Tier 2

HICS Accredited Senior Counsellor

HASC

Humanitas Independent Counselling Society membership designation. Not a statutory registration.

The Accredited Senior Counsellor practises within the same areas of competence as the Accredited Counsellor. The tier is a recognition of sustained experience, tenure and ethical standing and does not, in itself, confer any additional areas of competence.

How to apply

Entry criteria

Five years, and an application.

  1. 01Tenure. Accredited Counsellor (HAC) in good standing for a minimum of 5 years, with no adverse disciplinary finding during that period.
  2. 02Compliance. Unbroken CPD and supervision compliance across the qualifying period.
  3. 03Contribution. Evidence of contribution to the profession: for example supervising members in lower categories or mentoring less experienced members, serving on a HICS panel, board or committee, or developing or presenting recognised CPD.
  4. 04Application. Active application required, with supporting evidence. Accredited Senior Counsellor status is not automatic.
  5. 05Advanced practice. Not required at this designation. Advanced practice is recorded alongside the designation rather than built into it: a senior counsellor holding advanced practice in trauma is HASC, advanced practice: Trauma.

Areas of competence

The same common core, held the same way.

All competence domains, limitations and conditions applicable to the Accredited Counsellor apply equally to the Accredited Senior Counsellor, except that peer supervision is acceptable at this tier in place of supervisor sign-off.

The tier confers no additional areas of competence. An individual member's actual competence within any high-risk domain remains governed by the training they have actually completed, exactly as at the Accredited Counsellor tier.

How the domains are held at the Accredited Counsellor tier

CPD

The same requirement, ten points included.

Every member carries the same annual requirement: 22 points, one point to the hour. Ten are included in the membership fee and provided by HICS, the six-point HICS core and at least four points of ethics; the other twelve are earned from courses HICS has accredited or from recognised activities, and a member pays HICS nothing to have an accredited course counted.

How CPD works, in full

Supervision

Three hours a quarter, and peer supervision counts.

A minimum of 3 hours per quarter, with additional ad hoc supervision as needed for difficult or high-risk cases. The peer supervision model is acceptable at this tier.

Supervisor sign-off or a peer supervision declaration is required at annual renewal.

Member benefits

What HICS owes the member.

Designation

The HASC designation shown on the public member directory, with the entry qualification, any fields of practice and any advanced practice alongside it.

Certificate

A distinct Accredited Senior Counsellor certificate.

Panels

Eligibility to serve on HICS committees and panels, including the Standards and Admissions Committee and the Ethics Committee.

CPD core included

The HICS core and the ethics minimum are included in the membership fee, as in every category. The rest of the annual requirement is earned from HICS-accredited courses or recognised activities, with no fee to HICS to have them counted.

All HAC benefits

All benefits of Accredited Counsellor membership are retained.

Annual renewal

The same conditions as the Accredited Counsellor tier.

Membership runs for twelve months and must be actively renewed, on the same conditions as every member; at this designation a peer supervision declaration satisfies the supervision condition.

The conditions of retaining membership, in full

9.5

The correct designation, and when its use must cease

Members must use only the correct designation for their current membership category (HAC, HASC or HAS) and must cease using a designation immediately on lapse, suspension, downgrade, or revocation of the relevant membership or authorisation. A field of practice or advanced practice is recorded alongside the designation and may be stated only while it is current.