Are you passionate about the future of the counselling profession?
Do you believe that all counsellors should be paid for the work that they do?
Do you recognise that part of the problem is that we don’t, as a profession, embed EDI in our every day practice?
Do you believe that we should all advocate for counselling as a route to emotional and mental well-being in children, young people and adults?
Do you want your voice to be heard?
On this page you will find out all about our current campaign work and other ways you can get involved.
Whether you are a fellow therapist or not, you are most welcome to join in and support us, or indeed reach out for support on behalf of yourself or someone else.
Below is a list of our current campaign work, as well as other work, e.g. research projects, resolutions, etc. based around challenging unpaid work within the counselling profession, making counselling training and ongoing personal and professional development accessible for all, and challenging organisations to embed the authentic application of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in everyday practice. These are the three pillars of our campaign work.
We would just like to take this opportunity to say a big THANK YOU for your ongoing support, it means everything to us. We deeply value each and every one of you who gets involved – we quite literally could not do this alone – thank you…
As always, we are a very open team here at CTUK, so please do feel free to get in touch if you have any questions you would like to ask us – we are always more than happy to help.
CURRENT CAMPAIGNS – Get involved
Coming March 2023
Campaign: Ask your MP to support paying UK Counsellors a fair and decent wage.
Campaign: The Good CPD Providers Charter.
Campaign: Make Membership Bodies counselling directories FREE for all members.
CAMPAIGN: KEEPING YOU UPDATED: Implementation of the 2022 BACP resolution, as stated below. (November 2022 – Ongoing)
RESOLUTION: ‘Unpaid volunteering jobs aimed at BACP registered and qualified counsellors remain an issue within our profession. We ask BACP to take a firm stance against counsellor exploitation and communicate with organisations advertising such jobs to make them aware of the importance of paying qualified therapists a decent, proportionate wage.‘
In 2022, our founder Maria Albertsen seconded the above BACP resolution submitted by CTUK member Marvis Stewart.
We were delighted when BACP members voted to uphold this resolution as it aligns directly with our aims as an organisation. We are thankful to all CTUK members who supported both Marvis and Maria, and as part of our ongoing commitment to you we aim to keep you updated with the progression of this resolution, including it’s implementation by BACP, via a dedicated page on our website here. On this page you will be able to track the progress of the resolution and ask any questions in the comments section. We hope you find it useful.
CAMPAIGN: We ask the UK government to, ‘Make it mandatory for every UK school to provide counselling for children and young people,’ via placement of a paid counsellor in every school. (September 2018 – Ongoing)
In the UK we are in the midst of a mental health crisis, which is affecting many of our children and young people. According to the Department for Education (DfE), 1 in 10 (850,000) children and young people have a diagnosable mental health condition. Despite these startling statistics and their implications, the emotional wellbeing and mental health needs of children are not being met, with 1/3 of school based referrals to CAMHs being rejected. Research shows that a solution to this crisis is to place a counsellor in every school, and we are asking the UK government to do this.
There are two parts to this campaign. The first part is for both therapists and any member of the public, and part two is for therapists only.
PART ONE. Can you sign and share our campaign via change.org? As of February 2023 we have almost 22,000 signatures asking the UK Government to make it mandatory to have a paid counsellor in every school, but we need more – it takes just a minute to add your name to the list! You can read the full campaign, sign and share it here.
PART TWO. Can you write to your local MP? In the box below you will find a template that you can use to write to your local MP to ask that they back our campaign to place a paid counsellor in every UK school. Just click on the box and it will take you to a page with very clear instructions on how to do so.
Letter to your local MP (template). Campaign: A paid counsellor in every UK school.
PREVIOUS CAMPAIGNS – now closed
February 2021
SURVEY: Evaluating the Financial Landscape of the Counselling & Psychotherapy Sector. You an read the report here.
August 2019 – November 2019 BACP Resolution (BACP members only)
Calling all BACP members – Please vote in favour of resolution ‘Scrap SCoPEd’ – Voting opens Monday 19th August 2019.
Dear BACP member
As you may know each year the BACP holds its annual AGM and as part of this process they invite members to submit a resolution if they wish to do so. This year, BACP members, Erin Stevens and Tara Shennan have put forward a resolution which seeks to stop the controversial #SCoPEd framework, and to ensure that, should BACP wish to develop a similar framework in the future, they first consult with their members.
You can read more about the resolution and the voting process here.
September – November 2018 BACP Resolution (BACP members only)
Calling all BACP members – Please vote in favour of resolution ‘Accreditation’ – Voting opens Monday 17th September 2018 and closes 12th October 2018
Dear BACP member
As you may know each year the BACP holds its annual AGM and as part of this process they invite members to submit a resolution if they wish to do so. This year, Siobhan Crosbie and Tara Shennan of our admin team have put forward a resolution which seeks to redress the culture of unemployment which permeates our profession.
The resolution, entitled ‘Accreditation’ asks that the BACP amend their member title structure so that all qualified counsellors are labelled accredited upon registration. You can read our supporting statement for this resolution in full here.
Please do share our work with anyone who feel may be able to help.
Thank you.