Aims There is a lack of sufficient knowledge about the stress experience in counselling psychology training. Previous research suffered methodological issues and there was a specific lack of qualitative studies. This research aims to contribute towards the topic as it explores the experience of stress in counselling psychology training from the perspective of young final year female trainees. Design Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight final year female trainees (aged between 25 and 30) in order to explore their experiences of stress and major stressors in counselling psychology doctoral training. Method Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the verbatim transcripts of interviews. Findings The process of analysis identified three superordinate themes: ‘identifying ambivalence in training’ (refers to the trainees’ mixed views about stress in training); ‘the impact of training on self and self-and-other’ (refers to the perceived lack of life outside of the training and high risk of failure); and ‘managing the lack of boundaries in training’ (refers to the process of merging with training and being forced to age). The themes are considered in relation to relevant existing literature. Conclusions Findings imply that young female trainees perceive stress as an integral element of training, which is both destructive and promoting their growth. It is suggested that training programmes should consider developing targeted interventions to support these trainees. Evaluation of the current study is followed by recommendations for future research.