Professional Bodies

When choosing a counsellor or psychotherapist it can be reassuring to know that they work to certain standards of good practice as a professional, as you will be placing a huge amount of trust in them. Not all qualified counsellors/psychotherarapists are members of a professional body, however being a member means a counsellor or psychotherapist has met certain requirements set by their member organisation and must abide by a code of ethics and complaints procedure.

All professional bodies differ in their requirements for membership; some require very strict standards for all their members and others provide different categories for their members (e.g. Associate Member, Member, Accredited Member). Counsellors/psychotherapists who are a member of a professional body will make this clear on their profile.

Registered/Accredited Counsellors

Being registered/accredited with a professional body means the individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.

To find out more information about registration/accreditation visit the professional bodies’ websites below. Each will have information on their requirements. This list of professional organisations is not exhaustive.

Professional bodies include:

BACP - British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy

BASRT - British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy

BPC - British Psychoanalytic Council

BPS - British Psychological Society

COSCA - Confederation of Scottish Counselling Agencies

FDAP - Federation of Drug & Alcohol Professionals

UKAHPP - UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners

UKCP - United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy

UKRCP - United Kingdom Register of Counsellors / Psychotherarapists

Here at Counselling Directory we recognise the value of being a member of a professional body, and for those of you who are wary about visiting a counsellor we would suggest choosing a counsellor on our site who is a member of a professional body. This way you know they are part of an organisation that offers a code of ethics and a complaints procedure.