Ad description
A page on the website for GB Counselling, www.gbcounselling.co.uk/about-me, seen on 6 March 2026. The page included text that stated, “I am a member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) and abide by their professional and ethical code of conduct.”
Issue
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), who stated that Gary Baron was not a member of their organisation, challenged whether the ad breached the Code.
Response
Gary Baron did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Gary Baron’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded him of his responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told him to do so in the future.
The ASA considered consumers would interpret the claim “I am a member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) and abide by their professional and ethical code of conduct” to mean that Gary Baron was accredited by the BCAP as a member and was a signatory to their code of conduct. We understood, however, that Gary Baron was not currently a member of the BACP. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading and had breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), and 3.52 and 3.53 (Endorsements and testimonials).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Gary Baron not to claim in future that he was BACP accredited if that was not the case. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
