Protected Professional Titles Worldwide: Mental Health Guide

A protected title is a word the law reserves for people on a register. Use it without being registered and you commit an offence. This guide sets out which mental health titles are protected in ten jurisdictions, what the protection actually covers, and how to check a practitioner against the register that holds it.

What a protected title is, and what it is not

Title protection is narrower than most people assume. The law reserves a specific string of words, and usually says nothing about the activity itself. Two consequences follow.

The first is that an unprotected word sitting next to a protected one carries none of its authority. In the United Kingdom, clinical psychologist is protected and psychologist on its own is not.¹ In the Netherlands, gezondheidszorgpsycholoog is protected and psycholoog is not.²⁷ The qualifier is doing the legal work.

The second is that dropping the title can lawfully sidestep the whole scheme. Where only the title is reserved, a person who never claims it may do closely related work without breaking any law.

So the useful question is not "is this person a therapist". It is "which protected title does this person hold, on which register, and can I see the entry".

Three different things a law can protect

Jurisdictions do not all protect the same object. Telling the three apart explains most of the confusion in this field.

Title only. The word is reserved and the activity is not. France is the clearest case. Professional use of the title psychologue, with or without a qualifier, is reserved to holders of a listed qualification.²³ Someone may work with psychological methods in France provided they do not claim the title.

Title plus practice. Both the word and the work are restricted, but not always by the same permission. Under the German Psychotherapeutengesetz, practising curative psychotherapy under the professional title requires an Approbation, and the designation Psychotherapeutin or Psychotherapeut may not be used by anyone other than doctors and licensed psychotherapists.²⁶ The work is separately gated by the Heilpraktikergesetz, which offers a second route to practise without ever holding the title. Section 9 sets both out.

Title plus a controlled act. Some jurisdictions also reserve a defined clinical act to named professions. Ontario defines the controlled act of psychotherapy as "treating, by means of psychotherapy technique, delivered through a therapeutic relationship, an individual's serious disorder of thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception or memory that may seriously impair the individual's judgement, insight, behaviour, communication or social functioning".²¹ A person not registered with one of the colleges authorised to perform it must restrict their practice or register.²¹

Where you are reading from decides which of the three applies. That is why a single global answer to "is my therapist regulated" does not exist.

United Kingdom

The Health and Care Professions Council holds the register and publishes the protected titles profession by profession. The list is exact.¹

Three things in that table are worth pausing on, because published summaries of UK regulation get all three wrong.

The word psychologist on its own is not protected. Nine titles are, and every one of them carries either a qualifier or the words practitioner or registered.¹ Someone in the UK advertising simply as a psychologist may be entirely unregulated. This is the most consequential fact on this page for a British reader.

Neuropsychologist is not on the list.¹ Clinical neuropsychology in the UK is a post-qualification specialism practised by people already registered under one of the nine titles. It is not itself a protected title.

Arts therapist is not a protected title either. It is the collective name the regulator uses for the profession. The genuine title that most summaries omit is art psychotherapist.¹

The offence and the penalty

The offence sits in article 39 of the Health and Social Work Professions Order 2001. A person commits it if, with intent to deceive, they falsely represent themselves as registered, use a protected title they are not entitled to, or falsely claim qualifications in a relevant profession.² The regulator puts it more plainly: anyone not on the register who uses a designated title may be breaking the law and could be prosecuted.⁴

The intent element matters: innocent misuse of a title is not automatically the offence. On penalty, the Order sets the offence at level 5 on the standard scale.² Older guides give that as a £5,000 maximum. It is no longer capped. Section 85 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 provides that an offence punishable on summary conviction by a maximum fine of £5,000 or more is punishable by a fine of any amount, with effect from 12 March 2015.³ Offences committed on or after that date carry an unlimited fine on summary conviction.

Psychiatrist, doctor, therapist

Psychiatrist is not a protected title in the UK. Section 49 of the Medical Act 1983 penalises wilfully and falsely pretending to be, or using the name or title of, "physician, doctor of medicine, licentiate in medicine and surgery, bachelor of medicine, surgeon, general practitioner or apothecary", or any description implying registration under the Act.⁵ The word psychiatrist does not appear. What is protected is the underlying status of registered medical practitioner, which is what a UK psychiatrist holds, together with entry on the specialist register.

