The importance of safe therapy
If you’d like to learn more about how regulation in the therapy world works and where we fit in, find out more below.
In the UK, there is currently no legal requirement for the majority of talking therapists to be registered with a regulator. Therapists can therefore choose to be regulated but are not legally required to be; this is called ‘voluntary regulation’. The titles of counsellor and therapists are not legally protected. This means that anyone can call themselves a therapist or counsellor, regardless of their training or experience.
Crucially, when looking for a therapist, you should confirm that they are on a PSA accredited register, like the British Psychoanalytic Council’s Register. When you find a therapist who is on an accredited register, you can be certain that their training and experience has been verified as part of their registration and they are meeting important standards of practice.
When looking for therapy, it’s important to work with someone who has the appropriate level of accredited training and experience to work with you. For example, each of the our 2,000+ Registrants undergo years of training and personal therapy before they can join our Register.
If you see someone who is part of an accredited register, you are able to raise your concerns with the body they are registered with in the rare case this is needed. The regulatory body will then be able to investigate any Fitness to Practise concerns and take appropriate action.
If you have a concern about a therapist who is not registered with a regulator, there is no organised body in place that can investigate those concerns.
When looking for therapy, it’s important to work with someone who has the appropriate level of accredited training and experience to work with you.
If a therapist has fallen below their regulators’ set standards, you can find a record of this online to know who to avoid working with. Each regulatory body will publish information about the professionals they have removed from their register online. This occurs after an investigation and a hearing process that determines they have not met professional standards and are not fit to practise. The BPC publishes this information here.
The PSA and other accredited regulators work hard to publicise individuals that have been removed from their Register, or have had other conditions made on their practice.
To read these published outcomes from each regulator, visit these web pages below:
- The Association of Child Psychotherapists: Members Under Sanction or Expelled
- Association of Christians in Counselling and Linked Professions: Removals, suspensions and sanctions
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy: Professional conduct notices
- British Psychoanalytic Council: Interim Orders and Fitness to Practise Outcomes
- Human Givens Institute: Current upheld complaints
- The National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society: Professional Conduct Notices
- Play Therapy UK: Struck Off & Sanctioned Play Therapists
- UK Council for Psychotherapy: Decisions and hearings
Frequently asked questions
Decision-making around statutory regulation is held by the UK Government. The Government implements statutory regulation in the areas it considers to be in the best interests of public protection. The Government has considered statutory regulation of talking therapist in the past but as it stands, the Government has decided talking therapies do not require statutory regulation.
No, there are no legal requirements for a therapist to be on any register in order to set up a therapy business and begin taking patients. There are some exceptions to this, such as for arts therapists who are statutory regulated.
