About us

Learn more about why we created Men's Counselling Service, what problems we noticed, and how we are trying to help.

About Men's Counselling Service

Why: Too many men struggle in silence.

Some men in the UK are suffering in silence. They are held back by deep-rooted stigma, a culture of stoicism, and a fundamental misunderstanding of what therapy is and what it can do for them.
What: The existing market fails men at every turn.

The private market is saturated and full of generalist providers, and the system confuses rather than empowers men.
How: We built the service we'd have wanted.

We bring together therapists who genuinely understand men, in one clear, private, and uncommitted space. We make it as easy as possible for any man to take that first step, on his own terms.

The Men’s Counselling Service Story

We’re a group of men from Cumbria who built the product we’d have benefited from when we looked for help. At various points, each of us tried to find professional support and found the same thing: an almost unfamiliar system that was cloaked in unfamiliar language and clearly wasn’t built with us in mind. We took a look at the data, which confirmed this experience wasn't unique to us.

Men account for just over two-thirds of NHS psychological therapy referrals, despite being half the population. Meanwhile, two-fifths say it would take thoughts of suicide or self-harm before they'd consider seeking help.The BACP and Mental Health Foundation have both identified this as a structural failure, not a cultural coincidence.

We believe that every man considering support deserves a straightforward and private way to find it. We’re removing the waiting lists, ditching the algorithms, and speaking in plain language. We only work with qualified, registered, and passionate counsellors and therapists who want to work with men. In essence, we are a service built for men seeking support, and we strive to make this process as easy as possible.

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What We Offer

Founder Ben Jefferson is a qualified and registered counsellor, which places us in a unique position of building a service that serves men and counsellors directly. Together with Will Muir, Adam Hinchliffe and Chris Hughes, we built a curated directory of qualified, registered professionals who are here because they want to work with men.

We are not a generalist platform, and we don't provide an extensive uncurated list of thousands of professionals. Every professional at Men's Counselling Service is registered with a recognised professional body (such as BACP, UKCP, NCPS and more) and has joined us out of a genuine commitment to men's mental health. We speak to every single professional that join's Men’s Counselling Service to learn more about them, and understand their motivations for working with men.

Men's Counselling Service is free for men to use to find a therapist, and professionals on our platform list their fees clearly on their profiles so there are no hidden costs. Our aim is simple: connect every man who needs support with the right person in as few steps as possible. We don't get involved in the counselling process, what happens between a man and his therapist stays in the room.

How We Do It Differently

In bringing together a community of men's mental health counsellors and therapists, we aim to empower men to find someone who is passionate about them and their issues. We reduce friction by eliminating the sign-up process, don’t try to force choices on men through algorithmic matching, and never insist on an upfront commitment.

Successful therapeutic outcomes can be built on the quality of the relationship between a man and his therapist, and sometimes more than the modality or approach. That's why we aim to enable and empower men to make the right choice for themselves in as few clicks as possible and with maximum discretion.

Men visiting Men’s Counselling Service enter a postcode, browse profiles written in plain English, and choose someone who feels right for them. Men can send multiple messages to counsellors on the platform, to allow them to find the right counsellor for them.

Where We Are

In November 2025, the government published its first Men's Health Strategy, which formally acknowledged the gap we had already set out to close.

Men's Counselling Service soft launched in May 2025 and went live nationally on the 1st November 2025. In the six months since, enquiries have grown by more than half (53%). We now list over 150 qualified therapists and counsellors across all corners of the UK, from Cumbria to Brighton, Doncaster to Worcester.

Our launch has been covered across media including the News & Star, One Stockport, the Argus, the NW Evening Mail, Doncaster Free Press, Northumberland Gazette, Warrington Guardian, Worcester News, Your Wiltshire, Brighton Journal and Bedford Today, as well as broadcast coverage on Smooth Radio and Beverley FM.

We are still at an early stage in our journey. But the signal is clear: when you make the first step genuinely easy for men, they take it.

Where We're Going

The UK private mental health market is valued at £15.6 billion annually and growing. No major platform is built specifically for men, and we intend to change that.

Our near-term focus is building the most trusted men's counselling directory in the UK, growing our media profile, expanding our therapist community, and continuing to invest in the quality of every profile on the platform.

Beyond the directory, we see a broader opportunity to help: original mental health content written for men, not at them; community and peer support that extends the reach of professional care; and employer partnerships that take men's mental health seriously in the workplace.

We are a disciplined, founder-led and operated team that has built meaningful traction without external funding. We believe the next stage of growing our reach, our product, and our impact is best achieved with the right partners alongside us. We think the timing of our mission is optimal, professionals are here to support men, more men than ever before are seeking support, and the way we are approaching it is sustainable. If you're interested in helping us support men, please contact us. We’d love to hear from you.

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