Therapist, counsellor and psychotherapist are not protected. The Professional Standards Authority states the position directly: some health and care roles are legally required to be regulated, while "other health and care professionals are not legally required to be on a register; like acupuncturists, counsellors, hypnotherapists, along with many others".⁶ Section 12 below sets out what the voluntary registers do instead.

Beyond the HCPC

The HCPC is not the only UK statutory regulator holding a mental health title, and two of the commonest practitioners a UK reader will meet sit outside it. Social worker is protected across the United Kingdom. In England, regulation 28(2) of the Social Workers Regulations 2018 provides that "a person must not use the title of 'social worker' unless they are a registered social worker", and Social Work England holds that register; the Scottish Social Services Council, Social Care Wales and the Northern Ireland Social Care Council hold the equivalent registers in the other three nations.³¹

Nursing titles sit with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Article 44 of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 makes it an offence, with intent to deceive, to use the title registered nurse, registered midwife or nursing associate without entitlement, on the same level 5 penalty as the HCPC offence.³² Note what is on that list and what is not: a UK mental health nurse holds the registered nurse title, and mental health nurse is not itself separately protected.

For the wider picture, see our UK licensing and regulation guide.

Ireland

Ireland has the machinery in place and much of it is not yet switched on. That gap is the whole of the Irish answer.

The Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 designates the professions it covers. Section 4(1) names fourteen, including occupational therapist, psychologist, social care worker, social worker, and speech and language therapist.⁹ Counsellors and psychotherapists were added later, and their registration board was established on 27 February 2019.¹¹

Section 79(4) prohibits using a designated title unless entitled to do so, and entitlement comes from being on the register. Section 80 makes contravention an offence. As substituted in 2013, a person guilty of it "is liable on summary conviction to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both", a class A fine being one not greater than €5,000.¹⁰

Two amendments changed the character of that offence. In 2014 the words "with intent to deceive" were removed from the core subsections, and a defence was added for a person who took all reasonable steps to avoid committing the offence.¹⁰ Ireland therefore does not require the deceptive intent that the UK offence requires.

The registers are the constraint. The counsellors and psychotherapists registers are "not yet open so it is not possible to make an application at this time".¹² For psychology, the regulator is introducing protection in two phases, first three registers for clinical, counselling and educational psychologists and then a fourth for other specialisms, with the first three now expected to open in 2027.¹³ Until a register opens there is no entitlement to check.

Detail on the Irish system is in our Ireland licensing and regulation guide.

Australia

Australia runs one national scheme. Section 113 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law prohibits knowingly or recklessly taking or using a title in the section's table in a way that could reasonably be expected to induce a belief that the person is registered, unless they are. The prohibition applies whether the title is used with or without other words, and in any language.¹⁴

For mental health the table is short. Psychology carries a single protected title, psychologist. Occupational Therapy carries occupational therapist, Medical carries medical practitioner, and Nursing carries nurse, registered nurse, nurse practitioner and enrolled nurse.¹⁴

Neither counsellor nor psychotherapist appears anywhere in the table.¹⁴ In Australia those words carry no statutory protection, and membership of an association is not registration.

The maximum penalty under section 113 is $60,000 or three years imprisonment or both for an individual, and $120,000 for a body corporate.¹⁴ Those figures were substituted by section 8 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2019, which doubled the previous maxima and added the custodial penalty.¹⁵ Western Australia enacts its own text of the National Law rather than adopting Queensland’s directly, and its current official consolidation carries the same maxima.¹⁶

New Zealand

New Zealand protects the claim rather than a fixed word list. Section 7 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 provides that a person may only use "names, words, titles, initials, abbreviations, or descriptions stating or implying that the person is a health practitioner of a particular kind" if they are registered and qualified to be registered as one. A second limb prohibits claiming to practise without a current practising certificate. Contravention is an offence with a maximum fine of $10,000.¹⁷

Because the section works by implication, the practical question is which professions have a responsible authority under the Act.

