Is Your Therapist Registered? What the Titles Mean in India, the UK, Australia and the UAE
Most people assume that if someone advertises themselves as a therapist, some authority has checked them. In several countries, and for several titles, nobody has.
“Most people assume that if someone advertises themselves as a therapist, some authority has checked them. In several countries, and for several titles, nobody has.”
Treatment & Support
The United Kingdom
"Counsellor" and "psychotherapist" are not protected. There is no statutory regulation, no licence, and no legal barrier to anyone using either word about themselves starting tomorrow.
What exists instead are voluntary registers — BACP, UKCP, NCPS and others — several accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. Membership means the person met a training standard and can be complained about to a body that can remove them. That is meaningful, and it is not the same as a licence.
"Practitioner psychologist", "counselling psychologist" and "clinical psychologist" are different. Those are protected by law and restricted to people registered with the HCPC. Using them without registration is an offence.
Australia
"Psychologist" is a protected title under AHPRA, the national registration scheme. Only registered practitioners may use it, and Medicare rebates flow only through them.
"Counsellor" is not protected. Neither is "hypnotherapist". Professional associations such as PACFA, the ACA and AHHA set standards for their members, but they are associations, not government registration, and the distinction matters when you are assessing someone.
India
"Clinical psychologist" is regulated by the Rehabilitation Council of India, and practising as one without RCI registration is not permitted.
"Counselling psychologist", "counsellor" and "therapist" are considerably less tightly controlled in practice, which means qualifications vary enormously. Psychiatrists are medical doctors registered with the National Medical Commission and are the only people who can prescribe.
The UAE
Practising as a psychologist or psychotherapist inside the UAE requires a licence — the DHA in Dubai, the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi, MOHAP for the northern emirates. This is genuinely enforced, and licensed practitioners are the only route to insurance reimbursement.
This applies to practice inside the country. Someone working online from another jurisdiction sits outside that framework, which is worth understanding when you are comparing a local clinic against an overseas online option.
What This Means When You Are Choosing
Registration is a floor, not a ceiling. It tells you someone met a minimum and can be held to account. It does not tell you they are good, and it does not tell you they are right for you. Plenty of registered practitioners are mediocre and some unregistered ones are excellent.
The mistake is assuming the floor exists when it does not. If you are in the UK choosing a counsellor, nobody has vetted them unless you check a register yourself.
The Questions Worth Asking
Ask what they trained in, how long the training was, and who accredited it. A weekend certificate and a three-year diploma both produce someone who may call themselves a counsellor.
Ask which register or association they belong to, and whether it accepts complaints.
Ask how many years they have practised and what they most often work with.
Ask directly whether they can prescribe. If the answer is anything other than a clear no from a non-medical practitioner, that is informative.
Ask what happens if you are in crisis.
A competent practitioner answers all of these without discomfort. Being asked is normal and expected, and reluctance to answer is itself the answer.
And About This Practice
Since this page is asking you to interrogate credentials, here are the ones behind it.
Taanya Nagi holds an MA in Counselling Psychology and practises in India as a counselling psychologist. She is a certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, a Reiki Master in the Usui lineage with over twenty-five years of practice, and holds a Diploma in Holistic Healing and Counselling from the Holistic Living Training Institute in Melbourne, which is Australian accredited, with certified membership of AHHA.
She is not AHPRA-registered in Australia, not HCPC or BACP-registered in the UK, and not DHA-licensed in the UAE. Overseas clients are seen online from New Delhi, and where a locally registered practitioner is what you actually need, you will be told so.
25+
Years
5000+
Lives Touched
30+
Modalities
15+
Countries
Is Your Therapist Registered? What the Titles Mean in Dubai & Online
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