The difference between a UKCP accredited psychotherapeutic counsellor and psychotherapist?

[Mustardfan]

I feel annoyed that I started seeing a UKCP accredited Psychotherapeutic Counsellor, thinking she was well qualified. Now I find that she’s doing training to become a UKCP accredited Psychotherapist. So I wonder how qualified she actually is right now. Does anyone know much about the difference?

Accredited psychotherapists will have a higher level of training, masters level 7+ whilst a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor will have a level 4-6 diploma, which is counselling led rather than psychotherapy led. Both trained but on different levels. Are you paying for it privately?

She is well qualified. I am a psychotherapist and trained to level 7. She will be trained to level 6, and probably has a year to go to get a masters. It will mean she is being supervised more than most, giving more depth to her reflection. Most counsellors train to level 4, some to
level 5/6, and her training will have been psychotherapeutic, with all the same supervision and therapy requirements as a psychotherapist.

Not true. It depends on your accreditation. BACP will/used to accredit people with an online exam and no training. UKCP have different categories, as does BPC.

Your best question to determine expertise is, "how many hours of personal therapy have you had?"
Unless you're having outcome-focused therapy or CBT, any answer not in the hundreds is a therapist to put in the bin. Ideally you're hoping for over 500 hours of personal therapy.

Edited to add: level x, counsellor, psychotherapist... all meaningless words. Counsellors and psychotherapists aren't a regulated profession. anyone and their nan can use the titles with no training and you can't stop them.

But the op was on about those that are UKCP accredited. And the differences. Didn’t mention BACP…

@Blurrywateryeye I'm not sure what your point is. The issue here isn't about accreditation, as OP says. They thought accreditation meant something it doesn't. The way people describe themselves, and the way many accreditation bodies work, is misleading. You need to know the ins and outs of the profession to know what accreditation with which title and what training course actually means anything.

Hence my suggestion to ask about personal therapy instead.

I’m not sure what your point is and you’ve repeatedly misread the thread. The op wants to know the difference between the two she listed…. Not that hard to understand that.

Perhaps you don't understand the psychotherapy profession as well as you think, but the point is that all of the words are meaningless. There might be NO difference in skills or experience between someone calling themselves a psychotherapist or a psychotherapeutic counsellor, because those words mean nothing. The UKCP accredits 73 different schools, and over a hundred courses. There is a PgDip in psychotherapy, 2 years part-time, a five-year part-time MA in psychotherapy, and a three-year 'training in psychotherapy', with no qualification, allggraduates get to call themselves psychotherapists, but actually the one without a qualification leads to more experienced therapists. It is all meaningless and to say, my training gives this or that qualification or job title because it's the Wild West.

Do you mean practice/clinical hours because even as a trainee many have had 500+ hours of PERSONAL therapy.
OP you will be looking at experience IMHO, she may be topping up her experience/qualifications, most of us do.
The difference is :UKCP-accredited psychotherapist generally has more extensive training and focuses on longer-term, in-depth work with clients, while a UKCP-accredited psychotherapeutic counsellor typically has a shorter, focused training and works with clients on more specific issues

Thanks for your comments. I went on the UKCP website and there is nothing that explains the difference to clients. Seeing as part of the purpose of the accreditation system is to enable clients to find a properly qualified practitioner, it seems pretty poor not to have an explanation there.

@Mustardfanthis page explains the difference. It’s aimed at people wanting to train, which I know isn’t what you were looking for, but it does answer your question.
https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/psychotherapy-training/train-as-a-psychotherapist/

I’m not sure that is the aim of accreditation. The various registers are a bit like optional clubs you can join. You don’t have to be a member of any of them. As PP said, none of these titles are protected titles.

Hello, in order to become a member of any professional counselling body, the counsellors must be fully qualified (level 4+ diploma in counselling). Accredited counsellors are those who have continued their studies and reacher a higher level. Hope this helps.

It takes about 7 years to become a psychotherapist, Masters level. At this is long and expensive most ukcp courses offer an interim qualification of psychotherapeutic counselling which as pp have mentioned is level 6, so higher than degree level. She is the same person and has had the same teaching she will have had when she gets her full qualification. Just not as many hours of experience (but still a few hundred) and won’t have completed her dissertation yet.
the most important factor for therapy to be ‘successful’ is their relationship between the two of you.
also, some very experienced, been doing it for decades, therapists can become a bit tired and set in their ways. Not have as much energy and capacity to engage with and hold you. Of course not always the case, but there are advantages to a relatively fresh therapist.
Why are her qualifications so important to you? You can ask her about her experience.

I'd agree with the point here about experience and a 'fresh' therapist. If I ever needed more therapy, or DC/DP did, I'd try and find a third-year psychoanalytic trainee!

n my view, which some may find controversial, accreditation doesn't necessarily mean someone is a better or more qualified therapist. The same goes for academic qualifications. What truly matters, in my experience, is how much therapy the therapist themselves has had. Personal therapy fosters self-awareness, and that, along with regular supervision, is what truly shapes a safe and effective practitioner.
The therapist's modality is also crucial. Someone trained in CBT works in a fundamentally different way from a person-centred counsellor. Yet this distinction is often overlooked by clients and even by some services.
As someone who works in the NHS, one thing I find puzzling is that many Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs) are not required to be registered with any professional body, yet they are widely employed across NHS Talking Therapies services. In contrast, counsellors and other therapists often struggle to work in the NHS, despite holding BACP or UKCP registration. They may be able to work privately or with third-sector organisations, but gaining access to NHS roles is disproportionately difficult.
There’s another concern worth highlighting: many clinical psychologists have never had personal therapy themselves. While it’s encouraged, it’s not a requirement of their training. This seems like a major oversight, especially when compared to psychotherapy or counselling training routes where personal therapy is considered essential.
Ultimately, accreditation and qualifications are important, but they don’t tell the whole story. The most effective therapists tend to be those who have done their own inner work and continue to engage in reflective practice.

500 hours of personal therapy is about 10 years seeing as sessions are usually one hour long, once a week. Are there really many trainee therapists who will have had 10 years of personal therapy?

BACP is 110 hours of supervised clinical hours
UKCP is 450 hours
then there is psychoanalysis with 1700 hours (over 4 years)