In my state, anyone can offer counseling services as long as they don’t misrepresent themselves. I’m a smart, compassionate guy who friends often seek out for advice. Should I hang out my shingle? What are some of the things you can foresee that might go wrong?
The biggest thing I can see going wrong is being sued into penury by a p.o.d client over real or perceived very bad advice.
Could you not make your clients waive the right to sue? It seems like you can waive everything else…
If anything told to you in confidence should ever, under any circumstance not under your control, become public, you are the one who will be blamed even if one or more parties to the situation have discussed the matter publicly.
I can easily see you losing several, if not all, your friends; most people cannot be objective where friends (or family) are concerned.
In your own private life, you must avoid the very appearance of mis-deeds; your reputation must remain spotless if you presume to offer advice and counseling.
Not true. Securities fraud liability cannot be waived as between broker and client. Lawyer conflict of interests can’t, in some instances, be waived. Prenuptial agreements are by no means always upheld as against impecunious divorced women.
And I’d dare to bet that offering anything that the state/FDA deemed to be medical services (even with a disclaimer or waiver) would not necessarily absolve you if something went wrong.
Okay, now prudential reasons:
(1) You’ll get bogged down in multiple/serial sob sessions, and it will wear on you (this cuts both ways – I’ve sometimes found being the shoulder to cry on distracting from my own problems);
(2) You’ll be called upon not only to listen/advise/offer suggestions, but to run someone’s life for them. That’s a big responsibility, and people passive/depressed enough to offer you that option may hold you responsible if your advice (or potentially, their mis-application or mis-interpretation of it) does not work miracles in their lives.
(3) You will find yourself at the wedding of a friend whom you counselled to “dump that crazy b___h/b_____d,” with said b/b glaring daggers at you as she/he walks down the aisle, because your friend/acquaintance naturally spilled your advice to her/him after blowing it off and going back to the well.
(4) [an underrated one – there needs to be a new English word for this phenomenon] The friend/acquaintance whom you counseled/succored in their hour of need will much more often than you can imagine shun your company when they get back on their feet. That’s disconcerting, because even as a “disinterested observer,” it’s inevitable that you will make some emotional investment in your friend/acquaintance’s drama/life/situation. But . . . when they pass the stage of crisis, they may/will more likely feel humiliated that you saw them so vulnerable. And that they will basically cut you off. I could count a half dozen friends who told me their deepest darket secrets during various personal and romantic crises, got my full attention and (good or bad) advice, and are basically now distant, guarded, arms-length acquaintances. A phrase I sometimes hear crassly tossed about on this note is “emotional tampon” – you’re very useful while in use. What happens to a tampon when used up?
(5) not unrelated to no (4), if it is someone you know, of the opposite sex, you may find your own self with some ethical/personal quandaries. There have been times when female co-workers came to me with romantic tales of woe and I basically sent them down the hall to some other chick because it’s too fraught with opportunities or temptations (on both sides? at least on mine) to try to take advantage of a vulnerable situation.
Summarizing: a fair number of reasons.
As an unlicensed counselor, you cannot offer a privileged session, and can be compelled to breach privacy very easily.
You may not be able to obtain professional liability insurance.
Huerta88, those are all issues having to do with practicing therapy with personal friends and/or relatives. A licensed therapist in a therapeutic setting with a client is guided not only by the state laws but also by the ethics of the APA in terms of issues of dual relationships (therapists do not counsel relatives or friends), therapists should not “run” their clients’ lives for them, therapists are not invited to their clients’ weddings, therapists are not friends with their clients, and at least in Colorado, it’s illegal for therapists to have sex with clients. The OP was stating that he/she was often asked for advice by friends and wondered if he/she could turn that tendency into a professional practice.
If the OP genuinely wants to pursue this line of inquiry (are you in CO?), I would encourage you to discuss the situation with other therapists, licensed or not. I would, however, point out that “natural talent” for helping out others does not necessarily translate into good therapy (and, of course, licensure is no guarantee of competency). A therapist is not a paid best friend.
Right, everything you say is true, but my point was that the OP was looking to parlay personal counseling into a for-money sideline, without getting a license, IIRC. So, disproportionately, he would draw from the population of acquaintances. And while you mention “a licensed therapist,” well, the point is – he’s not and doesn’t apparently intend to become one.
It may be that my comments also apply to licensed therapists – my own amateur experiences tell me it would be hard to remain sincere and caring and yet unaffected personally, so I would want top dollar in exchange for that. I don’t think the unlicensed folk generally can command that, even when authorized.
Though this proposal is unlikely to get beyond the idle fancy stage, in this daydream the clients would not be friends. I wouldn’t do this with people I already know well, pretty much for the reasons mentioned.
Plus I think it’s a little mercenary to start billing my existing friends for being friends with them. 
Understood – but isn’t that still a bit awkward, with blurry lines?
Most of my unintended and unlicensed counselling has been with co-workers with whom I lunch, etc. Are they “friends” or “acquaintances?” A bit of both, I guess.
I can tell you I don’t know a clear answer, and I can tell you it’s led to impairment of working relationships when some chick who spilled her guts about some very intimate subject got assigned to a project with me. Maybe you have in mind another subet of “people you know pretty well.” Still give some thought, perhaps, to the points I raise, including the generic “no matter how empathetic you think you are, listening to the dysfunction of others can bring you yourself down.”
I think it risky, but good luck.
I don’t believe a contract not to sue is enforceable in court. It might be quite a strong defense if you WERE sued, but it cannot prevent a suit from being filed.
So, you will need waivers of liability AND liability insurance, AND a lawyer. Look into what that will cost you,
Not quite. Covenants not to sue/waivers are enforceable.
Except when they aren’t.
Rough line: think business-to-business, roughly equal size contracting partners: covenant/waiver will be enforced.
Think “personal situation” or “vulnerable party waiving rights.”
Gets iffy.
Oh, to be precise, nothing can “prevent a suit from being filed” if the putative plaintiff has $150 and knows where the courthouse is. The point is more gaining summary dismissal when it can be shown that his so filing was in violation of an (enforceable) contractual undertaking.
This sums up my concerns. Being someone people can lean on personally is vastly different from being a therapist, especially an effective one. Of course I’m not a therapist, but I think that the field is far more complex that a lot of people imagine. You need a thorough understanding of psychology, what constitutes a healthy outlook vs. a mental illness, what those mental illnesses are, resources you can refer people to if they have larger problems than you can handle and also where that line lies where someone may need to seek more medically-based, aggressive treatment.
If you’re bent on providing advice for a living though, have you considered life coaching? I imagine you’d want some sort of certification to ensure that you understand it fully and that your clients are reassured that you’re indeed qualified; however, it seems like you’d be less prone to have drastic negative consequences (both for you on a moral and ethical level and for your clients) than if you were to provide someone in need of medical attention for mental instability with inaccurate advice.
Personally, I would be extremely uncomfortable providing any sort of therapeutic services on a professional level.
Have you ever seen Kitchen Nightmares? A common scenario is for a talented home cook to open a restaurant and then everything goes tits up, because they have no clue how to operate in a professional environment. You’re describing the same situation.
Offering folksy home spun wisdom works with your friends. It’s not a business model.
And unlicensed therapy as a business model is a tough one anyway. Most people are going to want it covered by insurance…and insurance is going to pay for someone licensed. And insurance is tough to deal with. I’ve known people who have done the “life coach” thing, but they are often the type of people who do four or five different types of freelance/small business jobs.