Going to see a counsellor or psychotherapist is a big decision. Anyone can call themselves a counsellor and set up in private practice, so it's important to find a therapist who you know is fully qualified and works to professional standards.

The BACP Therapist Directory is an online, searchable directory of around 16,000 private therapists who offer services to the public. Only registered or accredited BACP members can advertise on our directory, ensuring that all the counsellors listed meet our standards for training, experience and ethical practice.

How to search the Therapist Directory

When you go to the directory, you won’t see any listings until you enter your search criteria.

Type in the reason why you’re looking for a therapist and the location where you want to see them. You can enter a town, city or postcode. The search is automatically set to show therapists within 10 miles of the location you enter, so if you’re happy to travel further, or are looking for an online therapist, use the slide filter to increase the distance.

Your search results will appear in distance order, so the therapist nearest to you will appear at the top.

If there are too many results, or if you have specific needs, you can use the filter options to refine your search. You can filter by type of session, who the therapy is for, languages and other requirements.

If you have any difficulties finding a therapist you can speak to our customer services teams on 01455 883300. Lines are open 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday.

What does registered or accredited mean?

Registered members

To become a registered member of BACP, a counsellor must have completed a core practitioner training course in counselling or psychotherapy. This will have included at least one year’s full time or two years' part time tuition and 100 hours working with clients on a supervised placement.

If their course was accredited by BACP, we know they’ve been trained and assessed to a good standard, so they can become registered when they graduate.

If their training was not BACP accredited, they must pass our Certificate of Proficiency (CoP) assessment to show that they meet our standards and are safe and effective practitioners. The CoP assesses 14 areas of ethical and professional good practice.

Registered members also agree to comply with the BACP Register terms and conditions. These include committing to continuing professional development and working to our Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions. We ask them to recommit to these terms every year and randomly select some members for audit every month to ensure the standards are maintained.

Accredited members

Some registered members choose to demonstrate their achievement of high standards of knowledge, experience and development by applying for accredited status.

To become an accredited member, a counsellor must have had training that meets our specific requirements and completed at least three years of supervised clinical practice. The application involves an rigorous assessment process that can take up to six months to complete.

Doctors

Where members use the title Dr in their directory listing, or on the Register, this will usually refer to a research qualification at PhD level rather than a medical qualification.

If you have any comments or would like to share your story, please email us at bacp@bacp.co.uk

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