Counsellor and psychotherapist registration rules

You do not need a licence or statutory registration to work as a counsellor, psychotherapist or therapist anywhere in the UK. The law protects none of those titles. Registration can still apply if:

• you use a title that the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) protects
• you choose to join a voluntary register
• a doctor, nurse or other listed health professional provides or supervises treatment in your practice

Titles the law protects

The HCPC keeps the statutory register for practitioner psychologists and arts therapists. Only people on that register can use the titles the law reserves for those professions. The titles sit in a separate Order of Council, not in the Health Professions Order 2001 itself.

Protection attaches to the full title. 'Psychotherapist' is free to use, but 'Art Psychotherapist' is protected. 'Counsellor' is free to use, but 'Counselling Psychologist' is protected. Before you put a title on your website or business card, check it against the table. If you are unsure, ask the HCPC.

Joining a voluntary register

The Professional Standards Authority accredits voluntary registers for practitioners the law does not regulate. Joining one is your choice. Each register sets its own entry standards and holds members to a code of ethics.

A register can also attach conditions to membership, such as professional indemnity insurance. Read the conditions of the register you are considering before you apply. For the insurance product itself, see Professional indemnity insurance.

Registering your service with a care regulator

In England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) registers services that carry out regulated activities. A talking-therapy practice could be caught by the regulated activity of treatment of disease, disorder or injury. It applies only when a listed health care professional, such as a doctor or nurse, provides or supervises the treatment. For a mental disorder, a social worker counts too.

Counsellors, psychotherapists, practitioner psychologists and arts therapists are not on that list. A practice made up only of those practitioners does not register with the CQC. You must register if a listed professional provides or supervises treatment in your practice. If you plan to add a doctor or nurse, see Set up and run a regulated health practice.

Wales and Northern Ireland do not list professions. They ask whether medical practitioners provide the services. A counselling practice with no medical practitioner is outside the definition of an independent clinic in Wales and in Northern Ireland.

In Wales and Northern Ireland, an establishment whose main purpose is medical or psychiatric treatment for mental disorder counts as an independent hospital, not a clinic. The clinic definition above does not decide your position then. If that could describe your practice, ask the regulator in your nation before you start.

Duties that apply without registration

Not needing a licence leaves other duties in place. Client notes are health data, and some disclosure duties override confidentiality. See Client notes, confidentiality and disclosure for counsellors.

Some counselling roles are eligible for an Enhanced criminal record check, which self-employed counsellors can apply for themselves. See Get a DBS check as a self-employed counsellor.

For the whole path from setting up to VAT, advertising and insurance, follow Start a counselling or psychotherapy practice.