Counselling and psychotherapy are not statutorily regulated professions in the UK, and “counsellor” and “psychotherapist” are not protected titles — in law, anyone can use them without any qualification, registration or training. So there is no single legal CPD requirement for counsellors. In practice the requirement comes from the professional bodies whose registers most therapists choose to join, and whose registers are accredited by the Professional Standards Authority: the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). BACP normally expects registered members to complete at least 30 hours of CPD a year, alongside regular clinical supervision.
At a glance: Nexis CPD offers £9 CPD-accredited online awareness courses — including safeguarding, data protection and mental health awareness — that a counsellor can log as continuing professional development. Each is 100% online with a verifiable e-certificate, and any three courses cost £18. They support a therapist’s CPD record; they are not a counselling qualification and do not make anyone a counsellor.
Is counselling a regulated profession in the UK?
No — and this surprises many people, including some clients. Unlike doctors, nurses or social workers, counsellors and psychotherapists are not subject to statutory regulation. There is no Act of Parliament that reserves the titles “counsellor” or “psychotherapist” to people who hold a particular qualification, and no legal body a therapist must register with before seeing clients. As the UK Parliament’s own research briefing on the regulation of psychological professionals sets out, these titles are not protected in law, so anyone can describe themselves as a counsellor or therapist and begin practising.
This is different from the position for practitioner psychologists. Titles such as “clinical psychologist” and “counselling psychologist” are protected by law and reserved to people registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Counselling and psychotherapy sit outside that statutory scheme. The Government has repeatedly considered statutory regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists and, to date, has decided against it, favouring a system of assured voluntary registration instead.
What fills the gap is voluntary self-regulation. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) runs an Accredited Registers programme. Registers that meet the PSA’s standards — including those held by BACP, UKCP and NCPS — earn accredited status, which signals that their members have met defined training, ethics and CPD requirements. Joining one of these registers is a professional choice, not a legal duty, but in reality most reputable therapists join one, most training courses are geared towards membership, and many employers, GP surgeries, employee assistance programmes and insurers will only work with registered practitioners.
The honest consequence is worth stating plainly: because the title is unprotected, if a voluntary register removes a member for misconduct there is no law stopping that person from continuing to practise under a different banner. That accountability gap is exactly why the standards these bodies set — including CPD — matter so much, and why clients are advised to check that their therapist is on an accredited register.
Do counsellors and psychotherapists have to do CPD?
If you are on a professional register, yes — CPD is a condition of membership, not an optional extra. Continuing professional development is how therapists keep their knowledge, skills and ethical practice current across a career, and every major UK register builds it into its membership rules. If you are not on any register, there is no legal obligation at all; but practising talking therapy with no ongoing development, no supervision and no external accountability is widely regarded across the profession as unsafe and unethical, whatever the law says.
CPD for a counsellor is deliberately broad. It is not limited to attending accredited training days. It includes reading, structured self-study, online courses, workshops, conferences, writing, developing new therapeutic approaches, and — importantly — reflecting on what you have learned and how it changes your practice. The modern emphasis, across BACP and the RCVS-style outcomes models used elsewhere, is on the impact of the learning rather than simply the hours logged.
How many CPD hours does BACP require?
BACP normally expects registered members to undertake at least 30 hours of CPD a year. BACP frames CPD as a value of its Ethical Framework: all registered members must agree to plan, record, review and reflect on their CPD in a structured way, with the focus on outcomes — what you have gained and how it has changed your practice — rather than on hours for their own sake.
BACP checks this through a random audit. Each month it selects around 1.5% of eligible members who are renewing their membership and asks them to submit their supervision and CPD records; selected members are given roughly six weeks to respond. Failing to engage with CPD, or being unable to evidence it when audited, can put your registered membership at risk.
One date to note: BACP has launched a new Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions 2026, which becomes mandatory on 3 November 2026. The commitment to planned, recorded and reflected-upon CPD carries through into the new framework, so members should read it and make sure their CPD practices are up to date.
What about UKCP and NCPS CPD requirements?
