Is there really no one who oversees counsellors in the UK?

Anyone can set themselves up as a counsellor, you don't need training or qualifications. I filed a formal complaint about a counsellor I had once and was told at the time I wasn't the first complaint they had recieved about her. It was done through my GP but the surgery apparently had recieved a number of complaints about her.

I must be unwell too, then, because it sounds quite reasonable to me.

@Sergeverge I this reply says everything you need to know about the quality of that poster's replies.

Remember that not everyone on mumsnet is pleasant, and on top of that it's known there are a small but vocal proportion of men who have deliberately set out to make Mumsnet a hostile place to post for support. There's a Reddit about it. Some people have an agenda, and it's a bad one.

Take the useful replies, and ignore the dorkish ones.

Sadly, I don't think you'll get anywhere with a complaint. Problems with professionals have to be egregious before the professional bodies get anywhere, and sometimes they don't anyway.

What may be worth doing is seeing if other people have complained about this doctor online, and / or contacting local disability or mental health groups who may have information about mental health needs and the medical profession. In the old days there used to occasionally be info days held by disability group ls about how best to navigate the medical system. Perhaps they're still being held.

Oh, thanks to whoever reported that now-deleted post!

Yes, the BACP is the main body. No one should bother with a counsellor or therapist who isn’t accredited by the BACP (or UKCP for psychotherapists).

Because it’s not currently a protected legal title, there are some charlatans that advertise as counsellors without being BACP-accredited. Hopefully the title will become protected at some point in the future.

Minimum training standard is a Level 4 diploma, and it sounds like this man does not have this.

I know a man who was involved romantically with a family member of mine. Turned out to be an attempted romance fraud and he’d lied about everything. He said he had millions in the bank he couldn’t access currently but promised to pay her back £50k if she gave it to him etc. luckily the relationship ended before she gave him any money but he was close to moving in with her. He had lied about his background/career and it turned out he’d had a series of low-skilled jobs, not the high-flying, glittering career he’d told us about.
Anyway, he’s done a course online and is now a “therapist” and it seriously worries me that he has access to potentially vulnerable people and there’s nothing can be done about it. His motive is to find a woman to bankroll him.
It’s scary how unregulated the industry is.

Have you never met a vindictive individual, @unicornsandstardust ?

In the days when I was attending disability conferences I heard some awful stories about medical professionals who got nasty when vulnerable clients said 'no' to them. Including one woman with Celebral Palsy, highly intelligent, who was very nearly forced into being sterilised because she wanted a baby (she was a great mum).

People with mental health issues are twice vulnerable. Their illness can mean they misunderstand. But precisely because of that illness they can also be bullied and victimised. It's well known by the good mental health professionals.

Just how can you be quite so arrogantly confident that "no one punished her by proxy"?

Because it's happened to others, and if you get more experience in the field, you'll realise it.