How to become a psychotherapist or cognitive behaviour therapist
Official title: Psychotherapists and cognitive behaviour therapists
Also called: Cbt therapist, Psychotherapist, Art psychotherapist, Child psychotherapist, Psychological therapist, Psychotherapist counsellor, Analytical psychotherapist, Children's psychotherapist, Counsellor psychotherapist, Counsellor and psychotherapist, Cognitive behavioural therapist, Child and adolescent psychotherapist
Psychotherapists and cognitive behaviour therapists use a variety of therapies in one-on-one or group settings to help people with mental health issues, stress, emotional and relationship problems.
Main tasks
- Assesses and provides treatment for people suffering with mental illness, stress, and emotional and relationship problems
- Talks with patients about their emotions, relationships and personal history
- Analyses events, behaviour, and habits to understand their mode of thinking and feelings
- Helps people come up with new ways to cope with their problems and to change their ways of thinking
How to become one
Job holders in this unit group will usually possess a postgraduate qualification or equivalent accredited qualification. Training usually lasts 4 years. A DBS check may be required for work with vulnerable individuals or children.
Ways in
- University: Allied Health degrees, Offered by 17 universities in the UK
Pay · Outlook
- Median full-time pay: £47,971 a year
- About 42,200 people work in this job now, and about 46,200 are projected by 2035. (+9.6%)
Related jobs
- Physiotherapists
- Occupational therapists
- Speech and language therapists
- Clinical psychologists
- Other psychologists
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Questions people ask
How do I become a psychotherapist or cognitive behaviour therapist?
Job holders in this unit group will usually possess a postgraduate qualification or equivalent accredited qualification. Training usually lasts 4 years. A DBS check may be required for work with vulnerable individuals or children.
How much does a psychotherapist or cognitive behaviour therapist earn in the UK?
Median full-time pay is £47,971 a year (Office for National Statistics).
Is a psychotherapist or cognitive behaviour therapist a growing career in the UK?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 10% by 2035, from about 42,200 to about 46,200 people (Department for Education).
Do you need a degree to become a psychotherapist or cognitive behaviour therapist?
Usually. 94% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Updated 2026-10-03
Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.