Psychology does. The Psychologists Board states that only practitioners currently registered with it can legally use the title psychologist, and that it has gazetted seven scopes of practice.¹⁸

Psychotherapy does too, which sets New Zealand apart from Australia and the UK. The Psychotherapists Board of Aotearoa New Zealand records that "in Aotearoa New Zealand, psychotherapists are registered health practitioners who practise within a scope of practice, as prescribed by the Board under section 11 of the HPCA Act".¹⁹

Counselling has no responsible authority under the Act, so counsellor carries no statutory protection there. See our New Zealand licensing and regulation guide for the professional-body landscape.

Canada: Ontario as the worked example

Canadian regulation is provincial. There is no national register and no single national answer, so a title protected in Ontario may not be protected elsewhere; our Canada licensing and regulation guide covers the provincial spread. Ontario is worth setting out because it shows title protection and act protection working together.

On title, psychologist is restricted. Section 8(1) of the Psychology and Applied Behaviour Analysis Act, 2021 provides that no person other than a member of the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario may use the title "psychologist", "psychological associate" or "behaviour analyst", or a variation, abbreviation or equivalent in another language, and s 8(3) extends that to using the words "psychology" or "psychological" in any title or in any description of services offered. Section 10 sets the fine at up to $25,000 for a first offence and $50,000 for a later one.²⁹

The College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario is equally explicit that a person without current registration may not "use the title 'psychotherapist', 'Registered Psychotherapist' or any abbreviation or variation thereof in any language", nor perform the controlled act of psychotherapy. The title is held in three registration categories: Registered Psychotherapist, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) and Registered Psychotherapist (Temporary).²⁰

On the act, an unregulated provider performing the controlled act of psychotherapy must either restrict their practice or register with the College or with one of the other colleges whose registrants may perform it.²¹

Counsellor is not a restricted title in Ontario. It appears in no Ontario health profession Act's restricted-title provision: the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts' restricted titles are psychologist, psychological associate and behaviour analyst,²⁹ and the psychotherapy titles belong to CRPO and the five other colleges authorised to perform the controlled act.²⁰²¹ A person may lawfully call themselves a counsellor in Ontario while doing work that falls short of the controlled act.

United States

The United States has no federal register for any mental health profession. Licensure and the titles that come with it are granted by individual state and territorial boards, and each profession has its own national association of those boards rather than one body standing behind mental health as a whole. For psychology it is the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, which describes itself as an alliance of the state, provincial and territorial agencies responsible for licensing and registering psychologists throughout the United States and Canada.²² Social work has its own counterpart in the Association of Social Work Boards, composed of the social work regulatory boards and colleges of all fifty states, the District of Columbia, three territories and all ten Canadian provinces,³⁴ and marriage and family therapy has the Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards, which describes itself as the association of the state licensing boards regulating marriage and family therapists.³⁵ None of the three licenses anyone. The licence comes from the state board.

The consequence for a reader is that no statement of the form "this title is protected in the USA" is reliable. Protection, scope and even the letters used differ from one state to the next, and a licence issued in one state does not by itself authorise practice in another. Check the board in the specific state, not a national list. Our United States licensing and regulation guide and our New York guide set out how the state systems work.

We have deliberately not published a count of how many states protect a given title. Those counts circulate widely, change without notice, and we have no primary source for them.

France, Germany and the Netherlands

France

Article 44 of loi n° 85-772 of 25 July 1985 reserves professional use of the title psychologue, with or without a qualifier, to holders of a diploma or title certifying high-level fundamental and applied university training in psychology and appearing on a list fixed by decree, or to holders of a foreign diploma recognised as equivalent.²³ The title psychothérapeute is separately regulated, under article 52 of loi n° 2004-806 of 9 August 2004, with the training conditions set by décret n° 2010-534 of 20 May 2010, which requires 400 hours of clinical psychopathology training and a practical placement of at least five months for entry on the registre national des psychothérapeutes.²⁴

One point of currency matters for verification. Registration is no longer recorded in ADELI. French professionals were migrated to the RPPS, the shared directory of health professionals, in waves: psychologists on 3 June 2024, and psychotherapists in October 2024.²⁵ A guide that still tells a French reader to check an ADELI number is sending them to a directory that no longer identifies the practitioner. Use the annuaire santé instead. See our France licensing and regulation guide.

