Our aims

Our mission

UKCP is the leading membership organisation for psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors in the UK and has been for over 30 years. 

We validate organisations that educate, train and accredit people to become psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors, and we ensure they have the highest and most exacting standards in the UK. 

We support, promote and regulate psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors who provide therapeutic support to infants, children, young people, adults and families in communities throughout the UK. 

We see first-hand the power of psychotherapy to improve lives, so we speak up for the importance of psychotherapy in national and local policymaking and represent the social value of psychotherapy in the UK today. 

Our vision

Our vision is of a society that understands the value and impact of high-quality psychotherapy, the importance of making psychotherapeutic services available to those in need and the relevance of psychotherapy in improving lives. 

Our values

Our values are central to us. 

We recruit according to these values, appraise our people against them, embed them in our working practices with colleagues, ensure that our practice is continually informed by them and measure our impact against them. 

• We believe in working with integrity throughout the organisation.
• We are innovative in our approach to member support and ensuring high standards of practice.
• We ensure that our policies are informed by data and evidence wherever possible.
• We recognise the pluralism of the modality traditions upon which psychotherapy is based and encourage dialogue to promote understanding. 
• We aspire to be courageous and inquisitive in the way we work.
• We seek to be inclusive, recognising the diversity of the society in which we live and work, and we strive to have respect for everyone we work with.
• We aim to work collaboratively with other organisations when it is in the public's interest to do so. 
• We are reflective and seek to learn when things do not go as expected. 

Our charitable objectives

Our charitable objectives provide a framework for achieving our strategic aims. They are to promote:

• the art and science of psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic counselling for the benefit of the public
• research into psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic counselling methods and to disseminate the results of any such research
• high standards of education, training and practice in psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic counselling
• the wider provision of psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic counselling for all sections of the public.

Our three-year strategy 2024-27

In November 2024, UKCP launched a three-year strategy: psychotherapy in a changing world. This strategy results from months of collaborative consultation, where members helped shape the vision for the future of UKCP over the next three years. You can read our strategy and how it was developed on the strategy page of our website.

Our constitutional documents

Legal documents underpin UKCP's activities. These documents set out the framework within which we operate.

UKCP Articles of Association
Our Articles of Association is the founding document of UKCP, which sets out our objectives, overarching governance arrangements and the liabilities of members.

UKCP Byelaws
Our Byelaws set out in more detail some aspects of UKCP's functions, including categories of membership, organisation structure, governance structure, elections and terms of reference for officers and committees.

UKCP Standing Orders
Our Standing Orders set out UKCP's procedure for change management of official documents, detailing the responsibilities of the board of trustees, committees, faculties, colleges and special interest groups.

Our annual report

Our annual report is a legal document that outlines our activities and financial performance during the previous financial year.

Download our annual report and financial statements on the Charity Commission's website.

You can also download our annual reports from Companies House from previous years.