Warning: This article contains references to suicide and sexual assault

"We spoke every day... whether it was Facetime, messaging, or calling. I stopped caring about me. I had anxiety and my aim was to help her. I was suicidal for sure, and I did express that to her regularly."

Kira Mitchell, 35, was assigned a therapist by the NHS after a bereavement in her family.

At first, they bonded over shared interests, but it soon became clear that the therapist had blurred professional boundaries.

The therapist, who was meant to be helping her, began divulging personal details, leaving Kira feeling more like the therapist than the patient.

"I felt anxiety around her, I was so concerned about her wellbeing. She had a family issue, someone passed away, and she told me it should have been her.

"That's really distressing anyway... but it was my therapist who is supposed to be looking after me."

Kira started to feel that something wasn't right soon after the therapist started calling her and hanging up. She would later say the calls were accidents.

"I stopped caring about me," Kira says. "I had anxiety and my aim was to help her."

As Kira's mental health deteriorated, she reported the therapist's behaviour and she was dismissed.

But that therapist continues to practice privately - there's nothing stopping her from calling herself a therapist in the UK today.

She remains on a professional register and advertises her services online, without any public record of what happened.

The legal grey zone

In the UK, anyone can call themself a therapist - as Kira's story shows.

There is no regulation for counsellors and psychotherapists, while only certain types of psychologists are regulated.

These titles aren't legally protected, so in practice, anyone can set themselves up as a therapist, without formal training, qualifications, or oversight; even after misconduct.

And not many people know this.

According to the latest figures from the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and YouGov, nearly half (48%) of Britons mistakenly think that therapist is a regulated title like a doctor, midwife or dentist.

Meanwhile, nearly nine in 10 people don't know that there are no regulations around the title "therapist" in the UK, the BACP/YouGov found.

Since the COVID pandemic, the demand for mental health support has surged, alongside a cultural boom in 'therapy-speak' across social media, wellness, and self-help spaces.

There have also been some high-profile cases of people being abused by their therapists.

In 2024, Ella Janneh won a civil case against therapist Michael Lousada, who sexually assaulted her during a therapy session. His defence was that Ms Janneh asked for penile penetration as a "therapeutic technique".

Labour MP Dawn Butler, who was present at the civil court case, says the situation is urgent.

"This has to be a regulated industry," she told me. "It's such an abuse of power and of someone's vulnerability, and this needs to be looked into further and the law needs to change."

Last December, "slapping therapist" Hongchi Xiao was jailed for 10 years after a diabetic woman died following one of his workshops.

While voluntary registers like those maintained by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) exist, they are not legally mandated.

This lack of statutory regulation means there is no guarantee of competence or accountability for those using these titles.

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, told me she fears "more people will die".

"We've seen some tragic cases of this happening," she said. "It's simply not good enough. It leaves families bereft, but it also means that good therapists, people who are doing it for the right reasons, are tarnished by this brush."

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told me that he shares concerns over the lack of regulation.

"I'm always open to looking at this," he said.

"I think we do need to make sure that people can't be duped, that people who present themselves as medical professionals, are medical professionals.

"So, I am very happy to get into this space and to look at where the law needs to be tightened up."

Alternative therapy

Demand for therapy is surging - with mental health services in England getting a record 5.2 million referrals during 2024 (up 37.9% from 2019), according to the British Medical Association (BMA).

Services like Better Help and other apps have become like Uber for the mental health world, allowing users to sign up and be matched with the next available licensed board-accredited therapist within days.

But unregulated therapy isn't a problem for everyone.

With no legal protection around who can call themselves a counsellor, psychotherapist, or even psychologist, clients often rely on trust, personal rapport, or reputation rather than verified training or credentials.

This kind of situation is surprisingly common.

According to the same research from the BACP and YouGov, only half of people who have been in therapy say they checked their practitioner's qualifications at all.

'Therapist asked me to drive her to Selfridges'

Maryam Meddin is the founder of The Soke, an organisation she started to address the unregulated grey area in the industry.

The issue is something she has personal experience of.

"I was very interested in finding a therapist and somebody recommended someone to me who was visiting from the States.

"I ended up having a two-hour session with a woman who made herself breakfast while I was there… she divulged some information about the mutual acquaintance, who was also one of her clients, and at the end of the session she asked me to drive her to Selfridges."

Maryam says that it would be "a step in the right direction" if it was made compulsory - through statutory regulation - for therapists to be accredited to a particular body or organisation.

The UKCP agrees with this and says it would support statutory regulation of the profession.

Patients 'putting huge trust in therapists'

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA), a healthcare regulator, said it is concerned about people accessing unregistered therapists "and the harm that can be caused".

"Service users are placing a huge amount of trust and confidence in their therapists," it told Sky News.

Kira's therapist is still registered with the UKCP, which says it cannot comment on individual cases.

There is an ongoing investigation - Kira's therapist appealed against the NHS decision, and interim suspension orders from the UKCP are only for extreme cases.

The NHS Trust which assigned Kira's therapist says it is "unable to comment on individual employment matters" but adds the "safety and wellbeing of our patients is our highest priority".

A spokesperson added: "The NHS is not responsible for regulating or overseeing private therapy practice and any concerns about a therapist's conduct in private practice should be raised directly with that organisation or regulator."

Meanwhile, the UKCP said: "In the absence of statutory regulation, we urge anyone seeking therapy to choose a practitioner listed on a PSA-accredited register, such as UKCP's.

"These registers are independently assured, set high standards for training and ethics and include clear systems for accountability and redress if something goes wrong."

Placing trust in ethics and transparency

The word therapy has a lot of weight to it, and it's used everywhere.

It's become less taboo to hear people talking about their mental health and for millions of people around the UK it's an important part of their lives.

The UK hasn't seriously considered regulating the profession since 2010, when discussions that were previously held under the Labour government stalled when the Conservative/LibDem coalition took power.

Years later, the landscape has transformed: therapy has become an online talking point popularised by Instagram infographics, trauma-language TikToks and self-diagnosis trends.

The quality of care often depends not on rules or oversight, but on the ethics and transparency of individual practitioners.

Some therapists maintain rigorous standards regardless of accreditation; others operate with minimal training, no supervision, and no route for accountability if something goes wrong.

The public, meanwhile, is largely unaware of the difference.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

(c) Sky News 2025: 'My therapist was supposed to be looking after me... but I stopped caring about me'