For ten years it's been closed to anyone still in training. From May 2026, that changes. You're invited inside, alongside everything you need for your formal studies.
There's a gap that every counselling student feels at some point in training. You're learning the theory. You're learning the skills. And then placement starts, or you read about a real client somewhere, and you find yourself thinking the same quiet question almost every student we've ever worked with has thought.
"What do I actually do when this walks into the room?"
A grieving client. A trauma response. A self-harming teenager. An autistic client whose communication style your textbooks barely mention. A client thinking about ending their life. That's qualified-counsellor territory. The gap between what your formal training has time to cover and what real practice actually brings.
Alongside that sits the academic side. Fitting your studies around life and work. The pressure of having made the financial commitment. The fear of falling behind. Theories that don't quite click, however many times you read them. Assignments where you are not sure if what you have written is enough.
If you can relate to any of this, you are not alone. The Student Library is built for both sides of your training, the academic side you face today and the practice side you face tomorrow.
"Just got my notification that I have passed all the modules in year 1, level 4. Aged 53, and with dyslexia confirmed, I truly thought I had taken on too much. Without the Counselling Tutor at a pivotal dark point, I don't think I would have had the faith to keep going."
Recent graduate
The Student Library works on any device. Watch lectures at home, listen to the audio version on a walk, or read the downloadable notes on the train. Every lecture comes as video, audio, and text, so you can choose the format that fits your learning.
No special software. No app to download. Log in with your email and password and start learning.
Join the Student LibraryThe CPD library is what's new. The academic library has been quietly serving 32,348 counselling students for a decade. You get both.
Hundreds of hours of lectures, all delivered by practitioners who specialise in the area they're teaching. Not generalists who know a bit. Specialists. Every lecture comes with a CPD certificate you can claim and add to your professional development log. The topics our qualified members watch most often, in order:
Plus dozens more. Working with co-dependent clients. Working with children and young people. Self-care for practitioners. Personal development. Equality, diversity, and inclusion. Mental health models. Couples counselling. Working with bereaved children.
A snapshot of CPD lecture topics inside the Library
"Whenever I needed help, I listen to the CPDs and they are so helpful. Thank you for your hard work, which has helped so many thousands of students."
MariyamHundreds of hours of academic lectures, delivered by counselling tutors and mapped to fifteen UK awarding body criteria. The Student Roadmap takes you straight to the right resources for your specific course and level. You don't browse hoping to find what's relevant. You follow a route.
Every modality you'll meet in your training: Person-Centred, CBT, Psychodynamic, Gestalt, Transactional Analysis, Existential, Integrative, Behavioural, Attachment Theory, and more. Each one broken down in plain English with the same core references your textbooks use.
Counselling skills explained and demonstrated. Empathy, focusing, immediacy, challenge, silence, summarising, and the rest. Audio recordings of skills in simulated sessions. The "what does this actually look like in the room" content that vague tutor feedback rarely gives you.
The professional practice side. How to use supervision well. Risk assessment. Ethics. UK GDPR. Equality and diversity. Note-taking and contracts. The "how to actually be a practitioner" knowledge that sits alongside theory and skills.
The work of getting through a course. Cracking assignment criteria. Reflective journaling. Writing up skills assignments. Mapping personal development. Real, tutor-passed assignment exemplars to benchmark your own work against.
Mapped to fifteen UK awarding bodies including CPCAB, NCFE, ABC, BTEC, AIM, COSCA, and BACP-accredited routes. The Roadmap takes you straight to what you need for your specific course and your specific level. No browsing. No guessing.
Citable, authority documents and downloadable handouts you can use directly in your assignments. Every reference is academically checked and ready to drop into your bibliography.
The core theories of counselling are universal. CBT is CBT, attachment is attachment, the foundational ideas are the same wherever you train. Hundreds of international members use the Library through their training in their own countries.
The Roadmap is mapped to UK awarding bodies, and the underlying theory is the same theory you're studying wherever you are. International members often tell us the Library explains things more clearly than their own course materials.
"I highly recommend Counselling Tutor to all those studying. My college, IACP Ireland, are already fully aware of it and are allowing me to upload courses completed as CPD."
Lisa, IACP Ireland studentThis page exists because you're on our email list. You get the launch price.
One payment. Full year access.
Our qualified members pay £69.99 a year for the CPD library. Counselling students should not be paying more.
You're not signing a contract. You're not committing to a year. If you join, log in, look around, and decide it's not for you, just cancel from your dashboard. One click. If you cancel within 30 days, I'll refund every penny. No phone call, no "are you sure" agent, no hoops.
Not extras tacked on at the end. Built specifically for counselling students.
Ten modules built specifically for counselling students by a tutor who lectures Masters-level students. For anyone returning to formal education after a long break, or anyone who's never quite felt sure they're "doing it right" academically, this is the place to start.
Built for Levels 2 to 5, Diploma, Degree, and Masters work.
A distilled version of our paid certificate course for qualified practitioners. Counselling Tutor has trained over 40,000 practitioners worldwide in ethical online and telephone working. This bonus gives you the foundation for the day your placement asks you to work over video or phone, which most placements now do.
The route through the Library, mapped to fifteen UK awarding bodies. Tells you exactly which lectures, exemplars, and resources you need for your specific course and your specific level. You don't browse hoping to find what's relevant. You follow a route.
£65.99 for the year. Less than what our qualified members pay. Less than the price of two textbooks.
One payment. Full year access.
Our qualified members pay £69.99 a year. Counselling students should not be paying more.
"I have my graduation BA (Hons) Counselling on July 10th, and the Counselling Tutor resources helped me to get a first."
SarahMy name is Rory Lees-Oakes. You may know me from the Counselling Tutor Podcast, our Facebook group with tens of thousands of members, or our YouTube channel. What you may not know is that I taught counselling at practice level for over a decade, and I know exactly what helps a student to reach their learning goals.
Co-Founder, Academic Director
Ten-plus years' experience as a counselling tutor, practising therapist, and clinical supervisor.
Co-Founder, AI in Counselling Lead
Practising therapist and clinical supervisor.
Student Support
Here to help you with understanding and without judgement throughout your learning journey.
Our core values of connection, service, and passion run through every aspect of the Student Library.
"I joined the CSR in the second year of my level 4 diploma in 2017 because I knew the lectures would help me with my studies. Now qualified and in private practice, the lectures continue to extend my learning. After qualifying, I stayed because I can claim CPD, an ethical requirement of the BACP, which is a lot cheaper than just attending CPD training. And when I feel a bit wobbly in private practice, which happens, it helps to go back to basics and remind myself to trust the client's process."
Counsellor in private practice, joined as a Level 4 studentThat "wobble" line is the one we think about most. Knowing where to go to steady yourself matters. For her, it was the library. That's the kind of arc we hope for.
"I have just qualified at level 5, and have been singing Counselling Tutor's praises to all my classmates. Your exceptional customer service today just highlights the quality of the care offered."
Clare, qualified at Level 5Recognised and trusted by the bodies that matter in UK counselling.
First organisation awarded
"Trusted Resource" by NCPS
Counselling Tutor was the first organisation ever awarded "Trusted Resource" by the National Counselling Society in recognition of the quality of our lecture library.
In collaboration with
CPCAB
Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body. Library resources mapped to CPCAB criteria, level by level.
It's a fair question and the math usually surprises people. The cost of one deferred module, one rewritten assignment, or one standalone CPD course bought separately is more than a year's membership of the Student Library.
Members tell us the most common regret they have is not joining sooner. The single biggest theme in our testimonials is "I wish I'd had this from day one." The Student Library is not extra content to wade through. It's a study shortcut and a professional preparation tool, in the same membership.
The dashboard is clean and simple. You can watch the lectures, listen to the audio version, or read the downloadable notes, whichever works for your learning style. There's a real human on live chat if you need help. Not a chatbot. A person.
If you can use email and YouTube, you can use the Student Library.
Yes. The academic side of the Library is the part that's been quietly working away for a decade and is the reason 32,348 counselling students have used it.
You'll find theory broken down in plain English, mapped to your awarding body criteria. You'll find real, tutor-passed assignment exemplars you can use to benchmark your own work. You'll find the Academic Writing Course bonus, ten modules built specifically for counselling students. You'll find the Student Roadmap that takes you straight to what you need for your specific course and level.
It's not vague tutor feedback. It's specific, criteria-mapped support.
The core theories of counselling are universal. CBT is CBT, attachment is attachment, the foundational ideas are the same wherever you train. Hundreds of international members use the Library through their training in their own countries.
The Roadmap is mapped to UK awarding bodies, but the underlying content is the same theory you're studying wherever you are. International members often tell us the Library explains things more clearly than their own course materials.
The earlier you start, the stronger your foundation, and the less anxious you'll feel when assignments pile up. Members who join early tell us they avoid the panic that comes mid-course when you suddenly realise you don't fully understand what you've been learning. They build good study habits from the start. They feel less alone.
You don't need to be struggling to benefit from the Library. You also don't need to struggle alone to be a good counselling student.
Not at all. You can navigate straight to the resources for your current level and current assignments through the Student Roadmap. You'll fill the gaps in your existing knowledge and you'll get unstuck faster on the things that have been hard to grasp.
Many members tell us they wish they'd known about the Library earlier, but no member has ever told us they joined too late. There's always more learning to do.
No. You can join at any point during the year and you'll have access to every past resource, lecture, and exemplar from day one. The Library doesn't reset or restart. Whatever's been added over the past ten years is yours from the moment you join.
Your Student Library membership continues for as long as you want it to. Many members keep it for years after qualifying, because the CPD library inside is recognised as a much cheaper way to meet their professional CPD requirements than buying CPD courses separately.
When you're ready, you can also apply to the qualified CPD library, which is a fuller set of CPD lectures aimed at practising professionals. The Student Library serves as a natural bridge into post-qualification professional development.
Yes. From inside your dashboard, click "My Account," then click "Cancel Subscription." Done. No phone call. No conversation. No "are you sure" form. No hoops. We'd rather you cancel cleanly than feel trapped.
If you cancel within 30 days of joining, you'll get a full refund.
YouTube has fragments. The Student Library has structure. The Roadmap maps everything to your specific course and level. Every resource is academically checked by Rory. Every reference is citable in your assignments. Every CPD lecture comes with a claimable certificate.
YouTube is fine for a quick recap. It's not a study companion that knows what your course requires.
It's an annual subscription that renews each year. You're billed once a year, you get the whole year's access, and you can cancel any time without losing access for the rest of the year you've already paid for. If you cancel mid-year, you keep access until your renewal date and you don't get charged again.
Email us at support@counsellingtutor.com or live chat with us through the website. There's a real person at the other end. We'll answer.
From May 2026, it is open. You're invited inside. Hundreds of hours of qualified-level CPD lectures, alongside everything you need for your formal training. £65.99 for the year.