How do I complain or raise a concern about an ACC counsellor member or affiliated counselling organisation?

ACC counsellors and affiliated counselling organisations are required to follow ACC’s Ethics and Practice guide as a commitment to professional accountability and public protection.

For various reasons counselling is not guaranteed to be effective for every client, and while this is regrettable, generally the effectiveness of therapy is not grounds for complaint. If, however, a counsellor member behaves in a way that falls short of the standards set out in the Ethics and Practice guide, then there may be grounds for complaint to ACC or any other counselling membership body that they belong to.

ACC’s published Complaint Process for members of the public and counselling professionals is currently under review as part of a PSA targeted review and the process that ACC will be following in the intervening period can be obtained by contacting complaints@acc-uk.org.

We encourage you to raise any issues of concern directly with your counsellor or counselling agency and try to resolve locally. Where this is not appropriate, or you remain dissatisfied with the outcome and want to raise a concern or make a complaint, please contact us at complaints@acc-uk.org.

You can find the way to complain about staff here.

Page updated on 15 September 2022