Therapy Today author guidelines
Writing for Therapy Today

The following guidelines apply to Therapy Today. For submissions to Â鶹ԭ´´'s divisional journals, see the divisional journal author guidelines. For blogs, see the Blog author guidelines. For Counselling and Psychotherapy Research (CPR), please see the  on the Wiley website.

Here’s some information on sections you can write for and how to go about it.

​Prepare first​

​Don’t rush​

It can be tempting to write a complete piece and send it out, but before committing pen to paper, pick up some recent copies of Therapy Today and get familiar with the format. Every proposal should be tailored to a section.

Choose a section

In the know: covers Â鶹ԭ´´ updates, the latest books, podcasts, shows and events, and includes the ‘Big issue’ section – the main topical news feature.

In the room: puts client work under the microscope, shining a spotlight on presenting issues and unique approaches to working with them.

In practice: explores ethics and professional standards and includes our regular slot ‘Dilemmas’.

In progress: deals with the business end of our profession, exploring personal development, and how we manage our practice and maintain self-care. This can include features on supervision and training. Over to you is the place to get your voice heard, share opinion and spark debate through viewpoints on the wider profession, or letters.

Pick a slot

Main features

Presenting issues: pieces explore your approach to working with a presenting client issue or phenomenon based on your specialism or expertise. Bring your research and/or practice experience to life with vignettes and case examples. It’s the place to share why the issue is coming up, whether you’re seeing more of it, how it presents, the challenges it can cause, how it’s worked with and what doesn’t help.

Case notes: is a closer analysis of your approach to working with a client issue through your work with one client. Permission must be obtained from your client or you can use composite examples. Your theory and argument is structured and woven around your client’s story and their experience in therapy.

Counselling and Coaching changes lives: pieces are evocative articles about the impact that counselling or coaching can have, drawing on client vignettes to showcase how you (or a service you work for) meets a client group need.

Clinical concepts: articles are a chance to explore a theory or concept you’re passionate about, drawing on research and wider thinking to make it accessible and relevant for the wider readership.

Ad hoc features: sometimes we include book extracts, in-conversation pieces and reflections.

First-person pieces

Experience: pieces describe life experiences that have shaped your professional career.

It changed my life: recounts a (positive) experience of therapy. It’s usually written  by a member of the public but is open 

to members or even clients who give permission for you to submit their story.

What I’ve learned: is where a long-standing therapist shares life lessons learned through their career.

Viewpoint: is designed to springboard discussion, challenge current thinking about how we work and create community dialogue.

Professional pieces

The Big issue: is our meaty feature written by professional reporters investigating a topical news trend around mental health  or therapy. These pieces are deep dives, fact-heavy with stats, case studies, expert interviews and up-to-date research.

We don't publish:

Blogs

Essays or Dissertations

Poetry

Artwork

Promotional articles plugging your own course or event

Unsolicited book reviews

Self-published books

Reports or write-ups of studies (but a research project can form the basis of an article if you have experience in the subject area and can set the research in a wider context).

Getting started

Before submitting

Running an idea by the editor, Katerina Georgiou first by email to therapytoday@thinkpublishing.co.uk in a short paragraph will save you spending valuable time writing an article that might not be right for publication. Once your proposal has been reviewed, it’s easier to guide you on how to shape the piece to make it suitable.

How to pitch

These questions will help you structure a proposal:

• What do you want to write about?
• What section of Therapy Today is it for?
• Why is the subject of interest to you?
• What expertise/experience do you bring?
• How is it relevant to readers?

Send your pitch to therapytoday@thinkpublishing.co.uk with the word ‘Pitch’ followed by the section and slot it’s for in the subject line.

When to pitch

We accept proposals all year, but watch out for times when we have submissions windows.

Topics to cover

Go with your theme of expertise. Even when a topic has been covered before, there are always new angles and perspectives.

How to find past articles

If you want to know if your idea has been featured before, use the search bar at the top of the Â鶹ԭ´´ website (bacp.co.uk). You can type in a broad topic and you’ll get a list of articles written on that theme.

