How to choose a counsellor in the UK

Counselling, psychotherapy and CBT

In the UK the words overlap more than people expect. Counselling tends to describe shorter, focused work on something happening now; psychotherapy tends to describe longer work that goes further back; CBT is a specific method rather than a profession, and many counsellors use parts of it. None of the three words is protected in law on its own, which is why the register someone belongs to tells you more than the title they use.

What registration actually means

Three bodies appear across this directory. BACP is the largest membership body for counsellors and psychotherapists; members agree to its ethical framework, and accredited members have been through a further assessment. NCPS (the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society) is a similar accredited register. HCPC is a statutory regulator, and the counsellors here who appear under it are usually registered in another protected role as well, such as practitioner psychologist or arts therapist.

Two things follow from that. Registration is a meaningful signal, and it is not a guarantee about any individual. This site publishes the register and number a counsellor's own profile lists, and checks nothing; each body lets you look a member up. Browse counsellors by register.

Approaches you will see listed

These are the approaches counsellors here list most often. Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it; ask directly how they use it.

• Client-Centred Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Solution-Focused Therapy
• Psychodynamic Therapy
• Mindfulness Therapy
• Trauma-Focused Therapy

Structured approaches such as CBT and solution-focused work set clear goals and often suggest things to try between sessions. Person-centred and existential work is more open and gives you room to think out loud. Psychodynamic and attachment-based work looks at where patterns came from. Many counsellors combine them, and the combination matters less than whether the person makes sense to you.

What to compare on a profile

1. What they work with. Every profile lists it in the counsellor's own words. If low mood arrives with a bereavement, a separation or work burnout, look for someone who names those too. See everything counsellors here work with.
2. Register and number. Each profile shows the body, the number and, where it is listed, the renewal date. Look it up if you want to.
3. How they work. Read the approaches and, more usefully, the biography. Does the way they describe their work sound like someone you could talk to at the end of a long day?
4. Experience. Years in practice is background, not a ranking. Counsellors earlier in their career often have more room in the week.
5. Language. If English is not your first language, the languages line settles it quickly. Browse by language.

Cost, and asking about it

Fees vary widely and asking about them is entirely normal. Where sessions are arranged through our partner platform, the cost is shown before you commit. If money is tight, say so: reduced-fee places, shorter blocks of sessions and charitable services all exist, and a counsellor would rather be asked than lose you.

Waiting, and going online

NHS talking-therapy services in England take self-referrals and are free, and the wait varies a great deal by area; equivalent services exist in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Working online with a counsellor privately is the alternative when the wait is long or the timing does not fit, and the two are not mutually exclusive. Your GP is a reasonable place to start either conversation.

What a first session is for

Nobody can tell in advance whether a counsellor suits them. The first session is where you find out: whether you feel able to describe how things really are, and whether the response makes you want to come back. Changing counsellor after a session or two is normal and expected.

If someone is not safe

If you are worried about your own safety or someone else's, a counsellor is still the right person to talk to, and it is worth saying so in the first message. If you are in crisis, call 116 123 to reach Samaritans, free, at any hour. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999.