Currently, the Danish Psychotherapeutic Association is the only known Danish professional group promoting the development of the counselling profession as a separate discipline from psychology (cf. Dixon/Hansen 2010, p. 40). Currently, there are no specific training programs or licensing and certification guidelines for psychotherapists in Denmark, and no licensing or certification requirements for psychotherapists who are not members of the Danish Psychotherapeutic Association (cf. ibid., p. 40). To become a member of the association, a person must have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, social work, education, or nursing and have completed 250 hours of personal therapy, 150 hours of supervision, and 300 hours of theory (cf. ibid., p. 40).
Thus, in Denmark, there is no clearly delineated professional counselling profession. This fact can be confirmed by the absence of counselling associations (cf. Zapolsky 2020, p. 73). The terms “counselling” and “psychology” are used interchangeably, which blurs the boundaries of professional identity as counsellors*. At the same time, there are several counselling/psychology degree programs at the college level. However, there are no specific standardized criteria for the accreditation of counselling/psychology training programs (see Zapolsky 2020, p. 73). However, in Denmark there exists so-called Danish Accreditation Institution, an independent body that accredits institutions within the higher education system regardless of their professional specialization (cf. ibid., p. 72f.). The Danish Accreditation Institution (DAI) does not provide accreditation for specific programs, but for the 73 academic institutions. This institutional accreditation guarantees that institutions are able to produce their own quality assurance (QA) for all of their programs. Therefore, the development of specific standards of advising programs is up to the respective institutions (see Zapolsky 2020, p. 72f.).
The following programs can be considered “counselling programs”: Master’s programs in psychology offered at universities, professional Bachelor’s programs for social workers (the translation of the Danish name/title “social worker” is literally “social counsellor”) offered at “university colleges,” and a number of private programs for psychotherapists offered at private institutions (cf. Zapolsky 2020, p. 72).