Germany

Under the Psychotherapeutengesetz, anyone wishing to practise curative psychotherapy under the professional title requires an Approbation, and the designation Psychotherapeutin or Psychotherapeut may not be used by persons other than doctors and licensed psychological or child and adolescent psychotherapists.²⁶ Doctors may add the qualifier ärztliche.²⁶ On the title, Germany is as tight as any jurisdiction on this page.

The work is restricted too, but the Approbation is not the only licence for it. The Heilpraktikergesetz requires a permission from the Land authority for any occupational activity aimed at establishing, curing or relieving illness, suffering or bodily injury in people, and practising without one is an offence carrying up to a year's imprisonment or a fine.³³ That permission can be granted restricted to the field of psychotherapy, on passing a written and oral knowledge examination set by the public health office, so a Heilpraktiker limited to psychotherapy may lawfully practise psychotherapy in Germany without an Approbation.³³ What they may not do is call themselves Psychotherapeut.²⁶

This is the clearest illustration on the page of the point in section 1. The title and the licence to practise are two separate permissions, and a German reader checking a practitioner needs to know which of the two is being claimed. See our Germany licensing and regulation guide.

Netherlands

The Wet BIG reserves each listed title to people entered in the corresponding register. Article 4 gives a registered person the exclusive right to use, as a title, the designation given in article 3 to the capacity in which they are registered. Article 3 lists eleven professions, and three matter here: gezondheidszorgpsycholoog, psychotherapeut and orthopedagoog-generalist.²⁷

Psycholoog on its own is not on that list. As in the UK, the qualifier carries the protection. See our Netherlands licensing and regulation guide.

South Africa

South Africa gates the profession at registration, and it also protects the title. The Health Professions Act 56 of 1974 makes registration a prerequisite for practising a health profession, and section 40 makes it an offence for an unregistered person to pretend to be registered or to use any name, title, description or symbol implying that they hold a qualification recognised for registration, on conviction a fine or imprisonment of up to five years or both.²⁸ The Health Professions Council of South Africa holds the register.

In psychology, the registration category is the title. The regulations defining the scope of the profession name psychologist, psychometrist, registered counsellor and psychotechnician, together with any further category the Professional Board for Psychology establishes, and the 2011 annexure sets a separate scope of practice for registered counsellors, psychometrists and for clinical, counselling, educational, research, industrial, neuro- and forensic psychologists.³⁰ So a South African reader asking which protected title a practitioner holds is asking which of those entries is theirs, and the register shows it. Social work is regulated separately, by the South African Council for Social Service Professions.

The categories, the statutes behind them and the free register searches are set out in our South Africa licensing and regulation guide, and the qualifications behind each title in our South African credentials guide.

The titles that usually are not protected

This is where the practical risk sits, and where a reader is most likely to be misled without anyone breaking a law. The pattern below holds across the jurisdictions covered here. It is not a claim about jurisdictions this guide does not cover.

Therapist. The bare word is not protected in the UK, Australia or Ontario. It becomes protected only inside a listed title, such as occupational therapist in the UK and Australia¹¹⁴ or art therapist in the UK.¹ The public hears the shortened form as the full one. Someone who says "I am a therapist" has told you nothing checkable.

Counsellor. Not protected in the UK,⁶ Australia¹⁴ or Ontario. In Ireland the profession is designated and a board exists, but the register is not yet open.¹¹¹² In South Africa, registered counsellor is a statutory HPCSA category with its own regulated scope of practice, which is a different arrangement again.³⁰

Psychotherapist. This one genuinely splits. Protected in Germany,²⁶ the Netherlands,²⁷ France,²⁴ New Zealand¹⁹ and Ontario.²⁰ Not protected in the UK⁶ or Australia.¹⁴ Pending in Ireland.¹² A reader who assumes the word carries the same weight everywhere will be right in some countries and wrong in others.

Life coach, wellness coach, holistic therapist. None of these appears in any protected-title list in the jurisdictions covered here. Coaching certifications are issued by private bodies and are not government registration.

That is not an argument that coaching has no value. It is an argument about what the word tells you, which is nothing about training, supervision, complaints handling or insurance. For a mental health difficulty, look for a practitioner holding a protected title on a register you can search.

Voluntary registers: what they do and do not mean

Statutory regulation means the law requires registration, and practising or using the title without it is an offence. Voluntary registration means an organisation holds a list that practitioners choose to join. The UK shows how the two sit side by side. The Professional Standards Authority oversees the statutory regulators and separately accredits voluntary registers, and it states plainly that counsellors and hypnotherapists, among others, "are not legally required to be on a register".⁶ The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy⁷ and the UK Council for Psychotherapy⁸ both hold accredited registers under that programme.

Two things follow, and both are true at once. An accredited register is not a licence: anyone may practise counselling in the UK without joining one, and a person who is not on it has broken no law. It is also not nothing. It carries entry standards, an ethical framework, a complaints route and independent oversight of the register itself. In a field with no statutory regulation, that is a meaningful difference between two practitioners, and it is the strongest check available to a UK client seeking counselling or psychotherapy.

The arrangements do not transfer between countries. Australia does have a national voluntary register of counsellors and psychotherapists, the Australian Register of Counsellors and Psychotherapists, set up by the two professional bodies themselves and described by them as self-regulation of the profession.³⁶ What it does not have is the UK's second layer: an independent statutory body that accredits the register and oversees the standards behind it. A British and an Australian voluntary registration are therefore not the same instrument, even where the professional standards are comparable.

How to check a practitioner

Ask three questions

• Which protected title do you hold? A useful answer names a specific title, such as counselling psychologist, occupational therapist or Registered Psychotherapist. "I am a therapist" is not an answer.
• Which body registers you? A useful answer names a regulator or an accredited register, not an association whose name merely sounds official.
• What is your registration number? This is the field you search on.

Then check the register yourself

Do not rely on a logo, a certificate on a wall or a claim on a website. Go to the regulator's own register and search it. Confirm four things: the name matches, the registration is current, the entry carries the title being advertised, and any conditions or disciplinary history shown are ones you know about. The register belongs to the regulator named in the table in section 1. For the ten jurisdictions covered here, these are the registers:

• United Kingdom: HCPC for practitioner psychologists, arts therapists and occupational therapists; Social Work England for social workers in England; NMC for nurses and midwives.
• Ireland: CORU. No psychologist, counsellor or psychotherapist register is open yet, so there is nothing to search for those three.
• Australia: Ahpra.
• New Zealand: New Zealand Psychologists Board and PBANZ.
• Canada (Ontario): College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario and CRPO. Other provinces hold their own.
• United States: the licensing board of the state, found through the ASPPB board directory for psychology, or the board named on your state government's own site for counselling, social work and marriage and family therapy.
• France: the annuaire santé, which now carries the RPPS entries.
• Germany: there is no single national register. The Land psychotherapist chambers hold them, and the chamber for the Land the practitioner works in is the one to ask.
• Netherlands: the BIG-register.
• South Africa: the HPCSA iRegister, and the SACSSP for social workers.

Red flags

• Refusing to name a protected title or a registration number
• Naming a body you cannot find, or one whose register you cannot search
• Using only unprotected words when a protected title is available in that country
• Presenting association membership as though it were a licence
• Claiming a specialism as though it were a separate registration when the regulator does not register it, as with neuropsychology in the UK

If a title is not protected where you are

The absence of statutory regulation is not a reason to stop checking. Ask what qualification the person holds and from which institution, whether they are on an accredited or professional register, whether they have supervision, and what happens if you want to complain. A practitioner who welcomes those questions is telling you something useful. So is one who does not.

What this guide covers, and what it does not

This guide covers ten jurisdictions: the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada with Ontario as the worked example, the United States at the level of how the system works rather than state by state, France, Germany, the Netherlands and South Africa. Every legal proposition above is sourced to a statute, a statutory instrument or a regulator's own publication. Where we say a title is not protected, that is a statement about what the cited instrument or published list does not contain, which is the only honest form a negative of that kind can take.

Coverage outside those jurisdictions was not assessed. We have not stated that titles are unprotected elsewhere, because we have not checked, and an unchecked claim about a region is worse than silence. TherapyRoute lists practitioners in more than 58 countries, and a reader outside the ten should go to their national regulator or health ministry rather than infer anything from this page.

