How We Check a Therapist Licence, Step by Step

What happens between an application arriving and a profile going live, including what we do when a register is not public.

Verification is easy to claim and tedious to do. Since the claim is worth nothing without the detail, here is the detail.

## Step one: the application is complete or it is not reviewed

We ask for legal name, country and region of practice, training history, years of experience, focus areas, languages, licence details where a licence exists, and a description of how the person works. Applications missing any of that are returned rather than reviewed. This filters out a surprising amount.

## Step two: identity before anything else

Government issued identification, checked against the name on the credentials and the name on the payout account. Three names have to agree. Profile photographs have to be of the actual person, and stock images are rejected. This step exists because credential fraud almost always starts with a name mismatch nobody looked at.


## Step three: documents behind every claim

If the profile is going to say a degree, we want the degree. If it says a certification, we want the certificate and the awarding body. If it says supervised hours, we want the record. Anything that cannot be evidenced comes off the profile before it goes live, and the professional is told exactly which line was removed and why.

## Step four: the licence itself

Where an applicant says they are licensed, we ask for three things: the licence number, the issuing body, and the jurisdiction.

Then we check the public register held by that body. We are looking at four fields: is the name and number a match, is the status current, is there an expiry date in the future, and are there restrictions or disciplinary notes attached.

Where a register is not publicly searchable, which happens in several countries, we ask for direct documentation from the issuing body rather than accepting a photograph of a certificate. A certificate proves something was issued once. A register entry proves it is still valid today.

A licence that has lapsed, been restricted or been suspended means the professional is not listed as licensed. They may still be listed as a non licensed wellness professional if their other credentials support that, and the profile says so plainly.


## Step five: reading the profile copy line by line

The last check is the language. We remove outcome promises, guarantees, and clinical claims on a non clinical profile. A coach cannot say they treat anxiety. Nobody can say they will save your marriage. This is the step professionals push back on most, and it is the one we hold hardest.

## After launch: verification is not permanent

We re review a profile when a licence expiry date passes, when a professional edits a credential claim, and whenever we receive a report. Late cancellation patterns, pressure to move payment off the platform, boundary complaints, and a lapsed licence presented as current all trigger review. Outcomes range from a required profile edit to suspension, and in serious cases removal with refunds to affected clients.

## What the tick does not mean

It does not mean we supervise sessions. It does not mean we endorse a method. It does not mean an outcome. It means the person is real, the credentials are real, and the profile matches what we saw.

## How long it takes

Most complete applications clear in a few working days. Applications that depend on a slow register take longer, and we would rather be slow than list an unconfirmed licence.

The public version of this process lives at [how we verify](/how-we-verify), and professionals can start at [apply as a wellness professional](/apply-wellness-professional).