Trainee membership

Are you completing a UKCP-accredited training course leading to a psychotherapy or psychotherapeutic counselling qualification? Working towards your practice hours, supervised by one of our organisational members? UKCP trainee membership could be the perfect next step.

Why apply for UKCP trainee membership

Training to become a psychotherapist is challenging, rewarding, and unlike any other career path. We want to support you on your journey towards full clinical registration.

Adding the UKCP logo and the UKCP Trainee Therapist title to your CV or website inspires confidence in prospective employers and clients, showing the effort you’ve put into your training and your dedication to delivering the highest quality psychotherapeutic services. It demonstrates your commitment to following ethical and professional codes of practice.

Benefits of trainee membership

Apply for a bursary to help cover training costs

As a UKCP trainee you may qualify to receive financial assistance through our annual UKCP Bursary.

Increase your visibility and credibility

You’ll be added to our trainee listing directory, a guarantee for your clients of your strong ethical and professional practice, and you’ll be able to use the UKCP logo in your publicity.

Be the first to know about our exclusive networking opportunities – including online and regional events, Members Forum and special interest groups – and meet other professionals who could become a great source of referrals.

Save money on essentials

You’ll gain access to discounted tickets for our events and conferences. You can also save 20% at Routledge books and receive free global shipping, login into your members areas and click on the 'Resources' tab to get your discount.

We’ve negotiated special rates on professional indemnity insurance with two leading insurance companies to help you manage the cost of your practice.

And when you complete your training, you can enjoy a 10 per cent discount on UKCP full clinical membership in your first year following qualification.

Keep up to date

Stay informed about developments in psychotherapy and mental health with a free subscription of the New Psychotherapist magazine, published three times a year.

Our fortnightly emails will keep you fully briefed on news affecting the profession, updates on campaigns and developments within UKCP.

Be the first to know about our free and exclusive webinar series, covering member-recommended topics such as remote working and self-marketing. And if you can’t attend the live event, we keep a video archive of all sessions, available for streaming.

As a UKCP member, you'll enjoy exclusive access to The European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling (EJPC), a publication exclusively affiliated with UKCP. EJPC offers essential research and insights into psychotherapy and counselling across Europe, featuring the latest developments in psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, counselling psychology and more.

In addition, you'll also receive a 20% discount on Routledge publications and benefit from free global shipping. This discount and EJPC access are all conveniently available in the member’s area under member resources. Find out more about our EJPC journal and how to access these member resources.

Membership fees

To see the trainee membership fees for the current year, visit our Membership fees page. Our membership year runs from 1 October to 30 September. If you join part way through the year, the fee will be pro-rated – for example, if you join in November, you pay 11/12th of the annual fee.

How to join

You can apply for trainee membership by completing the online application form – you can download our guide to join online here.

Once we have received your application form, we will verify your details with your UKCP organisational member.

To be eligible for trainee membership, you must be in the final years of a UKCP-accredited training course and working towards the required clinical practice hours with one of our organisational members which take supervisory responsibility for any clinical practice you undertake.

Trainee membership is also available to associate members of a UKCP-accrediting organisational member. You must be completing your clinical practice hours under supervision as required by the organisational member to achieve accreditation as a psychotherapist or psychotherapeutic counsellor.

When applying to or renewing your membership, you automatically agree to the trainee membership declaration/terms and conditions.

And if you have completed your training, it’s time to upgrade to our full clinical membership.

Contact our membership team