The Bowlby Centre

Name

The Bowlby Centre

Legal name

The Bowlby Centre

Website

https://thebowlbycentre.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Oundle, Peterborough

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Clinical Training Programmes: Annual course fees for the 4-year ABPP and 2-year APL training programmes. Both programmes charge £5,900 per year. Additional fees include interview fees (£100-£120), deposits (£250), and supervision costs. Students also pay for personal therapy (required) and materials. Trainees typically take 1-2 additional post-taught years to complete portfolios, with substantially reduced fees.
2. Continuing Professional Development: Revenue from CPD events including clinical forums (£10-£30), conferences (£100-£125), workshops (e.g., £40 for Working with Suicidality workshop), and the annual John Bowlby Memorial Conference.
3. Video Content and Webinars: Sale of workshop and seminar recordings including Graham Johnston's Attachment Theory workshop series (£40 per video, £120 for all 4), Linda Cundy webinars (£20 each), Ewa Robertson webinars (£20 each), conference recordings (up to £150 for conference videos, £75 for 2021 conference access).
4. Therapist Referrals: Referral service connecting individuals with attachment-based psychotherapists. Therapists in the directory provide psychotherapy services to clients who find them through the Centre's platform.
5. UKCP Membership and Accreditation: As a member organisation of UKCP (Council for Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis), the Centre provides accreditation for graduates who register with UKCP upon completion of training. This regulatory relationship validates the training programme quality.
6. Certificate in Attachment Theory Course: 10-day certificate course running monthly on Saturdays from September to July, priced at £1,670. Includes attachment theory seminars, clinical seminars, and experiential group work with no formal assessment.
7. Supervision Training: One-year online supervision training programme priced at £2,700 for non-members and £2,500 for Bowlby members. Includes 10 monthly Saturday seminars, small group supervision, and assessment for UKCP Supervisor Directory inclusion.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Bowlby Centre is a UKCP-accredited training organisation that delivers multi-year clinical training programmes in attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapy. It sells tuition-based training (4-year ABPP, 2-year APL, 1-year supervision training, and a Certificate course), operates a therapist referral directory, publishes a professional journal, runs CPD events and conferences, and offers low-cost long-term therapy through the Blues Project.

Product overview

The Bowlby Centre is an attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapy training and referrals organisation offering a portfolio of training programs and therapeutic services. The core offerings include the 4-year ABPP training program and 2-year APL program for becoming UKCP-registered psychotherapists, supplemented by a 1-year supervision training and a Certificate in Attachment Theory and Skills. The Centre provides low-cost therapy through The Blues Project, maintains a therapist directory for referrals, publishes the Attachment Journal twice yearly, and offers CPD through clinical forums, open days, and video-based workshops. The training integrates psychoanalytic theory with attachment research and neuroscience, delivered through weekend seminars, infant observation, and experiential group work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Blues Project: Low-cost therapy service for people on benefits or low wages under £30,000 per year, providing two sessions per week for 18 months at £20 per session.

Products and services

• 4-Year Attachment Based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (ABPP) Training A four-year part-time clinical training programme leading to UKCP registration as an attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist. Delivered through weekend seminars (every other week), 18-month infant observation, experiential group work, and clinical seminars with supervised client work. Tuition is £5,900 per year for taught years.
• Two-Year Accredited Prior Learning (APL) A two-year part-time training course for qualified counsellors and psychotherapists seeking UKCP registration as attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapists. Combines theoretical material, infant observation, and experiential group work. Tuition is £5,900 per year.
• One-Year Attachment-Based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Supervision Training (ABPPS) Online one-year training equipping therapists to become supervisors, with optional application for UKCP Supervisor's Directory registration. Delivered via 10 monthly Saturday seminars plus small group peer-led supervision. Priced at £2,700 for non-members and £2,500 for Bowlby members.
• Certificate in Attachment Theory and Skills A 10-month course running on Saturdays providing introductory knowledge of attachment theory, research, personal attachment patterns, and application to personal and professional contexts. No formal assessment; certificate awarded for 80%+ attendance. Priced at £1,670 total.
• The Blues Project Low-cost long-term therapy service providing two sessions per week for 18 months at £20 per session for individuals on benefits or earning under £30,000 per year. Delivered by trainee or recently graduated therapists.
• Attachment Journal Professional journal titled 'Attachment – New Directions in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis' published twice yearly, featuring clinical articles, cultural pieces, reviews, and poetry relevant to attachment and relational issues.
• Find a Therapist Directory Online directory of attachment-based psychotherapists committed to the Centre's values, including UKCP-registered therapists, post-taught pre-registration therapists, in-training therapists, and supervisors, with some offering international video-link practice.
• Annual John Bowlby Memorial Conference Annual conference on attachment-related topics; the 2026 conference is the 29th edition. Early-bird ticket £125, £100 for Bowlby Members and Supervision/Certificate students, free for ABPP and APL students.

