About us
About ACC
The Association of Christians in Counselling and Linked Professions (ACC) is a Christian professional membership organisation for those involved in counselling/psychotherapy and linked professions, i.e. pastoral care, coaching and spiritual direction, in the UK. We offer professional support and resources to our members, and are committed to promoting safe and ethical practice.
We hold a national register of counsellors who are Christian. Our register is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) under its Accredited Registers programme. The programme was set up to provide public assurance for health and care occupations that are not yet subject to statutory regulation, for example, counselling and psychotherapy. Accreditation with the PSA means that we have met the Authority’s standards, and we celebrate the recognition that brings to our organisation and our members.
ACC is an ecumenical organisation; our members are from various Christian denominations and traditions, united by the same faith, professions and callings. We are honoured to be an established professional voice that promotes the therapeutic importance of considering a person’s spirituality and religious faith as being intrinsic to their psychological wellbeing, and a person’s psychological wellbeing being similarly intrinsic to the health of their spiritual and religious life.
We are a registered charity (1018559) and a company limited by guarantee (2791541).
Our journey
Back in the 1980s, there was a great growth in Christian counselling centres in the UK. In 1992, a group of Christian counsellors founded the Association of Christian Counsellors (ACC) with a desire to raise standards of Christian counselling and counselling training.
Our membership grew over the years and in 2013, we launched membership for pastoral carers and organisations that offer pastoral care related activities.
In 2015, ACC was approved to hold an accredited register of counsellors by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
In 2022, 30 years after its inception, ACC changed its name to the Association of Christians in Counselling and Linked Professions to reflect who we are and represent, with an aim to expand our services to include coaching and spiritual direction.
Our wider professional involvement
ACC is a partner organisation of SCoPEd (the Scope of Practice and Education). It is a shared framework that maps existing core competences and practice standards for counsellors and psychotherapists working with adults, and has been developed in collaboration by six PSA accredited register membership bodies in counselling and psychotherapy.
ACC is part of the Coalition for Inclusion and Anti-Oppressive Practice which brings together organisations with a shared mission to improve diversity within the counselling, psychotherapy and psychological therapy professions.
ACC is a signatory of the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy in the UK.
ACC is also a member of the Accredited Registers Collaborative, the Climate Mind Coalition, Spirituality, Health, and Wellbeing in NHS & Social Care Wales (SHaW), and part of Psychological Professions Stakeholder Group NHS England and Health Education England.
Our Christian identity
ACC is ecumenical and welcomes Christians from all denominations and expressions of Christian faith and spirituality. We are:
- A distinctly Christian praying community of Trustees and Staff who share a belief in a living God who is active in the world and who wish to align ourselves with God’s action in the world.
- Advocating for the importance of faith and spirituality in contributing to the worth, dignity and flourishing of individuals and communities.
- Challenged and informed by Christian and counselling ethics.
- Generous of spirit in relation to who we work with or alongside, looking always for what we have in common rather than allowing difference to be a barrier.
- Interested in best practice and the intersection of practical theology and psychotherapeutic support for those seeking help.
- Able to comment generally on contemporary issues from a Christian psychological wellbeing perspective.
- Concerned with mental and spiritual health in a contemporary context that recognises the dynamic of intersectionality and discrimination within a wider context of societal concerns about political, financial, climate and world stability.
- Discerning in professional spheres and endeavouring to live out our faith in encounters with colleagues, including in the wider profession, in a way that is respectful and open whilst at times having courage to raise difficult or controversial issues.
To see people reach their potential, and lives be restored and transformed.
The Association of Christians in Counselling and Linked Professions sees our ministry as part of God’s desire for His people to work to bring healing and wholeness of spirit, mind and body.
We are very grateful for the hard work, skill and dedication of the whole team at ACC. This has enabled us to become what we are today to serve our members and the public.