‘Real nastiness’: therapist training courses in UK can be ‘toxic’ and need regulating, say students

Allegations that tutors in the fast-growing sector are letting bullying between students go unchecked

When Sally Mumford enrolled in a training course to become a psychotherapist in 2020, she was excited to start a new career.

She hoped to help people understand how their feelings and behaviour were shaped by their pasts. But she quickly realised that the course might not be what she had expected. “I arrived like a lamb to the slaughter,” she said. “There was a real nastiness that percolated down from the top.”