Excuse me asking an easy looker upper, but I'm off now for a couple of weeks, this is an answer for a friend...

Will a counsellor do as a medical practitioner to certify Permitted Work, or does it need to be a "proper" doctor?

Under the current rules, if it's the less-than-16-hours-under-£x-for -not-more-than-52-weeks type of exempt work, all you need to do is tell the DWPunder general being safe principles, and quite probably not even that if you are actually on incapacity benefit without IS, though mind out for housing benefit and CTB/tax credits. It's at least 2 years since anybody needed to countersign you for it (April 2006).

(Reg 17 of Soc Sec (Incapacity for Work)(General) Regulations.