Where to Find a Counsellor or Psychotherapist?
It is important to find a therapist who is a good fit for you. Please note that I use the titles therapist, counsellor, psychotherapist and talking therapist interchangeably as there is no agreed distinction between them within the field. As I note in my article 'Feeling at sea about choosing a therapist?', client motivation and the quality of the alliance betwen the client and therapist are the central factors contributing to the success of therapy. It is important therefore to feel free to search for a therapist who you feel a rapport with. But it is likely that you'll also want to feel confident that they have been properly trained, and that they work in an effective and ethical way for their clients.
Here are some tried and trusted places to look for a therapist.
NHS provided therapy
You may be able to access free therapy through the NHS. See Counselling - NHS.
There is limited choice and most therapy offered on the NHS is time-limited, but it can be helpful.
Private therapy
Finding a therapist privately can offer more choice. Fees can be a lot, but they vary significantly, and many therapists offer reduced fee for those currently on low incomes.
Therapist, counsellor, psychotherapist, and talking therapist are not legally protected titles in the UK. This means that anyone, whatever the training they’ve had - even if they’ve had no training in the field - can give themselves these titles and set up private practice.
But key directories (though not all) where therapists advertise their services do insist on, and check for, membership of one of the main professional associations. To be a registered member of one of these associations, the person must meet a set of minimum training standards.
The two main directories in the UK are Psychology Today, and The Counselling Directory These are commercial directories where each therapist pays a monthly or annual fee to advertise. My listing on the Counselling Diectory can be found here: Counsellor Jonathan Wildman - Hull - Counselling Directory
Professional associations
The main professional associations are overseen by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), a statutory body (PSA| Healthcare regulation | PSA) . The professional associations hold their own registers of individual therapists. I’m currently registered with the NCPS (see: https://www.search-ncps.com/search/FindaTherapist/NCS22-03318) and the BACP. You can use their sites to search for a suitable therapist, and to double check that one you’ve found it currently registered. These are the main professional associations:
The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS).
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
COSCA Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland.
In my view no system of regulation can offer an absolute guarantee of safety, or quality of practice, and it’s wise to exercise your own judgement. But an advantage of working with a therapist who is a member of a professional association is that they operate their own complaints system that you can call upon if needed.
There’s a rich diversity of ideas and practices in the field, and different views about what counts as good practice. It can be helpful therefore, as a benchmark, to be mindful of the characteristics of abusive practice. This flyer provides a useful summary of signs of abusive practice:therapy abuse Flyer.
I am currently an Accredited Regsistrant with the NCPS. I abide by their code of professional ethics, and they have a complaints process that clients can call upon if they feel a registrant has fallen short of this code.
I invite you to have a look at my website, which details my qualifications and experience, and will give you an idea of my style of working, If this resonates with you at all, and you have any questions, or would like to arrange a free, no obligation, 20 minute chat/ consultation, please get in touch. I'll be happy to hear from you.
Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash
