Finding a Therapist in South Shields

Photograph by Nana Ampomah

Deciding to see a therapist is often the hard part. Working out which therapist to choose can feel almost as difficult, because the choice is personal and the market can be confusing, with a long list of titles, letters after names and approaches that may mean little from the outside. This is a short, honest guide to making that choice carefully, whether you are looking for someone to meet in South Shields or remotely.

Prefer to listen? You can hear this article read by Kingsley as a NormShift episode (8 minutes).

Start with registration, because it is one important safeguard you can check before making contact. In the UK, the generic professional titles “counsellor” and “psychotherapist” are not protected by law. That makes it especially important to verify a practitioner’s current register status and ask about their training, relevant experience and professional indemnity insurance, rather than relying on the title alone.

A sensible safeguard is to check whether the practitioner appears on a current register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, such as the registers held by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS), and whether their training and experience fit your needs.

The PSA is an independent statutory body accountable to the UK Parliament. It assesses register-holding organisations against public-protection standards, including governance, education and training, registration and the handling of concerns. Accreditation provides assurance about how a register is run and the standards it requires. It does not mean that the PSA has personally assessed or endorsed every individual registrant. You can check a practitioner through the PSA service, the BACP Register or the NCPS directory.

Once you know that a therapist is registered, the next question is how they work, and here it helps to hold the labels loosely. Some therapists work primarily within one model, such as person-centred therapy or cognitive behavioural therapy. Others, myself included, work integratively. Integrative therapists draw on concepts and methods from more than one therapeutic approach within a coherent framework, use methods within their competence and adapt the work collaboratively to the individual client. What matters is whether the approach is appropriate for what you are bringing, whether the therapist is competent to provide it and whether their way of working suits you. A therapist should be able to explain their approach in language you understand.

There is one finding from decades of research worth knowing because it can help inform your choice. Across a large body of research on individual adult psychotherapy, a stronger therapeutic alliance was, on average, modestly associated with better treatment outcomes (Flückiger et al., 2018). The meta-analysis combined 295 independent samples involving more than 30,000 adults. The association varied between studies and does not, by itself, establish cause and effect or show that the alliance matters more than the treatment method.

When choosing, consider the relationship alongside the suitability of the treatment, the practitioner’s competence, your preferences and your circumstances. A first conversation can help you judge whether you feel able to ask questions and speak openly, although fit may take more than one session to assess. Did you feel heard? Could you imagine telling this person something difficult?

Then there are the practical questions, which matter more than people sometimes admit. Do you want to meet in person or remotely? In-person sessions in South Shields may suit people who value leaving home and arriving somewhere set apart for the work. Remote sessions by video or telephone can remove the need to travel and widen access for some people, although they may create different barriers.

Whether remote work is suitable depends on your needs and preferences, access to a private space, accessibility and technology, data security, current risks and the therapist’s competence in the chosen medium. Video and telephone are not interchangeable, so it is worth discussing these factors before starting.

Ask about session length, fees, how quickly you could start and whether an initial consultation is charged. Treat an initial consultation as a chance to ask questions and decide whether you want to continue. You should be given clear information and reasonable space to make that decision, although appointment availability can change.

At Marking Therapy, I offer counselling and therapy to adults from consulting rooms in South Shields and remotely by video or telephone across the UK. I have been in practice since 2019. I am listed on the BACP public register as a Registered Member MBACP, membership number 397058, and on the NCPS register as an active Accredited Registrant, membership number NCS19-07980.

I welcome adults from diverse backgrounds and identities, including people in diverse consensual relationship structures, and I work within professional competence. These details may help you decide whether my practice could be a suitable fit. More broadly, you deserve a therapist who is properly qualified, clear about how they work and someone you can genuinely talk to.

If my approach and experience seem a possible fit, I would be glad to hear from you through the Marking Therapy contact page. You are equally entitled to compare practitioners and choose someone else. Choosing carefully will still have been time well spent.

Reference

Flückiger, C., Del Re, A. C., Wampold, B. E., & Horvath, A. O. (2018). The alliance in adult psychotherapy: A meta-analytic synthesis. Psychotherapy, 55(4), 316-340. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000172

Originally published 2 August 2026. Updated and fact-checked 28 August 2026. This article provides general information, not individual clinical advice.