Protect Therapy Users

04/08/2026

Thank you to everyone who signed, shared and supported our petition 💚

The petition closed with 6,782 signatures.

We did not reach the 10,000 needed for a Government response but this is not the end of the campaign. Thousands of people have now shown that therapy regulation, public protection and accountability matter.

We are already working on a new petition, continuing to build the coalition and gathering evidence through our anonymous Call for Evidence.

Every signature helped show that this issue deserves attention. We are not giving up.

- Lucinda

17/07/2026

💛 Over 5,900 people have signed 💛

Help us reach 10,000 signatures by 3rd August so the Government must respond.

Our petition calls for “Counsellor” and “Psychotherapist” to become protected titles, with stronger statutory regulation and clearer accountability for therapy users.

Every signature helps bring this issue further into public view.

Sign and share:
petition.protecttherapyusers.co.uk

Legislate to make ‘Counsellor’ and ‘Psychotherapist’ protected titles regulated by the HCPC. The Government should also review how this could include influencers and life coaches offering mental health services, ensuring all are subject to mandatory fitness-to-practise oversight.

12/07/2026

The commission by Mind into AI and mental health is a timely and important development.

AI is already entering mental health spaces through chatbots, apps, adverts, self-help tools, search results and platform-based support. People using these tools may be distressed, isolated or unable to access timely in-person care.

That makes safety, transparency and accountability essential.

AI should not become a way to patch over gaps in the mental health system while leaving people to work out for themselves what is evidence-based, who is responsible, how their data is used and where to turn if something goes wrong.

We welcome Mind's focus on better regulation, lived experience and the need for AI to sit alongside improved in-person support.

For Protect Therapy Users, this conversation must include people harmed by mental health support, therapy users, families and survivors, so that safety is built into new systems before harm occurs.

Today we are proud to launch our commission into AI and mental health.

AI is becoming embedded in everyday life at speed.

You deserve information and support that is safe, accurate and grounded in evidence.

Our commission aims to achieve exactly that.

We will bring together policy makers, big tech companies, AI experts and those with lived experience to explore the role of AI and mental health and call for better regulation.

Together we will support the nation in shaping one of the most significant technological shifts of our time.

We also need to rethink in person mental health support. Our current system isn’t working.

We need to provide more early, open access support, that helps you get the right support at the right time.

Early support that stops you from reaching crisis point.

Technology has a vital role in this mission, but it needs to sit alongside better in-person support.

11/07/2026

Our article for Mad in the UK is now live.

Lucinda, one of our cofounders at PTU, wrote about why therapy harm can be so difficult to report: the shame of saying you needed help, the difficulty of saying that help caused harm and the burden placed on therapy users and families to navigate a confusing system.

This is a deeply personal issue for her family, but it also raises wider questions about safety, accountability and who is heard when therapy goes wrong.

Thank you to Mad in the UK for publishing it. You can read it here 👇

https://www.madintheuk.com/2026/07/why-therapy-harm-is-so-difficult-to-report/

11/07/2026

💛 We have reached 5,000 signatures 💛

That means we are over halfway to the 10,000 signatures needed for a Government response.

Thank you to everyone who has signed, shared, commented, challenged, encouraged and helped bring this issue into public view.

Our petition calls for “Counsellor” and “Psychotherapist” to become protected titles, with stronger statutory regulation and clearer accountability for therapy users.

We know there is still a long way to go. If we do not reach the 100,000-signature debate threshold before this petition closes next month, we will not stop. We will use everything we have learned, strengthen the wording, build wider support and try again. And again. Until we see a change for the better.

For now, every signature still matters.

🔗 Please sign and share the petition:
petition.protecttherapyusers.co.uk

03/07/2026

If a treatment is intended to help people, those people should have a meaningful role in deciding how it is researched and evaluated.

Lived experience can reveal questions, outcomes and possible harms that may be missed when research is shaped primarily by professional or institutional priorities. Participation should be built in from the start, including the design, interpretation and communication of findings.

This principle is central to our work at Protect Therapy Users. Our anonymous Call for Evidence is gathering experiences of therapy harm, complaints processes and regulatory gaps from therapy users, survivors, relatives and advocates. It is not an academic research study yet, but it is one way of ensuring experiences that are often absent from public discourse can inform campaigning and policy discussions.

You can contribute anonymously here: evidence.protecttherapyusers.co.uk

02/07/2026

Thank you to Psychotherapy Institute for sharing our petition and helping bring this important conversation to practitioners and trainees.

The petition asks for “Counsellor” and “Psychotherapist” to become legally protected titles, regulated through the HCPC. This would mean clear national standards, mandatory statutory registration for those using the titles, and enforceable fitness-to-practise oversight.

Statutory regulation would not solve every problem within therapy, but it could close a significant public-protection gap. Voluntary registers can provide valuable safeguards, yet joining one is not compulsory and removal may not legally prevent someone from continuing to practise under an unprotected title.

We welcome support from within the profession. Any future system must protect the public while being shaped meaningfully by therapy users, survivors and ethical practitioners.

Please read and sign before 3rd August:
petition.protecttherapyusers.co.uk

A parliamentary petition has been launched calling for the statutory regulation of the titles 'Counsellor' and 'Psychotherapist'.
The petition proposes that these titles become protected and regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and that consideration is given to how regulation may apply to others offering mental health services, including influencers and life coaches.

Supporters of the petition believe that stronger regulation could:
• Improve public protection
• Increase accountability
• Strengthen professional standards
• Increase public confidence in mental health services

Whether you work in the helping professions, are currently in training, or have an interest in mental health services, this is an important conversation about standards, safety and public protection.

Read more and sign the petition here:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/755706

To learn more about psychotherapy training, professional development and events, visit:
https://www.psychotherapyinstitute.co.uk/

01/07/2026

👏 This strongly resonates with Protect Therapy Users 👏

Awareness alone is not enough when people are still entering systems that can be difficult to navigate, unsafe to challenge and slow to respond when harm occurs. A genuine mental health justice movement must be shaped by lived experience, including the voices of people harmed by therapy and those excluded by existing complaints and regulatory systems.

We welcome NSUN’s focus on challenging harmful systems, building better alternatives and giving lived experience real power. For PTU, that must include safer therapy, clearer accountability and meaningful routes for people to raise concerns.

Our new Theory of Change sets out our mission to build a mental health justice movement to fight harmful systems and build better alternatives.

30/06/2026

The Department of Health and Social Care - DHSC is consulting on reforms to the legal framework governing the GMC. The proposals recognise that clear professional titles, statutory powers and effective accountability are essential to patient and public safety.

This consultation is not about counselling or psychotherapy. But the principle is directly relevant.

People seeking therapy are still expected to navigate unprotected titles, voluntary registers and inconsistent routes to accountability. If clear titles and enforceable regulations matter for safety elsewhere in healthcare, therapy users deserve the same clarity and protection.

Protect Therapy Users will continue to argue that public safety should not depend on individuals understanding a fragmented regulatory system.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-the-general-medical-council-legislative-framework

30/06/2026

More than a million children were referred to mental health services in England last year, yet many are still waiting too long or reaching help only when already in crisis.

The racial inequality is especially alarming. One in four Black children reached services in crisis, compared with 7.4% of white children.

Children need earlier, accessible and culturally responsive support. But expanding access must also mean ensuring that services are safe, accountable and shaped by the voices of children and families.

Mental health support should reach children before crisis, regardless of their background.