Penalty figures and register arrangements also drift. And a protected title tells you only that someone is accountable to a regulator, not that they are the right practitioner for you; our guide on how to find the right therapist deals with that second question.

Last reviewed: September 2026. Jurisdictions covered: UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada (Ontario), United States, France, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa. Statutes, penalties and register arrangements change; confirm with the named regulator before relying on any figure here.

Team TherapyRoute

References

1. [1] Health and Care Professions Council, Who we regulate: the professions. Protected titles by profession. Practitioner psychologists: "Practitioner psychologist", "Registered psychologist", "Clinical psychologist", "Forensic psychologist", "Counselling psychologist", "Health psychologist", "Educational psychologist", "Occupational psychologist", "Sport and exercise psychologist". Arts therapists: "Art psychotherapist", "Art therapist", "Dramatherapist", "Music therapist". Occupational therapists: "Occupational therapist". No entry for "psychologist" alone, "neuropsychologist", "arts therapist", "psychotherapist" or "counsellor". hcpc-uk.org.
2. [2] Health and Social Work Professions Order 2001 (SI 2002/254), article 39: the offence requires that the person act "with intent to deceive" and covers using "a title referred to in article 6(2) to which he is not entitled". Article 39(6): liable on summary conviction "to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale". legislation.gov.uk.
3. [3] Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, s 85(1): an offence punishable on summary conviction by a maximum fine of "£5,000 or more (however expressed)" becomes "punishable on summary conviction… by a fine of any amount". In force 12 March 2015 (SI 2015/504, art 2). legislation.gov.uk.
4. [4] HCPC, Misuse of title: "Anyone not on our Register who uses a designated title may be breaking the law and could be prosecuted." hcpc-uk.org.
5. [5] Medical Act 1983, s 49 protects the names or titles of "physician, doctor of medicine, licentiate in medicine and surgery, bachelor of medicine, surgeon, general practitioner or apothecary", and any description implying registration under the Act. "Psychiatrist" does not appear. legislation.gov.uk.
6. [6] Professional Standards Authority, About Accredited Registers: "Other health and care professionals are not legally required to be on a register; like acupuncturists, counsellors, hypnotherapists, along with many others." professionalstandards.org.uk.
7. [7] Professional Standards Authority, Accredited Register entry for the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy. professionalstandards.org.uk.
8. [8] Professional Standards Authority, Accredited Register entry for the UK Council for Psychotherapy. professionalstandards.org.uk.
9. [9] Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (Revised, updated to 17 February 2026), s 4(1), designating fourteen professions including occupational therapist, psychologist, social care worker, social worker and speech and language therapist. Counsellor and psychotherapist are not in s 4(1); they were designated later by regulation. revisedacts.lawreform.ie.
10. [10] Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (Revised), ss 79(4) and 80. Section 80(5), as substituted by the 2012 Amendment Act s 13 (in force 1 February 2013): the offender "is liable on summary conviction to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both"; the annotation records a class A fine as "not greater than €5,000" (Fines Act 2010, ss 3, 4(1)). The Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014, s 33, deleted "with intent to deceive" from s 80(1) and (2) and inserted the reasonable-steps defence at s 80(6). revisedacts.lawreform.ie.
11. [11] CORU, About the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board, recording the Board’s establishment on 27 February 2019 under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (amended). coru.ie.
12. [12] CORU, Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board FAQ: "the registers for counsellors and psychotherapists are not yet open so it is not possible to make an application at this time." coru.ie.
13. [13] CORU Psychologists Registration Board, Statutory regulation of psychologists: two phases, three registers (clinical, counselling, educational) then a fourth for other specialisms; "when regulation is introduced only qualified individuals who are registered with CORU can legally use that title"; the first three are expected to open in 2027. coru.ie.
