how to guage viewpoint diversity in psychotherapy and counselling training programmes
questions to help prospective students
Written by a group of psychological therapists who are members of Thoughtful Therapists, Save Mental Health UK, Critical Therapy Antidote and Differently Aware Psychological Therapists (links below).
With many students needing to be sure that today’s counselling or psychotherapy training aligns with their personal values, we’ve created this concise guide to help them find the right provider. We recognise that, while a growing number of students are distancing themselves from a Critical Social Justice (CSJ)-only approach, some institutions are persuing CSJ as an exclusive framework—this guide is designed to help navigate this.
When researching psychotherapy or counselling courses, it’s important to find a training environment that aligns with your values and supports open, critical inquiry. Increasingly, programmes are presenting frameworks rooted in Critical Social Justice theories. While these may offer important insights, they can sometimes dominate course content and culture. If you’re concerned about ideological overreach or want to ensure space for a range of perspectives, the following open, respectful questions will help you to surface a training provider’s stance and assess whether they are likely to impose a single ideological lens or truly support theoretical diversity and respectful dialogue.
The aim of these questions is not confrontation, but transparency and fit.
1. Theoretical Orientation & Viewpoint Diversity
“I’m interested in training that welcomes a pluralistic mix of approaches. How does your programme expose students to diverse therapeutic models, including those that do not embed social justice frameworks?”
“Does the curriculum position any theory such as intersectionality, decolonial thought, or systemic oppression as the default or ethically superior lens, or are students free to weigh and critique frameworks for themselves?”
2. Values, Ethics & Autonomy
“Are trainees encouraged to develop their own ethical stance, even if it diverges from identity based or activist perspectives?”
“If a student respectfully questions or opts out of a systemic or activist formulation, how is that handled in class and supervision?”
3. Clinical Practice & Supervision
“Does the programme promote activism or social change as an explicit therapeutic goal, or is the focus on client defined outcomes?”
“In supervision and placement assessments, are students evaluated primarily on clinical competence and ethics, rather than alignment with any particular political viewpoint?”
4. Language & Discourse
“Are there required terminologies—such as ‘privilege,’ ‘whiteness,’ or ‘systemic harm’—for written work and class discussion?
How are students supported if they find certain language or assumptions uncomfortable?”
5. Institutional Culture & Dialogue
“Is the faculty affiliated with specific social justice campaigns, and if so, how does that influence the learning environment?”
“Have previous students voiced concerns about ideological conformity? If so, how were those concerns addressed?”
These questions invite candid conversation while signalling your commitment to intellectual openness, client autonomy, and mutual respect.
A very helpful glossary of terms to listen out for that Critical Social Justice advocates use can be found, courtesy of Save Mental Health, here.
A provider that genuinely values viewpoint diversity will welcome such dialogue; one that appears uneasy or dismissive may reveal a less flexible learning culture.
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