Differences between Level 2 and Level 3 of Psychological Counseling

Level 3 is the entry-level "Assistant Psychological Counselor" and does not have the qualification to practice independently.； Level 2 is a professional-level certification. The holder can independently undertake individual cases and register and register psychological counseling-related business entities. ； The application threshold and assessment difficulty are also very different between the two. As an additional reminder, after the national examination was officially canceled in 2017, the second- and third-level certificates currently issued by various institutions on the market are not valid as national vocational qualifications. Don’t be fooled by those selling courses.

A while ago, I was helping a newly graduated psychology girl organize her entry information. She found the Level 2 certificate that I kept in a drawer with a worn cover, and came over to ask if getting Level 2 would be enough to get into the industry. I laughed at the time - if it were that simple, this industry would have been overcrowded.

Let’s first talk about the most troublesome application threshold for everyone back then. Many people wanted to skip the level and take the second level exam, but they were basically stuck. At that time, the requirements for the Level 3 exam were very loose. Those with a college degree or above in psychology, education, and medicine could apply, and other majors could also take the exam as long as they had a bachelor's degree. I used to know a friend who studied computer science, and he wanted to do research on the psychology of Internet users. After graduating from his undergraduate degree, he successfully applied for the Level 3 exam. But the second level is different. You either need to have three years of working experience after obtaining the third level certificate, or you must have a master's degree or above in a psychology-related major, or have an intermediate professional title related to psychology. My computer friend worked hard for three years before he was qualified to apply for the second level.

The written test is actually not bad. After all, it is all objective questions plus short answers. If you memorize the question bank, you can more or less pass the test. What really widens the gap is the unique thesis defense session of Level 2. I accompanied a friend to the defense, and there were twenty or thirty people sitting in the waiting room. More than half of them had taken the exam two or three times before they got to this point. The examiners are all senior consultants who have been working in the local area for more than ten years. They will take the details of the case report you submitted and ask: "Your client's SDS score is 68. Why didn't you suggest that he go to a psychiatric department for investigation first?" ”“When you use CBT for intervention, what are the specific steps for identifying automatic thoughts? ”I was particularly impressed. During the defense, one candidate casually said that he had prescribed some Chinese patent medicine to help an anxious visitor to sleep, but the examiner failed him on the spot - psychological counselors do not have the right to prescribe, which is a red line for entry into the industry. Even if he did not understand this, it would be a disaster for the visitor to get the certificate.

Many people take certifications just to be able to take on cases, and the second and third levels of authority are very clearly demarcated on this point. Level III certificate holders can only do auxiliary work, such as helping counselors organize case records, conduct psychological assessments, and make follow-up calls. No formal consulting agency will allow Level III counselors to handle cases independently. But the level 2 authority is much wider. Not only can you take on individual cases independently, but if you want to open a personal studio, you can register and file it with the Industrial and Commercial Bureau with the level 2 certificate.

However, this cannot be said to death. There has always been a consensus in the industry: the level of certification never represents the level of consulting ability. I used to know an aunt who was an administrator. She had nothing to do after she retired. She memorized the question bank for three months to take the Level 2 certificate. When she first took a case, she was even more nervous than a visitor. During the whole process, she would only ask, "What else are you unhappy about?" "Tell me something." The visitor was scared away in ten minutes. On the contrary, I have a junior sister who only took Level 3 before the national exam was cancelled. Later, she spent two years attending systematic training in the Chinese-German class and had more than 100 hours of personal experience. Her reputation for handling cases is better than that of many elderly people who have held Level 2 certificates for seven or eight years. Now when people are looking for consultants, almost no one will ask whether you took the Level 2 or Level 3 exam. What matters more is whether you have a long-term systematic training background, whether you have stable supervision, and whether you have enough casework hours.

As for those who are still advertising that they can take the exam for "nationally certified second- and third-level psychological counselors," they are basically just cutting leeks. Today's various second- and third-level certificates are issued by industry associations or training institutions themselves. Their value depends entirely on the institution's recognition in the industry, which is completely different from the effectiveness of the national examination back then.

There are consultants around me who have been working as consultants for more than five or six years. Some of them took the Level 2 exam, while others only took the Level 3 exam and then took a lot of training. When everyone sits together and chats, they rarely mention which level they took the exam. Instead, they talk most about what problems the supervisor has discovered in themselves this week and what new gains they have gained from recent personal experiences. To put it bluntly, this certificate is just the first ticket to enter the industry. The money and time spent on getting the certificate are not even a fraction compared to the subsequent investment in training, supervision, and personal experience. How you go after entering the door is what really widens the gap.