Counselling is regulated advertising. We build that in.

The rules counsellors are actually held to

The advertising standards that apply to therapy are tighter than the ones most small businesses think about:

• No claims to treat or cure.
• No guaranteed outcomes.
• Testimonials only with documented consent, kept to the client's own experience — never a claim about results.
• Insurer and membership logos used only for what's actually true of your arrangement with them.

A 2025 ruling that put this on the map

In 2025 the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint — brought by the BACP itself — against a private counselling practice over claims it couldn't support. The specifics matter less than the signal it sends: the professional bodies are paying attention, and the claims a lot of therapy websites make are exactly the ones now at risk.

How we build compliance in

We don't bolt this on at the end. The copy is written to the rules from the first draft — what you can fairly say about what you offer, how any testimonials are handled, what the contact and data flow looks like. The result is a site that does its selling without quietly putting your registration at risk.

Reference: ASA ruling A24-1262170 (March 2025); CAP Code rules 3.1, 3.50, 3.52 and 12. Therapy Support is a web and marketing studio, not a regulator or legal adviser — for formal guidance, check directly with your professional body or the ASA and CAP.