Sanjidah This guide is for people in the UK wanting to find a counsellor or psychotherapist and not knowing where to start. I will explore the following: what is a counsellor/psychotherapist, where do you look for one, and things to bear in mind.
What is the difference between a counsellor and a psychotherapist?
To be perfectly honest, there is very little difference to me at least. I’ll explore some possible differences, but all in all, it appears to depend on what the practitioner prefers to call themselves. The terms are often used interchangeably within the field, and many prefer the neutral term ‘therapist’.
There are many myths out there, for example that counselling is short-term and psychotherapy is long-term. This is completely false. Both counselling and psychotherapy can last as long or as short as you would like it to. However, with counselling, you may have a more imminent goal you would like to achieve, or an issue you would like to overcome (e.g. a divorce, or to stop overthinking), whereas in psychotherapy, you may explore a bit deeper than one sole issue, although it can also be goal-oriented. Deep exploration isn’t limited to psychotherapy though – this can also be done with a counsellor.
The main difference I’ve found is in qualification. For example, a counsellor will have done a counselling qualification (this can be a Level 4 Diploma, or a Postgraduate Diploma), and a psychotherapist will likely have completed some postgraduate study or CPD in psychotherapy (e.g. a Postgraduate Diploma or an MA/MSc). They are inherently the same, but psychotherapists may have a more specific framework they follow. So where a counsellor may pull together techniques from, for example, cognitive behavioural therapy and psychodynamic theory, a psychotherapist may be more likely to have trained specifically in, for example, psychodynamic, humanistic, integrative therapy or CBT. This doesn’t make any one type better than the other as you will find the quality of the work you do with a therapist is in how well you get along with them rather than their qualifications.
The next thing to understand is, having basically said qualifications are not that important, it is vital to find a trained or accredited counsellor/psychotherapist. There are several organisations within the UK that accredit therapists: BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy), NCPS (National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society), UKCP (United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy), BABCP (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy), BPC (British Psychoanalytic Council), COSRT (College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists) and so many more. The reason why I stress training is important is because ‘counsellor’ and ‘psychotherapist’ aren’t protected titles in the UK. A person could have no qualifications and no experience in counselling, but can still claim to provide a counselling service. This can potentially cause an abundance of damage to the client, as such a counsellor will not have had the training nor the supervision that therapists who are a member of a professional body have.
How can I find the therapist?
You can use a directory such as the Counselling Directory or Psychology Today to find a counsellor/psychotherapist. Some professional bodies also have their own directories.
There are some things you will need to consider when searching. Let’s start with the cost. The cost of therapy can really vary depending on who you see. It’s important to note that cost does not equate to quality, e.g., just because someone charges £50/session, that does not mean working with them will be less fruitful than working with someone at £100/session. There is a psychological dimension to this though, in that sometimes a client/patient may work harder if they are spending more money, but this is entirely subjective. Many therapists offer concession rates, eligibility can vary depending on your circumstances. Some therapists may only give concession rates for people from a low income but others might also give concession rates to students, for example. It’s always worth asking if you’re not sure if you qualify for a concession rate.
When you have shortlisted one or a few therapists, it’s worth checking if they offer a free initial consultation, or if this is another cost you may have to take into account. Initial sessions may be a 20 minute telephone call or a 50 minute Zoom call, or something else. Whether you have an initial assessment that is paid or not, it is worth bearing in mind that you may go through a few before you find someone you can work with. You might also find the first person you speak to is the one you would like to work with – that’s okay, too.
Once you have worked out a budget – and, yes, you really are worth spending that amount of money on on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis – you may want to understand more about how a therapist works. To demistify some of the terminology, I have produced a table below, but it’s important to note that you don’t necessarily need to know this, it just might be of interest. It’s also important to note that a lot of therapists, despite having training in one area (e.g., humanistic, psychodynamic) end up basically integrating different ways of working. So, for example, just because you see a therapist who specialises in CBT, that doesn’t mean they won’t bring in other theories and techniques they may have learnt.