The writing process

Know your audience

Therapy Today readers are your peers. The magazine goes out to 75,000 members, subscribers and organisations. What will they gain from your article?

Write naturally

Pieces should reflect the professionalism of the readership, but write in your own tone  of voice, drawing on personal experience.

Respect your colleagues

The publication is for peer-to-peer support, community building and knowledge sharing. Our research shows that readers are least likely to engage with reprimanding articles.

Honour confidentiality

Case studies should be composite, fictionalised or provided with express written permission from clients who get to see the article pre-publication. With first- person pieces, please consider the impact on family members or colleagues, and seek permission if you include their experiences.

Write responsibly

Therapy Today strives to publish a range of opinions, but it is a Â鶹ԭ´´ publication and adheres to the Ethical Framework, so pieces should reflect these principles.

Other opportunities 

If writing a full feature feels too daunting, whether you’re a trainee or long-standing member of Â鶹ԭ´´, there are several ways to stay connected.

Volunteer for the Member spotlight

This is a Q&A with a Â鶹ԭ´´ member with extra strings to their bow or who is influencing the profession. Nominate yourself!

Submit a letter: perhaps you read a recent piece in Therapy Today that impacted you. Email your views for the ‘Letters’ page. Respond to an ethical dilemma Look for the ‘How would you respond?’ panel in the ‘Dilemmas’ section for upcoming topics – if any resonate with you, do share your views. Your name and credentials will be included.

Review a book: would you like to join a team of reviewers for the Bookshelf section? Contact our book reviews editor Jeanine Connor at reviews@thinkpublishing.co.uk NB * The wait time for joining may be up to a year.

Get featured in What’s On: If you know of a cultural or arts event that explores mental health or the human experience let us know. We also highlight relevant podcasts and upcoming books. We have a minimum of a three-month lead time and do not publicise CPD events on this page.

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Time frames

We receive hundreds of emails a day: when you email, your proposal will go into a queue, so please allow a few weeks for a reply while your proposal is being reviewed. We will let you know if it’s been accepted or needs reworking. We work several issues ahead (up to six months) – please bear this in mind if your article is time sensitive.

Editing

Your piece will be designed and edited to house style. You’ll get to see the final edit as a PDF before it goes to print.

Payment

There is currently no fee for writing for Therapy Today unless you are commissioned to write the ‘Big issue’ feature.

Copyright

Â鶹ԭ´´ retains copyright unless otherwise agreed. You’ll have permission to post the PDF of your piece to your social media and website with a copyright line to indicate that it was first published in Therapy Today.

Publication not guaranteed

Not every proposal is accepted or every piece published. If things don’t work out the first time around, don’t let this hold you back: it can take a few goes, or we may recommend an article to another Â鶹ԭ´´ journal if it’s a better fit. Every effort is made to work with you to offer feedback or encourage resubmission.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools

Please refer to our full AI guidance (pdf) before submitting.

AI tools can support certain editorial tasks (eg, grammar checks) but content must reflect original, human authorship. If you have used AI in any way while preparing your article, you must declare this on your author permissions form provided to you by the Editor.

Golden rules

Stick to the word count: main features are 2,500-3,000 words (excluding references). Opinion pieces are 1,500-1,800. It changed my life and What I’ve learned are 750. Letters are 250.

Reference correctly: all pieces must include references (maximum 10). We use Vancouver style (numbering references in sequential order in the text and listing them in order of appearance at the end of the article). We can send a guide to referencing on request.

Avoid diagrams

Fact-check: primary responsibility for accuracy remains with you.

Submit in word: we appreciate plain, straightforward formatting in Word, without fancy graphics or images, sent as an attachment by email.

Include a headshot and author bio: bios should be max 35 words. Include these with your submission, along with your member status, practice details and specialist interest or experience. You also have the option of including a professional website.

© This article was first published by the Editor in Therapy Today, the journal of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (Â鶹ԭ´´), June 2025, Vol 36, Issue 5.