The other two large accredited registers set their own CPD rules, and if you belong to more than one body you must satisfy each of them.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) requires its registrants to undertake ongoing CPD relevant to their practice and to record it, as part of maintaining registration and re-accreditation. The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) likewise requires members to complete and evidence CPD each year as a condition of membership. Because these requirements are reviewed and updated by each body, always confirm the current figure and format directly on your own register’s website rather than relying on a number quoted second-hand — including this one. The principle is constant across all three: relevant, planned CPD, recorded and reflected on, evidenced on request.
What none of these bodies do is prescribe a fixed list of compulsory courses. Like the statutory regulators of other professions, they set the expectation and let the practitioner choose CPD that fits their client group, modality and development needs. That is what makes a mix of short, focused awareness courses — on safeguarding, data protection, specific client issues — a legitimate part of a wider CPD plan.
What counts as CPD for a counsellor?
Almost any structured learning that improves your practice can count, provided you can show what you gained from it. Typical CPD for counsellors and psychotherapists includes:
- Formal training — workshops, courses and conferences on therapeutic models, specific presentations (trauma, bereavement, eating disorders), or working with particular groups.
- Short online awareness courses — for example safeguarding children and adults, data protection, or mental health awareness, which build the surrounding knowledge every therapist needs.
- Reading and self-study — books, journals, research papers and podcasts, where you record your reflections.
- Peer learning — reading groups, peer supervision, case discussion and practice-sharing forums.
- Writing and teaching — preparing to teach, writing articles, or developing resources, which are recognised as powerful ways to consolidate learning.
The thread that turns an activity into valid CPD is reflection: a short note on what you learned, how it applies to your clients, and what you will do differently. A day of training with no reflection is weaker CPD than an hour of reading that changes how you work.
What supervision do counsellors need?
CPD and supervision are separate requirements, and both matter. Clinical supervision — reviewing your casework with an experienced supervisor — is a defining feature of ethical counselling practice and a condition of registered membership with BACP and the other bodies. It is not the same as CPD, though the reflective learning that comes out of supervision often feeds your CPD record.
BACP requires registered members to have appropriate supervision in place and to keep an up-to-date record of it, showing how it impacts on their practice. Supervision arrangements are checked in the same random audit that covers CPD. The exact minimum and format depend on your register and your caseload, so confirm the current requirement with your own professional body. The key point for anyone new to the profession: budget for ongoing supervision from your very first client, not just for training.
How do you record CPD and prepare for an audit?
Because registers audit CPD, keeping a live record throughout the year — rather than reconstructing it under pressure when you are selected — is the single most useful habit. A workable CPD record for a counsellor captures, for each activity:
- the date and the type of activity (course, reading, supervision, workshop);
- an estimate of the time spent;
- what you set out to learn or why you chose it;
- what you actually gained; and
- how it has changed, or will change, your practice.
Keep your certificates too. A Nexis CPD course, for instance, issues a verifiable e-certificate carrying a unique ID and QR code, which sits neatly in a CPD folder as evidence of the “what” while your reflective note supplies the “so what”. If you are audited, you submit the record and your supporting evidence within the window your body sets — around six weeks for BACP. Auditors are generally looking for genuine, reflective engagement, not a specific tally of hours.
Do you need a qualification to become a counsellor?
Legally, no — but practically, yes, if you want to work safely, join a register and be employable. Because the title is unprotected, there is no legal minimum qualification. However, the accredited registers set entry standards. BACP registration, for example, requires completion of a suitable counselling qualification (typically a diploma at level 4 or above, or a degree that meets its criteria) and passing BACP’s Certificate of Proficiency before you can join the register. UKCP and NCPS have their own training and entry routes. Short CPD courses — including ours — are not counselling qualifications and do not, on their own, qualify anyone to practise as a counsellor or psychotherapist.
So the realistic path into the profession is: complete a recognised counselling training, meet your chosen register’s entry requirements, secure supervision, gain insurance, and join an accredited register. From that point, CPD keeps you there. If you already work in a related role, our guide to CPD requirements for social workers shows how a neighbouring profession structures its ongoing learning, and our overview of mental health first aid explains where that distinct, non-clinical role fits.
