News

Locked Gateways - The Final Iteration of SCoPEd The final iteration of SCoPEd is here and it is every bit as rigid, self-defeating and objectionable as expected. One would be forgiven, in fact, for mistaking it for any of the previous iterations, as very little of significance has changed. The requirement of “450 client hours during training” for column C is still there. This essentially permanently gatekeeps almost all BACP/NCS members who have not completed UKCP and BPC training out of column C. We are not aware of any BACP or NCS accredited training which has such a client hour requirement, and the vast majority certainly do not. When we consider that the BACP were, as recently as last year, implying that post-qualification experience would be enough for a BACP accredited member with a Masters to become a column C therapist (see image A) we can clearly see the futility of multiple consultations with members based on (at best) ambiguous information...

he PCP and NCS have come to a mutual and amicable decision for the NCS to leave the partnership at this time. NCS are currently in a process of exploring options for involvement with the SCoPEd project, in an effort to meet the needs and wishes of their members. NCS members will be given a final say on what NCS’s involvement will be. The foundation of our partnership is based upon the shared purpose of protecting the profession from restrictive standardisation, and a fundamental part of this work is our collective opposition to the SCoPEd project. The NCS leaving the partnership will allow NCS to work within the new SCoPEd Group in good faith, and will also allow the PCP to follow its guiding principles and hold professional associations to account. The NCS will remain an ally of PCP, maintaining mutual respect and the desire to work with each other across a range of issues in the future. ...

The second iteration of SCoPEd has arrived. Over the last week, representatives of our partnership organisations have studied the document and its accompanying methodology paper (both can be found here). Our partnership is agreed that the SCoPEd project remains an elitist, politically motivated misrepresentation of our profession. Our concerns focus on a number of areas: a) Consultation: No consultation with members or the wider profession took place when the research was proposed. From the outset, this project has been controlled and run by BPC, UKCP and BACP. The ‘independent chair’ is a member of BPC. The impact of any subsequent consultation cannot influence the research processes and therefore is necessarily very limited. Additionally, the focus of the member consultation was very limited, and the new iteration shows that little has changed as a result of member views. b) Methodology: The Roth and Pilling methodology chosen to conduct the research is very problematic for...

Partners for Counselling and Psychotherapy are delighted to welcome Pink Therapy and Aashna to our broad front of organisations, as we continue to work together to support diverse practice and present a strong and united challenge to the homogenisation of the profession. Pink Therapy: Pink Therapy was set up 21 years ago by Dominic Davies and is a large independent and virtual therapy and training organisation focussed around improving the mental health and quality of therapy available to gender, sex and relationship diverse (GSRD) clients.  GSRD is our preferred term to expand beyond LGBTQ as it embraces people who are Asexual, involved in BDSM/Kink, or who have consensual non-monogamous relationships.  All groups that might have a challenging accessing mainstream counselling and sexological/relationship therapy organisations.We run an international training programme (largely delivered online), have an active Facebook private group for therapists (https://www.facebook.com/groups/143121662383294/) and have been active in the Coalition Working Group against Conversion Therapy since it's inception. We run an annual conference,...

We are absolutely delighted to welcome the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN) to our growing partnership of organisations, as we continue to work together to uphold therapeutic values and support diverse practice across the counselling and psychotherapy profession into 2020 and beyond. BAATN is the largest network of therapists in the UK with a focus on supporting those from Black, African, South Asian and Caribbean heritages. Working to address inequality of access to therapy and other psychological services for people from these communities, BAATN seeks to support and integrate 'the black empathic approach' in education and therapeutic practice, offering training, events, and working alongside like-minded organisations. We deeply value this opportunity to collaborate with BAATN, and welcome the important perspectives they bring to our partnership. ...

It has been a busy few weeks for PCP. We have been affirming our aims and position as a growing partnership of organisations, and working collaboratively to ensure we are prepared to respond to the next stages of SCoPEd and the proposed APPG in a way that best represents our members. Our updated aims can be found on our homepage. We have also welcomed three new organisations to our partnership. Surviving Work provide resources for working people, information about politics and therapy, and have recently undertaken an extensive survey of IAPT workers, the preliminary results of which can be found here. We are delighted that Surviving Work’s founder, Elizabeth Cotton, has decided to join the partnership. A Disorder for Everyone is a successful and highly regarded campaign group, led by Jo Watson, which challenges the culture of psychiatric diagnosis and the medicalisation of counselling and psychotherapy. AD4E organises inspiring events around the country, and have recently released the book Drop the...

This news article is intended to give an overview of the activities and discussions leading to the formation of PCP. It is an account of correspondence which has passed between our organisations, representatives of BACP, UKCP and BPC, and other relevant parties. What follows is a chronological record of this correspondence with comments for additional context and information. Further correspondence will be added to our website in due course. The following document, originally circulated by UKCP, was leaked to us in June 2019. All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Counselling and Psychotherapy  Proposal For the collaboration of the Counselling and Psychotherapy Professions, the formal partnership of the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) to jointly set up an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Counselling and Psychotherapy and for BPC to provide the secretariat. Background We have welcomed the recently published NHS long-term plan as it commits to a...