The term "Qualified counselor" doesn't really tell you anything about their background and training (in the US, anyway). In the US, people can be counselors who only have religious training, and their counseling is entirely from the point of view of their religion. And there are also counselors who are only trained in substance abuse, or social work. And some of them are guidance counselors in schools, and are trained for that.

Before accepting a person's claim of being a qualified counselor, I would want to know what kind of counselor they are qualified to be. If they say trained and licensed psychotherapist, I might take something they say on the subject of counseling seriously (and then again, I might not... there is no shortage of crappy counselors in the world).