Stop juggling spreadsheets.
Start running your practice properly.
Built for UK therapists in private practice - whether you're newly qualified or already established.
You can also book a 20-minute demo call to ask any questions, and see Counselling Buddy in action; or follow our Quick setup guide to get up and running, and book your first session, in under 30 minutes.
✓ Trusted by over 350 UK Therapists ✓ Fully GDPR-Compliant ✓ Cancel anytime
You trained to help people.
Not to chase invoices & juggle bookings.
Running a private practice is a lot of work, before you even factor in your clients. You have to handle admin, scheduling, bookkeeping - and that's before you even get to therapy.
That administrative burden quickly eats into your time and energy, which you could be using for much better things - like working with your clients, or taking care of your own mental health. We're willing to bet that if you started to keep a log of the hours spent on administrative tasks, you'd be shocked at just how much time it takes.
Counselling Buddy exists to give you those hours back, time that you can use to focus on things you actually want to do. We help manage the operational side of your practice - securely, simply, quickly - so your focus stays where it belongs.
Because it's not only your clients' mental health that matters.
Everything You Need to Run Your Practice
Stop juggling spreadsheets, paper files, and multiple apps. Counselling Buddy brings it all together.
Your practice, before and after
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Client records in spreadsheets
Scattered across files, folders, and email threads you can't easily search.
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Chasing clients for missed appointments
Manually texting or emailing reminders the night before every session.
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Notes in notebooks, Word docs, or nowhere
Hard to retrieve, impossible to search, and a compliance risk if lost.
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Invoicing via email or spreadsheet
Manually tracking who's paid, who hasn't, and following up yourself.
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Constant GDPR uncertainty
Not sure if your setup is truly compliant with your professional obligations.
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Every client in one secure place
Full profiles, session history, session payment status and contact details - searchable in seconds. Generate payment links, refund payments and more with ease.
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Reminders sent automatically
Email and SMS reminders go out automatically. You control their content, frequency and send times within your account settings. Taking some time off? Disable all outgoing communications with a single switch in your account settings.
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Encrypted, structured session notes
Write wherever and whenever you want, retrieve any note instantly. Stored securely, encrypted, with no link to your clients. Select a template to get started quickly.
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Billing built into your workflow
Generate, send, and track payment links without leaving the platform. Never chase a payment again with automated reminder emails.
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GDPR-compliant by design
Built in the UK by therapists, for therapists and their professional obligations. Our team consists of two therapists*, our software developers, and a cybersecurity lead.
*Though we regularly consult larger working groups, and take our community feature requests into account in everything we do.
Powerful Features for Modern Practitioners
Built by therapists, for therapists
Up and running in under ten minutes
Have any questions? We're happy to schedule a 20-minute demo/Q&A call with you to help answer any questions you may have, or to help you get started.
Create your account
Sign up with, and verify, your email. Your account is ready immediately, and your data is encrypted from the moment you log in. Not sure where to start? The best place to start is looking at our help pages. You're also welcome to book a demo call & we'd be happy to help you get setup & show you around.
Add your clients
Import an existing client list via CSV, or add clients one by one. Either way, each client gets a full profile with contact details, session history, and a secure notes area. Whether you add all your clients at once, or add them gradually as and when you have a session with them, all their information will be stored securely in your account.
Book your first session
Schedule appointments, set up automated reminders, and connect your Google Calendar if you use one. Your clients are notified automatically in accordance with your settings. Counselling Buddy can even automatically check for conflicts with other sessions in your Google Calendar, and automatically email your client a payment link 48hrs before the session - one less thing for you to worry about.
Run your practice from one place
Write session notes, send invoices, track payments, and manage your schedule - all from your Counselling Buddy dashboard. The admin handles itself. Counselling Buddy is fully mobile-friendly, so you can access your information on-the-go (though we feel it's much more productive to use a laptop, tablet, or desktop). If you do access your info on the go, watch out for on-lookers who may be able to see your screen!
Built around your professional obligations - not just a checkbox
As a therapist, you have a duty of care that extends to how client data is stored and handled. Counselling Buddy was built with that responsibility at its core, not bolted on afterwards.
Encrypted at rest and in transit
All client data - notes, records, documents - is encrypted both when stored and when moving between your browser and our servers. Nobody reads your clients' information but you.
GDPR-compliant by design
Built specifically for UK private practice. Data is hosted in the UK, you remain the data controller, with Counselling Buddy acting solely as a data processor.
Aligned with BACP & UKCP standards
Designed with the BACP Ethical Framework in mind. Secure record-keeping, clear data retention controls, and audit trails that support your professional accountability.
Automated daily backups
Your data is backed up automatically every day to redundant UK-based servers. In the unlikely event of an issue, nothing is lost.