14. [14] Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, s 113 and its Table of Protected Titles (consolidated Queensland text). Maximum penalty: "in the case of an individual—$60,000 or 3 years imprisonment or both"; "in the case of a body corporate—$120,000". Section 113(3): the prohibition applies "whether or not the title is taken or used with or without any other words and whether in English or any other language". Table entries include Psychology: psychologist; Occupational Therapy: occupational therapist; Medical: medical practitioner; Nursing: nurse, registered nurse, nurse practitioner, enrolled nurse. Neither "counsellor" nor "psychotherapist" appears in the Table. legislation.qld.gov.au.
15. [15] Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2019 (Qld), s 8, substituting the s 113 penalty with "$60,000 or 3 years imprisonment or both" for an individual and "$120,000" for a body corporate. legislation.qld.gov.au.
16. [16] Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Western Australia), Official Version as at 1 December 2025 [PCO 00-c0-00], s 113: "Maximum penalty — (a) in the case of an individual — $60 000 or 3 years imprisonment or both; or (b) in the case of a body corporate — $120 000", annotated "[Section 113 modified: No. 21 of 2024 (WA) s. 25.]". Western Australia previously enacted lower maxima under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (WA) Act 2010, which was repealed on 15 May 2024 by s 38 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Application Act 2024 (WA). legislation.wa.gov.au.
17. [17] Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (NZ), s 7(1): "A person may only use names, words, titles, initials, abbreviations, or descriptions stating or implying that the person is a health practitioner of a particular kind if the person is registered, and is qualified to be registered"; s 7(2) adds the practising-certificate limb; s 7(5): an offence "punishable… by a fine not exceeding $10,000". Consulted in the Podiatrists Board of New Zealand reprint. legislation.govt.nz.
18. [18] New Zealand Psychologists Board, information for the public: "Only practitioners who are currently registered with (and who are therefore accountable to) the Board can legally use the title 'Psychologist'"; seven scopes of practice are gazetted. psychologistsboard.org.nz.
19. [19] Psychotherapists Board of Aotearoa New Zealand, Naming policy: "In Aotearoa New Zealand, psychotherapists are registered health practitioners who practise within a scope of practice, as prescribed by the Board under section 11 of the HPCA ACT." pbanz.org.nz.
20. [20] College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario, registration pages: those without current registration may not "use the title 'psychotherapist', 'Registered Psychotherapist' or any abbreviation or variation thereof in any language", nor perform the controlled act; the title is held in the Registered Psychotherapist, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) and Registered Psychotherapist (Temporary) categories. crpo.ca.
21. [21] CRPO, Controlled Act of Psychotherapy: "Treating, by means of psychotherapy technique, delivered through a therapeutic relationship, an individual's serious disorder of thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception or memory that may seriously impair the individual's judgement, insight, behaviour, communication or social functioning"; unregulated providers performing it "will need either to restrict their practice or register with CRPO or one of the five other colleges". crpo.ca.
22. [22] Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, Pursuing licensure in psychology: ASPPB "is an alliance of state, provincial, and territorial agencies responsible for the licensure and registration of psychologists throughout the United States and Canada". asppb.net.
23. [23] Loi n° 85-772 du 25 juillet 1985, article 44-I, as at 26 July 1985: "L'usage professionnel du titre de psychologue, accompagné ou non d'un qualificatif, est réservé aux titulaires d'un diplôme, certificat ou titre sanctionnant une formation universitaire fondamentale et appliquée de haut niveau en psychologie préparant à la vie professionnelle et figurant sur une liste fixée par décret en Conseil d’Etat ou aux titulaires d'un diplôme étranger reconnu équivalent aux diplômes nationaux exigés." legifrance.gouv.fr.
24. [24] Décret n° 2010-534 du 20 mai 2010 relatif à l'usage du titre de psychothérapeute, made under article 52 of loi n° 2004-806 du 9 août 2004: inscription on the registre national des psychothérapeutes requires validated clinical psychopathology training of at least 400 hours and a practical placement of at least five months; in force from 1 July 2010. legifrance.gouv.fr.
25. [25] Agence du Numérique en Santé, Bascule des professionnels ADELI dans le RPPS: psychologues migrated on 3 June 2024, psychothérapeutes in October 2024. esante.gouv.fr.
26. [26] Psychotherapeutengesetz (PsychThG), § 1: practising curative psychotherapy under the professional title requires an Approbation, and "Die Bezeichnung 'Psychotherapeutin' oder 'Psychotherapeut' darf… von anderen Personen als Ärztinnen und Ärzten, Psychologischen Psychotherapeutinnen… nicht geführt werden"; doctors may add the qualifier "ärztliche". gesetze-im-internet.de.
