Association of Christians in Counselling

What Association of Christians in Counselling does

The Association of Christians in Counselling (ACC) is a UK-registered charity and company limited by guarantee that operates as a professional membership body for Christian counselling practitioners. It maintains a Professional Standards Authority (PSA)-accredited register covering counsellors, pastoral carers, and spiritual directors, with a new coaching and mentoring category launched in March 2026. The organisation serves individual practitioners seeking professional recognition, ethical accountability rooted in a Christian ethical framework (including the Churchill Framework), and continuing professional development, while also engaging with public-sector commissioners such as NHS England.

ACC's core product surface consists of its accredited practitioner register, a "Find a Professional" public-facing directory, training and CPD events, an annual conference, a bookable events calendar, and the ACC Store for branded resources. The organisation is part of the SCoPEd/Professional Counselling and Psychotherapy Bodies (PCPB) framework alongside five other UK bodies collectively representing more than 75,000 counselling and psychotherapy professionals. Its 2022 renaming to include "Linked Professions" formalised its multi-discipline positioning across counselling, coaching/mentoring, pastoral care, and spiritual direction.

Revenue is generated through tiered annual membership subscriptions across the four practitioner categories, paid CPD and training events priced at £5–£10 for non-members, an annual conference with tickets in the £300–£550 range, ACC Store transactions, and (historically, 2021–2023) a discrete NHS England contract for the delivery of commissioned counselling services. The model is therefore a hybrid of high-volume individual membership subscriptions and event/content revenue, with occasional public-sector contract income.

Name

Association of Christians in Counselling

Legal name

Association of Christians in Counselling and Linked Professions

Website

https://acc-uk.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Counselling Membership Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Continuing Education (CE/CPD) & Provider Accreditation Bodies (EDADACAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Behavioral Health & Counseling (Social Work, Psychology, Substance Use CE) (EDAAALAD), Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)

Keywords

• Professional counselling membership
• Accredited counselling register
• Pastoral care training
• CPD workshops counselling
• Christian counselling ethics

Headquarters

HQ city

Coventry

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership subscriptions: Annual membership fees from individual counselling, coaching/mentoring, pastoral care, and spiritual direction members, as well as organisational members including counselling organisations, training organisations, and pastoral care organisations.
2. Professional training and CPD: Revenue from counselling training courses, continuing professional development workshops, pastoral care workshops, and professional training events delivered both in-person and online via Zoom.
3. Conference revenue: National conference ticket sales including early bird and full price options for residential (£435-£475 members, £475-£550 non-members) and non-residential (£290-£320 members, £320-£370 non-members) attendance.
4. ACC Store: Sale of professional resources, books, and counselling materials through the ACC Store.
5. Event tickets: CPD event bookings including workshops and forums, with free admission for members and £5-£10 fees for non-members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Association of Christians in Counselling (ACC UK) operates a professional membership body and registered charity that accredits Christian counsellors, psychotherapists, coaches/mentors, pastoral carers, and spiritual directors in the UK. It maintains a PSA-accredited public register of practitioners, provides a searchable 'Find a Professional' directory, delivers CPD training, pastoral care workshops, an annual national conference, and publishes professional resources including the ACC Store, the Churchill Framework, and the Wellbeing Zone book.

Product overview

ACC offers a professional membership organisation with multiple membership categories including counselling, coaching/mentoring, pastoral care, and spiritual direction. The core offering includes the PSA-accredited ACC Register for public assurance, the 'Find a Professional' search tool, and professional training pathways. Additional offerings include CPD training events, pastoral care workshops, the ACC National Conference, the ACC Store, and publications including The Wellbeing Zone book and the Churchill Framework competence guide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Counselling Membership Professional membership category for qualified and registered counsellors and psychotherapists, providing access to ACC's accredited register, professional development, and networking opportunities.
• Coaching/Mentoring Membership Membership category for individuals who practise as coaches or mentors, launched March 2026. Provides professional standards, networking, and support for Christians working in coaching and mentoring.
• Pastoral Care Membership Membership category for pastoral carers, offering resources, training, and professional support for those involved in pastoral care ministry.
• Spiritual Direction Membership Membership category for spiritual direction practitioners integrating faith and spirituality with therapeutic practice.
• ACC Register (Public Register) PSA-accredited public register of qualified and accredited counsellors and psychotherapists, providing assurance to the public in choosing professional practitioners.
• Find a Professional Search tool enabling the public to find ACC-registered counsellors, psychotherapists, coaches, mentors, or supervisors.
• CPD Training Continuing Professional Development training offered throughout the year, delivered by experienced trainers in-person and online, including members-only forums.
• Pastoral Care Workshops Training workshops enabling pastoral carers to BEGIN, DEVELOP, and DEEPEN their pastoral care skills and knowledge, delivered via Zoom with workbook and certificate of attendance.
• The Wellbeing Zone A book and resource published November 2025 in collaboration with ACC, combining faith, psychology, and trauma-informed practice with the PEACE and PRAY models for wellbeing.
• The Churchill Framework A Core Competence Framework for working with religious/spiritual issues in clinical practice, published by ACC in 2021 by Dr Heather Churchill.
• ACC National Conference Annual national conference bringing together ACC members for training, networking, and professional development. The 2026 conference is themed 'Homecoming' and held at Kents Hill Park, Milton Keynes.
• ACC Store Online store offering resources, publications, and materials for ACC members and professionals in counselling and linked professions.

