Discussion Planned of Counselor Training

The San Fernando Valley Counseling Center will hold an information meeting Saturday regarding its five-month training program for volunteer counselors.

Supervisors at the Northridge-based nonprofit mental health agency will discuss the requirements, expectations and procedures that paraprofessional counselors are expected to follow during their training period, said Thelma Flashberg, administrative assistant for the center.

Prospective trainees are required to attend two hours a week of counselor training, two hours a week of lecture and a counseling workshop held every third Saturday of each month, Flashberg said. Attendance is critical, she added.

The training program starts Oct. 3 with an orientation meeting at the center.

“Once they successfully complete the training program, [volunteers] will do one-on-one counseling for those in need of mental health counseling or those experiencing problems in their marriages and other individual problems,” Flashberg said.

College students who are studying counseling can enroll in the program for school credit or as interns, she said.

Prospective counselors must be at least 21 years old.

The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the First Lutheran Church of Northridge, 18355 Roscoe Blvd.

For more information, call (818) 341-1111.