asks for continuing supervision and development, for as long as it is held.
These are the headline requirements.
See the full eligibility criteria.
The senior designation, earned over years of practice in good standing. It requires five years as an Accredited Counsellor, with no adverse disciplinary finding, unbroken supervision and continuing development, and a demonstrated contribution to the profession. Not conferred by time alone: an active application, with evidence, is required, and it opens a place on HICS committees and panels.
The authorisation to supervise other members, not a designation of its own. It is granted per field of supervision, rather than as a general licence, and built up in three stages: leading peer group supervision, then facilitating group supervision, then one-to-one supervision. The training is a separate step: an experienced counsellor can complete a recognised supervisor training programme first, and Senior Counsellor standing is a condition of the authorisation, not of the training.
An experienced supervisor need not come up through this route: HICS also approves suitably experienced supervisors directly onto the Approved Supervisor Directory, so approved supervision is available from the start.
There is no pre-membership registration with HICS: following the route in creates no record and confers no status until you apply and are admitted.
| Designation | Abbr. | Entry | CPD a year | Supervision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DesignationHICS Accredited Counsellor | Abbr.HAC | EntryNQF 7 + counselling training recognised against the Entry Training Outcomes Standard + 200 supervised hours + 5 personal counselling sessions + a fit-to-practise declaration + a pass in the written board examination | CPD a year22 | SupervisionAt least 3 hours every quarter (12 a year), plus ad hoc supervision for difficult or high-risk cases |
| DesignationHICS Accredited Senior Counsellor | Abbr.HASC | EntryHAC in good standing for 5+ years with no adverse disciplinary finding, unbroken CPD and supervision compliance, and evidence of contribution to the profession. By active application with supporting evidence. | CPD a year22 | SupervisionAt least 3 hours every quarter (12 a year), plus ad hoc supervision; peer supervision is acceptable at this designation |
| DesignationHICS Accredited Supervisor (add-on authorisation) | Abbr.HAS | EntryCurrent HASC held for at least one year + supervisor training recognised against the Supervisor Training Outcomes Standard + portfolio of evidence per field of supervision + letter of recommendation from own supervisor | CPD a year22 | SupervisionOwn practice: at least 3 hours every quarter (12 a year), plus ad hoc. Supervisory practice: at least once a quarter, plus ad hoc, with a Supervisor-Supervisor |
Humanitas Independent Counselling Society membership designation. Not a statutory registration.
How admission is decided
Every applicant, including every graduate of a recognised programme, must pass the HICS written board examination before admission. The final decision is competence, demonstrated.
Practitioners whose training predates the recognised-programme framework can establish their eligibility to sit it through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), a route described on the Applying page.
Do you qualify?
Eligibility rests on six requirements: a qualification at NQF 7 or above, a counselling training programme recognised by HICS, 200 hours of supervised practice, five personal counselling sessions, a declaration of fitness to practise, and a pass in the written board examination. The Applying page sets out each one, and the evidence it needs, in full.
What is included
Most professional bodies set a CPD requirement, leave you to find and buy all of it, and then charge you again to have some of it counted. HICS differs on both counts.
Ten of the 22 are provided by HICS and included in your fee: the six-point HICS core, which no external course can stand in for, and at least four points of ethics. The other twelve come from HICS-accredited courses or recognised activities, and there is nothing to pay HICS to have them counted.
Every year
Membership runs for twelve months and must be actively renewed, on conditions HICS publishes in full.
Fields of practice and advanced practice
A field of practice records what your training covered, and so what you may work with beyond the common core every member holds. Advanced practice goes further: assessed competence at depth within a field, and the only level that carries a reserved title.
Fees
HICS charges one annual membership fee, the same at every designation, and nothing to move up to a higher one. Before admission the only amount you pay is the board examination fee. Advanced practice programmes and supervisor training are priced separately and are bought from the training provider, not from HICS.
When you apply: the board examination
R1,000
Paid with your application, per attempt. It is the only fee before admission; there is no separate admission fee.
Each year: the annual membership fee
R2,950
One fee at every designation, and no fee to move up. It carries the included CPD points described above.
Having your CPD recognised
Included
HICS charges you nothing to count a course from a provider it has accredited, or a recognised activity. A course from a provider HICS has not accredited can be submitted for assessment at R150 per course, never per point.
Running HICS to the standard it means to hold others to takes real resources: administration and the people who do it, the systems that hold members’ records, the processes that keep every decision consistent and fair. These have to be paid for, and the membership fee is what pays for them. A body that intends to do this properly must be self-sustaining.
HICS membership
HICS is governed by its Board, so members do not elect its directors. What you do have is a real say in the decisions that affect you:
How to apply
The full route into membership has its own page: the six criteria and the evidence each one needs, including the board examination, where applications stand today, and a way to be told the day they open.
What applying requires, in full
All designations are internal membership levels and quality-assurance marks only, not statutory registrations, professional licences or SAQA-recognised qualifications.