Quantifiable outcome

• Graduates become UKCP-registered attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapists eligible to practice and supervise
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Bowlby Centre is a member of UKCP, specifically within the Council for Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis (CPJA). UKCP is the nationally recognised regulatory body that sets standards for education and training and publishes a register of accredited psychotherapists. This membership enables graduates to register as UKCP-registered attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapists and provides access to the UKCP and CPJA complaints procedures.
• International Psychotherapy and Disability (IPD)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Bowlby Centre partners with IPD for the 29th Annual John Bowlby Memorial Conference on Psychotherapy, Attachment and Intellectual Disability, scheduled for Saturday 10th October 2026. This partnership brings together expertise in attachment-based psychotherapy with intellectual disability services for an interdisciplinary conference.
• Karnac BooksminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPublisher partner featured in the Bowlby Centre's accreditation and links section. Karnac Books publishes attachment and psychotherapy literature that aligns with the Centre's educational mission.
• RelateminorGTM or Marketing PartnerRelationship counselling organisation featured in the Bowlby Centre's accreditation and links section, indicating mutual professional recognition in the psychotherapy field.
• Phoenix Publishing HouseminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPublishing partner featured in the Bowlby Centre's accreditation and links section, publishing books related to psychotherapy and mental health.
• Counselling DirectoryminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProfessional directory for counselling and psychotherapy practitioners. Listed in the Bowlby Centre's accreditation and links section, indicating mutual professional recognition.
• RSCPP (Recommended Surgeons and Consultants Partnership)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProfessional referral service for psychotherapy practitioners. Listed in the Bowlby Centre's accreditation and links section for professional directory placement.
• Highbury Grove SchoolcoreOthersEducational institution providing the venue for The Bowlby Centre's in-person training sessions at 8 Highbury Grove, London N5 2EQ. Open Days and experiential group work sessions are held at this location.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Metanoia Institute: UK-based psychotherapy and counselling training institute offering postgraduate diplomas and master's programmes leading to professional registration. Comparable as a small, specialist training charity focused on relational/person-centred modalities with similar cohort-based experiential pedagogy.
• NSPC (New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling): London-based psychotherapy training charity offering Middlesex University-validated programmes in existential psychotherapy and counselling. Closely comparable as a small specialist training institution with similar charity structure, UKCP-aligned curriculum, and practitioner-focused mission.
• British Psychotherapy Foundation: Training and membership organisation for psychoanalytic psychotherapists in the UK, offering clinical training programmes leading to registration. Direct peer in the psychoanalytic psychotherapy training niche, with overlapping faculty and student pools.
• Society of Analytical Psychology: London-based training institute for Jungian analytical psychotherapy, member organisation of UKCP. Direct peer offering multi-year clinical training programmes in a distinct psychoanalytic modality with similar experiential, apprenticeship-style pedagogy and small cohort sizes.
• WPF Therapy: UK counselling and psychotherapy training charity (formerly Westminster Pastoral Foundation) offering clinical training and a therapy service. Comparable as a long-standing psychotherapy training charity with both training programmes and a clinical service arm.
• Minster Centre: London-based integrative psychotherapy and counselling training charity offering UKCP-accredited programmes. Closely comparable as a small specialist psychotherapy training institution with similar charity structure and integrated therapy service.
• Lincoln Institute: UK psychotherapy training and membership organisation offering clinical training programmes in the psychodynamic/psychoanalytic tradition. Direct peer in the psychotherapy training niche, with similar training duration and UKCP-aligned registration outcomes.

Broad incumbents

• Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust: NHS foundation trust offering a broad portfolio of psychotherapy, counselling, and mental health training programmes including child psychotherapy, systemic psychotherapy, and psychodynamic approaches. Comparable as a major UK psychotherapy training provider with significant scale and broader modality mix.

Emerging players

• Regent's University London: London university offering psychotherapy and counselling psychology programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Comparable as a psychotherapy training provider but operating at larger scale with degree-granting status rather than specialist charity structure.

Others

• United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP): UK regulatory body that accredits psychotherapy training programmes and registers individual psychotherapists. Not a direct competitor but central to The Bowlby Centre's value proposition, as UKCP registration is the regulatory outcome graduates seek.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Bowlby Centre