Ensuring private counselling and therapy is ethical.

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At Focused Minds Counselling Services, we are committed to providing compassionate guidance to help you find a qualified and experienced counsellor. We understand that seeking private counselling can be confusing. The British Association of Counsellors & Psychotherapists (BACP) emphasises the importance of ensuring counsellors are properly trained, ethical and safe,

Even if you chose to receive counselling from another counsellor,  or counselling service, We would like to ensure your safety.

Unfortunately, the rise of the internet has led to an increase in influencers and short, unqualified life coaching courses. While the number of unregistered therapists remains relatively low, those seeking mental health support from them risk exploitation and harm. Clients have no guarantee of the practitioner’s training level and no formal recourse if something goes wrong.

Therapists typically list their qualifications on their websites. If they do not, we recommend looking into their credentials or requesting to see them. A legitimate qualification should be registered and recognised by Ofqual. An Ofqual-recognised qualification enables a therapist providing private counselling to be listed on the BACP register.

The British Association of Counsellors & Psychotherapists (BACP) and the National Counsellors & Psychotherapists Society (NCPS) do not recognise online or distance learning courses. This is because qualified counsellors must have completed 100 voluntary clinical hours with clients, through a placement or internship as part of their four-year academic training. The four year practical and academic training, also includes, practical skills, heavily researched modalities (different forms of therapy), psychology and must have completed a number of hours of their own therapy.

After the four years training,before qualified counsellors can join the BACP, they are required to sit a BACP two hour exam, to further ensure your safety.

Has a counsellor advertised a governing body on their website, such as (BACP) The British Association Of Counsellors  &  Psychotherapists, or (NCPS) the National Society of Counsellors & Psychotherapists?.

Being part of the above governing bodies ensures you that a counsellor has the correct qualifications. Is the counsellor on the BACP register (www.bacp.co.uk) or the NCPS register www.ncps.com? If they are not, it may be worth investigating.

Being a member of a governing body like the BACP also ensures that a counsellor undergoes regular criminal background checks. Without proper qualifications, there is also a risk that the counsellor may have a criminal record.

There is also a further danger that the counsellor will not have any liability insurance.

Unless the counsellor is part of a governing body (BACP -NCPS) they cannot enrol on qualified and ethical platforms, such as counselling directory (https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counsellors/kevin-talbott) or  Psychology Today  (https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/counselling/kevin-talbott-tamworth/1395374) Keeping private counselling safe.