How Nexis CPD courses support a counsellor’s CPD
Our £9 courses are not a substitute for counselling training or supervision, and we would never claim otherwise. What they do well is cover the surrounding knowledge that every therapist is expected to have and can legitimately log as CPD hours — provided you reflect on how each one applies to your practice.
- Safeguarding Adults Level 1 and Safeguarding Children Level 1 — recognising and responding to abuse and neglect, which sits at the heart of a counsellor’s duty of care. Our guides to safeguarding adults and safeguarding children explain the frameworks in full.
- Data Protection and GDPR Awareness — how to handle sensitive client records lawfully under UK GDPR, a real risk area for private practitioners. See our explainer on what GDPR means in practice.
- Mental Health Awareness — broad grounding that complements, but does not replace, clinical training.
Those three together cost £18 rather than £27, because any three courses trigger the pay-for-2-get-3 offer. Add them to the cart and the discount applies automatically. Each carries a verifiable e-certificate for your CPD folder.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a legal CPD requirement for counsellors in the UK?
No. Counselling and psychotherapy are not statutorily regulated in the UK, and “counsellor” and “psychotherapist” are not protected titles, so there is no legal CPD requirement. CPD requirements come from the voluntary professional bodies — such as BACP, UKCP and NCPS — whose registers are accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. If you are a member of one of these, CPD is a condition of your membership.
How many CPD hours does BACP require each year?
BACP normally expects registered members to undertake at least 30 hours of CPD a year. It emphasises outcomes over hours: members must plan, record, review and reflect on their CPD in a structured way. BACP randomly audits around 1.5% of renewing members each month and asks them to submit their CPD and supervision records.
Can anyone call themselves a counsellor in the UK?
Legally, yes — because the title is not protected, anyone can describe themselves as a counsellor or therapist without any qualification or registration. That is why clients are advised to check that a therapist is on a Professional Standards Authority accredited register, which confirms the practitioner has met defined training, ethics, supervision and CPD standards.
What counts as CPD for a counsellor?
A wide range of activities count: formal training and workshops, short online awareness courses (such as safeguarding, data protection or mental health awareness), reading and self-study, peer supervision and case discussion, and writing or teaching. The activity becomes valid CPD when you reflect on what you gained and how it changes your practice, and record it. There is no fixed list of compulsory courses.
Do counselling CPD courses need to be accredited?
The professional bodies do not require CPD to come from a specific accreditor; they require it to be relevant, planned and reflected upon. CPD-accredited short courses provide a verifiable certificate as convenient evidence, but the value to your register comes from your reflection on how the learning applies to your clients, not from the badge alone. Always check your own body’s current CPD guidance.
Is supervision the same as CPD?
No. Supervision — reviewing your casework with an experienced supervisor — is a separate condition of registered membership, though the learning from supervision often feeds your CPD record. Registers such as BACP require members to have appropriate supervision in place and to keep a record of it. Both supervision and CPD are checked in the same membership audits.
Will a short online course qualify me to work as a counsellor?
No. Short CPD or awareness courses, including ours, are not counselling qualifications and do not make anyone a counsellor or psychotherapist. Entering the profession and joining an accredited register requires a recognised counselling qualification (typically a diploma at level 4 or above) and meeting your chosen body’s entry requirements, such as BACP’s Certificate of Proficiency.
Build your CPD record today
£9 per course. CPD accredited, 100% online, verifiable e-certificate. Pay for 2, get 3 — any 3 courses for £18.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and is not clinical or professional-registration advice. Counselling and psychotherapy are not statutorily regulated in the UK; CPD, supervision and entry requirements are set by voluntary professional bodies such as BACP, UKCP and NCPS, and their rules change — always confirm the current requirements with your own register. A Nexis CPD awareness course is CPD-accredited but is not a counselling qualification and does not confer counsellor, psychotherapist or registered status. Figures cited (including BACP’s expectation of at least 30 hours of CPD a year and its audit of around 1.5% of renewing members) are drawn from the bodies’ own published guidance at the time of writing.