You can become a counsellor by completing a counsellor training course, which should be recognized and certified by the Swiss Association for Counselling (SGfB). This is because they train psychologically oriented counsellors from the fields of individual, couple and family counselling as well as from the field of counselling for groups, institutions and organizations. With the Psychosocial Counselor training, you will be able to counsel people with the aim of managing their lives independently, overcoming crises and developing themselves further. Those who successfully complete the Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE) become experts in the profession and can use the protected title "Counselor in the psychosocial field with a federal diploma".

The following activities are carried out by counselors in the psychosocial field with a federal diploma after psychosocial counselor training:

• Personal discussions with people seeking advice for help with a specific problem, the desire for personal development or the improvement of social integration
• work in various fields such as personal, educational, relationship, pregnancy conflict, student and addiction counseling or grief work
• At the beginning of a counseling session, inquire about the client's personal situation and, after thorough evaluation and weighting, derive the appropriate procedures and their main objectives
• Create a structured consulting plan in terms of content and timing
• Build up a personal relationship of trust in the first few sessions
• Designing the counseling process in relation to the situation - individually and creatively, taking into account the social and cultural environment (promoting personal responsibility and supporting personal efforts to further develop patterns of behavior and experience and improve personal well-being)
• apply different counseling approaches from the psychosocial counselor training (person-centered, process-oriented or body-oriented methods, transactional analysis or counseling on a religious level)
• Recognize crisis situations and react appropriately, refer if necessary
• Reflecting on and evaluating professional practice and continuously developing advisory skills through supervision, intervision or continuing education, further training
• are obliged to act ethically