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Just over a third of therapists say they can make a living from counselling alone

BACP's 2025 survey of more than four thousand members found that only 37% of counsellors reckon they can earn a living from counselling work alone, and that number is going down, not up. This includes practices like yours.

Page updated: 14 Aug 2026

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Therapy practices relying on session fees as their sole income are, on the evidence, in the minority, and the minority is getting smaller.

Original Research	Barely a third of counsellors report earning enough to live on from counselling work
Source	https://www.bacp.co.uk/about-us/about-bacp/6-march-2022-2023-workforce-mapping-survey/
Overview	The survey covers pay, training routes and workforce makeup, gathered directly from BACP's own membership.
Year	2025
Publisher	Industry body, BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy)
Relevance to Wellbeing	High
Our Verdict	Too early to tell A properly disclosed, large-sample survey from the professional body itself, though it only hears from those who filled it in.
Our Summary	Over four thousand respondents, which is a decent-sized room. Comes straight from BACP, no modelling or middlemen involved. Self-selected membership sample, so non-members and the disillusioned who left are missing. The trend is downward, which isn't the sort of thing you'd want to lead with unprompted.
Our Geo View	Applies to UK-based therapy practices specifically; BACP membership and figures don't extend abroad.

Abstract of wellbeing niches and revenue flow

Recognise how this might impact your practice

Why this might matter to you

Coaching: this matters because if therapists, who charge similar rates, can't live on the work alone, clients everywhere are probably counting the cost too.
Therapy: this matters because it's your own workforce data, and it says most of you aren't covering the bills on session fees alone.
Training: this matters because trainees who read numbers like this might quietly rethink counselling as a full-time living, and that's your future intake shrinking.
Alternative Healing: this matters because talking therapy was assumed to be the financially settled cousin, and it apparently isn't.
Clinical: this matters because clinics contracting counsellors should expect pay conversations to come up more, not less.
Retreat/Centre: this matters because centres offering counselling as part of the package are leaning on a workforce that mostly can't live on that work alone.

Where this came from

BACP asked over four thousand of its own members how the job's actually paying, and the answer wasn't brilliant.

BACP Working Practices Survey 2025, published directly by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Not paywalled, available from the primary source.

Credibility flags: self-reported survey, 4,028 respondents, methodology disclosed by the publisher, no independent audit mentioned.

How we scored this

A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.

93%

Practice fit, 100How new, 100How solid, 75

Marked down only slightly on how solid the method is, given it's a self-selecting membership sample rather than the whole profession, but scored well on practice fit and recency as a fresh, disclosed, large-sample survey straight from the source.

It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

Drop any line implying counselling pays comfortably as a sole income; the figures don't support it.
Put a mixed-income model on your about page if that's your situation, plenty of therapists are in the same boat.
Brief your team on the 37.22% figure before someone quotes the wrong one back at you.
Say plainly, if it comes up, that combining counselling with other work is normal in this profession, not a red flag.
Correct any old copy still using the 40.3% figure; it's wrong, and it's not this year's number either.

Who this is most useful for

Practice type	Relevance	Recommended action
Coaching	Medium	Mention the wider wellbeing income squeeze in your positioning, gently.
Therapy	High	Use the correct 37.22% figure and remove any outdated stat immediately.
Training	Medium	Set honest income expectations for anyone training under you.
Alternative Healing	Low	Note it as market context; no direct action needed.
Clinical	Medium	Factor this into how you discuss hiring or subcontracting therapists.
Retreat/Centre	Medium	Be upfront that in-house counsellors likely rely on other income streams too.

Best before

Best before: revisit this when BACP publishes its next Working Practices Survey, expected in 2026.

A Practice That Reads This Carefully.

Deserves a conversation that matches. The discovery call goes both ways - your wishes and ethics, our ecosystem and listening wind, a story garden built for practices like yours. twenty-five minutes. Good coffee.

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