How does it work?

This site works on a pay-what-you-can basis: there is no fixed payment for being listed here, but if you register:

• You agree to contribute at least once a year, or to request a fee-waiver.
• you must be listed as a counsellor or psychotherapist on a UK Professional Standards Authority accredited register (or in Ireland, IACP).
• you must keep your profile up to date, following the site's style guide, and withdraw it (set its status to 'hidden') when not in practice.

A common contribution per year is half your standard session fee.

If you persistently fail to contribute, haven't requested a fee waiver, we may send you reminders.

In accordance with the site's ethos, no-one is ever excluded for non-payment or for failing to request a fee-waiver, but if you register we expect you to be able to justify non-payment to your own satisfaction under your chosen ethical code or framework for practice (under our trust-based model, we'll never ask).

This service was set up in 2008, with the aim of providing an online directory for counselling and psychotherapy that more fully and more fairly represents the availability of services in the UK & Ireland.

It does this by applying an ethical/social model that reverses the usual power balance, so that each practitioner who registers on this site commits to contributing what they themselves feel is fair in their circumstances (including choosing to pay nothing).

No-one is excluded for inability or failure to pay.

In this way the directory aims to fairly represent the low-cost and free counselling sector, and to be accessible to practitioners who often find themselves priced-out of, and therefore under-represented, in other online directories.

To the best of our knowledge, there's no other online directory in the world that works on a similar ethical/social model (let us know if you find one), although the pay-what-you want model has been used in other contexts, eg. cafes.

What makes the model feasible in this case is the fact that the community of people registering have all committed to working to the ethical code or framework of a regulating organisation, so that deliberate abuse of the system is rare. (Sometimes, though, people simply forget to contribute (or to request a waiver), and in that case we may send you a gentle reminder at times where it looks like there might be a shortfall in running costs for the website).

Each practitioner decides what, when and whether to pay, but registering practitioners must take personal responsibility for making sure that they can justify to themselves their decision in relation to (non) payment with reference to their chosen code of ethics

We take seriously the notion of reversing the power-balance in practitioners' favour, and in operating a trust-based system, so we'll never ask you to justify your decision to us.

What do I need to tell you to support my fee waiver request?

Nothing.

The directory works on a trust-based basis: all registering practitioners are checked to ensure they belong to an organisation with a recognised code of ethics, so we accept all such requests without question.

If you don't ask for a fee waiver, and fail to contribute, we may send you polite reminders (typically at times where it looks like there might be a shortfall in covering our running costs).

Where does my money go?

All contributions are used to cover IT/web-hosting and related expenses.

Your profile manager, and any others who support the running of the directory, work for free (please keep that mind when communicating with them, and extend to them the same courtesy and kindness you would show your own clients).

In most years, the directory runs at a small loss, which is generously covered by those who work voluntarily to run this directory for you.

Any surplus after covering the directory's costs is donated to charities related to homelessness or counselling.

Since its founding in 2008, the directory has run at a (small) net loss most years. In 2017 and 2018 the surplus was donated to the charities Tara Counselling Centre, Refuge and Shelter. and in 2022, to Brain Tumour Research.

If you've not contributed, and haven't requested a fee-waiver, then we may send you a gentle reminder if it looks like practitioner contributions will fail to cover the site's running costs.

Free and low-cost services are usually under-represented in advertising: we aim to set that right.

As as ethics-based system, we don't question your decision on what's fair, but we do trust that you will promptly and regularly contribute an amount appropriate to your circumstances, or request a fee waiver (You can't register without making that promise).

Yes, click here to re-request it.

After your email address has been confirmed via your response to the verification email (or by your emailing us directly), your profile will be reviewed by a Registered & BACP Accredited counsellor.

He or she is responsible for checking your details prior to making your profile public. This entails:

• a security check - to help make sure you are who you say you are.
• a quality check - to make sure your profile fits with the site's style guide.
• a standards check - on your level of qualification.

For the security of practitioners and the safety of their clients, your profile will remain hidden until the checks are completed. This usually takes 1-3 days to complete (if you're prompt in responding).

The security-checks are part of the service, so they're covered in your payment - there's no extra cost to you - but your profile will not be displayed until they succeed.

If you remember the email address you registered with, click here.

if you can't remember the email address you registered with, you might find it by looking up your profile in the directory (by default it's the same as the contact email you advertise, unless you choose to show a different one publicly).

Alternatively, if you've kept emails we've sent you in the past, then the address we've sent them to will normally be the one you registered with.

If that doesn't help, contact us and explain who you are and what you want.

You need to log in first using the email address and the password you registered with.

If you need a password reminder you can get that emailed to you via the login page.

Once logged in, you will see a number of options to let you create or update your profile's content.

For security reasons, you can only change your login email by emailing us.

Please remember to keep your details up-to-date.

Log in and click where it says "hide your profile" on the settings page.

To make it visible again, click on "make it visible".

If you want us to delete your account with us, email info@counsellor.directory and let us know you want to de-register.