What are the different types of therapy?
Cognitive-behavioural – this approach believes that our thoughts affect our emotions and behaviour. For example, if I think I am bad at my job, this will make me sad and make me feel worthless, thus making me depressed. The aim of CBT is to modify one’s cognition to help manage their thoughts, which should theoretically help their emotions and behaviour. CBT is normally offered time-limited (e.g., 6-12 sessions) but can be offered longer term depending on a person’s presenting issues. CBT has a large although dubious evidence base. This isn’t a reflection on CBT per se, but maybe how research into therapy works. CBT is great for people who might want to focus just on their thoughts and behaviours.
Humanistic or person-centred – these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, and may not necessarily mean the same thing for the practitioner you work with. The idea behind this approach is that anyone is capable of making change if they have the right resources in place, e.g., a warm empathetic environment with someone who believes in them, which would be the therapist. The client is the expert as they know their history, and the therapist presents an environment where the client can explore themselves and their issues. Humanistic practitioners may focus more on your phenomenological experience of an issue and how you experience the world. Person-centred counselling can be short-term, but it can also be longer-term and all-encompassing rather than just focusing on a single issue. In my opinion, this is a good type of therapy for someone who would like a space to go into their problems freely and have someone alongside them to help them make sense of their experiences.
Psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, and psychoanalysis – I’ve lumped these together but there are many differences in these approaches. Generally, this type of therapy is deeper. Therapists who work in this modality may believe we repeat behaviours from the past, so exploring the root of problems can help make meaningful changes going forward. Therapists will likely work with the client’s unconscious thoughts, feelings and behaviours to help understand the client – rather like CBT. The therapeutic relationship is sometimes an important aspect of this type of therapy to help bring about change.
And then there are integrative therapists who may use a blend of various types of therapies and techniques to help the client reach their goal. Integrative therapists don’t all have the same training so they won’t necessarily use the same blend of therapies, and each therapist is unique. So, for example, some integrative therapists may lean more towards CBT principles they learnt, or some may draw from other therapeutic frameworks entirely. I have also met integrative therapists with specialist interest in other areas, such as specific niches of psychoanalytic theory. Generally speaking, the breadth of training for an integrative therapist with an interest in psychoanalytic theory (for example) will not be the same as a psychoanalyst who has had several years of training specifically in psychoanalysis, but that doesn’t mean they are to be discounted.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing) has become a popular form of therapy that encourages processing of memories through bilateral stimulation (i.e., working the left and right hemispheres of the brain by working the left and right parts of the body). I personally consider EMDR a cousin of CBT and psychoanalytic therapy in a way. EMDR adopts the brevity of CBT while working with the past and free association principles like in psychoanalytic theory. Although I would call this a manualised therapy (similar to CBT), it can be tailored to the individual depending on their needs and preferences. EMDR should only be carried out by a therapist with the appropriate training.
| Type of therapy | Long and short |
|---|---|
| Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) | Focuses directly on thoughts, feelings and behaviour |
| Person-centred / humanistic therapy | Tends to focus on the intersubjective human experience |
| Psychodynamic and psychoanalytic therapy, and psychoanalysis | Normally weaves the past and present together to help make changes for the future |
| Integrative therapy | Sometimes works using a carefully chosen blend of different therapies, techniques, and frameworks |
| Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) | Works with bilateral stimulation to help process difficult memories |
There are many other types of therapy, but this is a start. Once you have chosen a price range and a modality, you can reach out to as many therapists as you have the capacity to. I always recommend reaching out to more than one, it doesn’t hurt to shop around. The reason being that some therapists might not have availability that coincides with your own, or you might speak to a therapist and decide they are not the right one for you (which is fine, therapists are used to this and you don’t have to worry you might hurt a therapist’s feelings by not choosing them).
All the best in your search for a therapist and I hope this guide helped.
Last updated: 7 April 2026