27. [27] Wet op de beroepen in de individuele gezondheidszorg (Wet BIG), artikel 4, eerste lid, reserving to a registered person the right "de in artikel 3, eerste lid… gegeven benaming als titel te voeren". Artikel 3, eerste lid, lists arts, tandarts, apotheker, gezondheidszorgpsycholoog, psychotherapeut, fysiotherapeut, verloskundige, verpleegkundige, physician assistant, orthopedagoog-generalist and klinisch technoloog. "Psycholoog" alone is not listed. wetten.overheid.nl.
28. [28] Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act No. 56 of 1974), s 17: registration is a prerequisite for practising a health profession; the register is held by the HPCSA. Section 40: a person not registered who pretends to be registered, or who "uses any name, title, description or symbol indicating, or calculated to lead persons to infer that he or she is the holder of any qualification which by rule under this Act is recognized by the relevant professional board as acceptable for registration", is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine or imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both. gov.za.
29. [29] Psychology and Applied Behaviour Analysis Act, 2021 (Ontario), SO 2021 c 27 Sch 4, s 8(1): "No person other than a member shall use the title ‘psychologist’, ‘psychological associate’ or ‘behaviour analyst’, a variation or abbreviation or an equivalent in another language." Section 8(3) extends this to use of the word "psychology" or "psychological" in any title, designation or description of services. Section 10: a fine of not more than $25,000 for a first offence and not more than $50,000 for a subsequent one. The Act contains no restricted title for "counsellor". canlii.org.
30. [30] Health Professions Act, 1974: Regulations Defining the Scope of the Profession of Psychology, GN R.993 of 16 September 2008, defining "psychology" as the profession of a person registered as a psychologist, psychometrist, registered counsellor, psychotechnician "or in any other category of registration as may be established by the board"; and GN R.704 of 2 September 2011, adding the annexure setting the scope of practice of registered counsellors, psychometrists, and clinical, counselling, educational, research, industrial, neuro- and forensic psychologists. gov.za.
31. [31] The Social Workers Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/893), reg 28(2): "A person must not use the title of ‘social worker’ unless they are a registered social worker." The GOV.UK Regulated Professions Register records that the title is protected across the UK, with Social Work England, the Scottish Social Services Council, Social Care Wales and the Northern Ireland Social Care Council as the four regulators. legislation.gov.uk; regulated-professions.service.gov.uk.
32. [32] Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 (SI 2002/253), article 44: it is an offence, committed with intent to deceive, falsely to represent oneself as registered or to use the title "registered nurse", "registered midwife" or "nursing associate" when not entitled; "a person guilty of an offence under this article shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale". The nursing associate limb applies in England only. legislation.gov.uk.
33. [33] Heilpraktikergesetz (HeilprG), § 1(1): "Wer die Heilkunde, ohne als Arzt bestallt zu sein, ausüben will, bedarf dazu der Erlaubnis"; § 1(2) defines Ausübung der Heilkunde as any occupational activity to establish, cure or relieve illness, suffering or bodily injury in people; § 5 penalises practising without that permission with imprisonment of up to one year or a fine. For the permission restricted to psychotherapy, see Landeshauptstadt München, Heilpraktikererlaubnis auf dem Gebiet der Psychotherapie: "Zur Ausübung der Heilkunde beschränkt auf das Gebiet der Psychotherapie ohne Approbation bedarf es einer Erlaubnis nach dem Heilpraktikergesetz", granted on passing the written and oral Kenntnisüberprüfung set by the Gesundheitsamt. gesetze-im-internet.de; stadt.muenchen.de.
34. [34] Association of Social Work Boards, About ASWB: "The Association of Social Work Boards is the nonprofit organization composed of the social work regulatory boards and colleges of all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and all 10 Canadian provinces." aswb.org.
35. [35] Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards: "The Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB) is the association of state licensing boards governing the regulation of LMFTs." amftrb.org.
36. [36] Australian Register of Counsellors and Psychotherapists: "The Australian Register of Counsellors and Psychotherapists is a company established by the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia and the Australian Counselling Association as an independent, national register of qualified counsellors and psychotherapists." arcapregister.com.au.