Quantifiable outcome

• ACC registered members recognised within professional counselling/psychotherapy world as meeting appropriate education, skill, and knowledge standards for safe practice
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Partnership of Counselling and Psychotherapy Bodies (PCPB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2025Formerly the SCoPEd partnership, PCPB is a collaboration of six PSA-accredited bodies (ACC, BACP, BPC, HGI, NCS, UKCP) representing approximately 75,000 counselling and psychotherapy professionals. The partnership develops shared standards frameworks, policy initiatives, and maintains collaboration with NHS decision-makers. ACC participates in joint initiatives including NHS Pathways pilot, SCoPEd framework implementation, and unified demographic data collection.
• Climate Minds CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 October 2024ACC joined 18 mental health organisations in coalition calling for policy action to protect UK mental health from climate change impacts. Coalition aims to work with policymakers and mental health professionals to expand psychological care for climate-related mental health issues.
• Coalition for Inclusion and Anti-Oppressive PracticecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 August 2023ACC is part of this coalition with 9 other organisations (Place2Be, ACP, BACP, BAAT, MCAPN, NCPS, PCSR, UKCP) committed to improving diversity within counselling, psychotherapy and psychological therapy professions. Coalition launched the 'Race is complicated' toolkit for psychological therapies training in October 2023.
• NHS Talking TherapiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2022Five SCoPEd partners (ACC, BACP, BPC, NCPS, UKCP) collaborated with NHS Talking Therapies to provide fully funded postgraduate psychotherapeutic training within NHS services. The three-year pilot launched September 2022 delivers training in person-centred experiential counselling for depression, dynamic interpersonal therapy, and couples therapy for depression. UKCP acts as lead accrediting body.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC): AACC is the leading US-based faith-integrated counselling membership and training organisation. It is thematically and functionally comparable to ACC's faith-based counselling model, but operates in a different geography and market structure.
• Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS): CAPS is an international, faith-based professional community at the intersection of Christianity and the psychological sciences. It is thematically adjacent to ACC's faith-integrated counselling mission and serves a comparable member base of Christian practitioners.

Direct peers

• National Counselling Society (NCS): NCS is a PSA-accredited register holder and SCoPEd/PCPB partner organisation offering membership to counsellors and psychotherapists. It is a direct competitor for ACC's core counselling membership category.
• UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP): UKCP is the lead accrediting body for the NHS Pathways pilot and a fellow SCoPEd/PCPB partner. It competes directly with ACC for registered psychotherapist members and public register recognition under PSA.
• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP): The largest UK professional body for counselling and psychotherapy, also a PSA-accredited register holder and a fellow SCoPEd/PCPB partner. BACP is the primary direct competitor for ACC's counselling membership and PSA-recognised register position.
• British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC): BPC is a PSA-accredited register holder and SCoPEd/PCPB partner representing psychoanalytic psychotherapists. It competes with ACC for registered members and partners with ACC in the NHS Pathways postgraduate training pilot.
• Human Givens Institute (HGI): HGI is a PSA-accredited register holder and SCoPEd/PCPB partner representing practitioners of the Human Givens therapeutic approach. It is a direct comparable peer as one of the six bodies in the SCoPEd partnership with ACC.
• National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS): NCPS (formerly known as NCS Professional Standards) is a UK counselling and psychotherapy membership body and a fellow partner in the NHS Pathways pilot alongside ACC. It is a direct competitor for individual practitioner memberships.

Broad incumbents

• British Psychological Society (BPS): BPS is the largest UK professional body for psychology and a broader incumbent across the psychological professions. While not a direct SCoPEd partner, it competes for practitioners, sets training standards, and engages in parallel policy advocacy with ACC's interests.
• British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP): BABCP is the UK umbrella organisation for CBT and a broader incumbent in the talking therapies field. It overlaps with ACC's CPD and training offerings for practitioners working in NHS-facing services, but operates across a wider modality portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/accuk_org
• Facebookfacebook.com/accuk.org
• Instagraminstagram.com/accuk_org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-association-of-christian-counsellors

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Association of Christians in Counselling