How to Become a Psychotherapist in the UK

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: December 11, 2022

Becoming a psychotherapist in Britain takes quite a bit of time and effort. Since you will be dealing with individuals’ mental health, a lot of similarities can be drawn between psychotherapists and other medical professionals in terms of training and requirements. Start by fulfilling the necessary educational requirements. Then you can determine which field you are most passionate about, and start looking for your ideal job. Start your training today to join the likes of Freud, Klein, and Maslow!

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Getting the Educational Requirements for Psychotherapy

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Attend university to get a relevant bachelor’s degree. Studying psychotherapy specifically or related fields like social work, psychology, or medicine will help to give you a strong base going forward. Having a bachelor’s degree is the most common way to get into the required, accredited master’s programs.
- Check to see if your university is accredited or if they offer a joint degree program to avoid having to change universities between the bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
- Recommended courses will often include classes such as introduction to counseling skills and ethics classes.
2
Choose a university for master's degree. Talk to your undergraduate advisor about graduate schools with good programs. Be specific in describing your wants and needs and ask for their advice.
- For example, you could say, "I'd really like to work in family counseling. Do you know of any programs that specialize in that area?"
- Once you have narrowed down your list of choices, visit each university. Talk to the admissions office, faculty members, and current students to try to determine if that program is a good fit for you.
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3
Get a master’s degree at an accredited university program. The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), the British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy (BACP), and the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) are the main organizations responsible for degree accreditation and psychotherapist registration. You can choose either organization’s requirement path to follow, but you will have to meet them and register to practice.
- Master’s programs in psychotherapy typically last less than 4 years and will cover theory, practice, history, ethics, and legal requirements. The UKCP, for example, requires 3 years of taught training and 450 hours evidence of practice, theory, and skills.
- Most programs will also include supervised practice where you actually get some experience treating clients as you will upon graduation.
- Consult your specific university and the UKCP, BACP, or BPC directly to make sure the program you are interested in will meet the requirements for registration.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Getting a Job as a Psychotherapist

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Search specific requirements of listed jobs you would want. Registration and licensing are relative to where you will work. Most organizations that hire psychotherapists will require registration with a national organization and some level of experience. Private practice on the other hand only requires an appropriate educational background.^{[1]
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- Different types of counseling and psychotherapy may have additional or different requirements. Searching what is required in current job listings will give you the best idea of the types of training to pursue.
- Call hiring managers directly to discuss what their organization requires in psychotherapists if you have a specific place in mind to work for.
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Register with the appropriate organization you studied with. Depending on who accredited your master’s program, you will now need to register with that organization. You will generally apply online at the organization’s website and pay an application fee.
- Some organizations, such as the UKCP and BACP, offer a student membership. This allows you to join the network of members prior to graduation, but you will then still have to apply as a full member once you start seeing clients.
- Registration allows you to advertise the accredited membership to clients and employers. Like other certificates, degrees, or training programs, this shows you have gone through the necessary training and practice to be qualified as a psychotherapist.
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Choose to specialize in a field that interests you. Hopefully, you felt drawn to a specialty while you completed your degrees. Spend some time to reflect on what interests you the most. You might choose to specialize in:^{[2]
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- Family and marriage counseling
- Addiction counseling
- Child counseling
- Grief counseling
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Apply to hospitals, schools, or existing psychotherapist practices. Depending on the type of field you would most enjoy working in and have trained for, you can now begin applying for jobs. Be sure to have your registration information included in the application so they know you have met the requirements they expect of employees.
- Having more practice, experience, and training will just benefit you when applying. Consider attending workshops or continuing education courses even as you apply to show you plan to keep up on current best practices.
- Consult your registration agency to see if they have an in-network job portal or referral system. Sometimes, members of one organization will be more likely to hire or work with individuals who went through the same training.
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Start your own private practice when you’re ready to go it alone. Registration with an organization or any form of licensure is not required in the UK for private practice counseling. You will need to register your business with the government, but otherwise, you can begin practicing immediately.^{[3]
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- Working for another private practice firm prior to going out on your own can help give you a clearer picture as to what all is required in running that type of business. Ask lots of questions!
- Be ready to have insurance, tax forms, security measures, and all other legal and ethical requirements in place before starting to see clients. There are a lot of bases to cover, but if you’ve got the experience, a private practice lets you run things your way.
- Consider a partnership if you aren’t ready or wanting to take on full responsibility for every responsibility in a private practice. Having a trusted partner can divide up the work and ease the burden of responsibility and liability.