Updated 2 December 2008

The information below is intended to answer some of the questions that you may have about the regulation of counselling / psychotherapy.  We will update the information as more detail becomes available so please continue to check for updates.

What does statutory regulation mean?

Statutory regulation means that a profession is regulated by an independent council that does not belong to any professional body or interest group.  In regulating a profession a professional title is protected.  It is then only people who are registered to use that title can legally refer to themselves by it.

When will statutory regulation happen?

The working date for regulation of counselling / psychotherapy, set by both the Government and the Health Professions Council, is 2010, possibly going to 2011.  A lot of preparatory work will be done, and decisions made, in the course of the next twelve months.

Who will be the regulator?

A White Paper has stated that the Health Professions Council will be the regulator for counsellors / psychotherapists (along with psychologists and other psychological therapists).

How will the regulator make decisions on the issues associated with the regulation of counsellors / psychotherapists?

The Health Professions Council (the proposed regulator) has done a "Call for Ideas" asking for information in this area.  This consultation is now closed but you can view the BACP response at http://www.bacp.co.uk/consultation/previous_consultations.php. 

A Professional Liaison Group has been convened by the HPC and BACP has a place on that group.  The PLG will make recommendation on issues including:

• structure of the register
• protected title(s)
• voluntary register transfer and grandparenting arrangements
• standards of proficiency
• standards of education and training

We understand that these recommendations will then be subject to a public consultation (possibly autumn 2009) before final decisions are made.

The Professional Liasion Group membership is:

Sally Aldridge - British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
Fiona Ballantine-Dykes - Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body
Mary Clark-Glass - Lay member of the HPC Council
Jonathan Coe - We Need To Talk
Mick Cooper - University of Strathclyde
Peter Fonagy - Skills for Health
Julian Lousada - British Psychoanalytic Council
Jeff Lucas - Lay member of the HPC Council
Brian Magee - Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland
Linda Matthews - British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies
Rose Mary Owen - Relate Institute
Jean McMinn - Queen's University Belfast
Kathi Murphy - United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy
Eileen Thornton - Alternate Physiotherapist member of the HPC Council
Annie Turner - Occupational Therapist member of the HPC Council
Graham Smith - Physiotherapist member of the HPC Council
Diane Waller - Arts Therapist member of the HPC Council and Chair of the PLG

Will regulation be based on theoretical approaches / modalities?

At the moment we cannot be sure of the answer to this question.  What we do know is that:

• BACP would not support this approach.  Our view is that regulation should be at a generic level.
• In the past the Health Professions Council (the proposed regulator for counselling / psychotherapy) has wanted to limit the number of protected titles to the minimum possible and have not been concerned with theoretical perspectives / modality.
• A response to an e-petition (available at www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page14969.asp) appears to suggest an approach which would only include three perspectives.  However, following some lobbying, a second statement was posted (available at www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page15454.asp) which says no decisions have been made in this area.

We will continue to present the case that regulation should not follow a modality approach and we will continue to update the website with any developments.

How do I train to be a counsellor / psychotherapist?

At the moment there is not a standard route for those wishing to train to be a counsellor / psychotherapist.  Training usually takes a minimum of three to four years on a part time basis - this is often made up of a one year introductory course plus a two year practitioner training or a completed four year training.

However, as the profession is due to be regulated by 2011 this will have an impact on those who are embarking on a training soon.  The regulator for counsellors / psychotherapists (the Health Professions Council) will decide upon a threshold level of qualification for the profession.  At the moment this piece of work is not complete and we therefore cannot tell you what academic level practitioner training course to be looking for, however we hope to have more information on this over the course of the next twelve months.

We would therefore suggest that if you wish to pursue a career in this field that you enrol on an introductory course.  If at the end of your initial studies you decide that you would like to continue with your training then please contact us again and we should have further information on the level of qualification required.

Should I undertake a BACP accredited course?

Accredited courses have been through an assessment process with us and have been judged to meet our standards.  When counsellors / psychotherapists are regulated we hope that graduates of our accredited courses will be able to become registered with the Health Professions Council (the regulator for counsellors / psychotherapists).  In the past the HPC has accepted courses accredited by Professional Associations and therefore graduates of those courses, but we do not yet have any assurances on this from the HPC.  Our accredited courses are in the Higher Education, Further Education and Private sector and in the past HPC has only regulated professions where the training results in a Higher Education linked qualification.  Our advice is that it is better to do an accredited course, if this is possible for you, however at the moment we cannot give any guarantees that completion of a BACP accredited course will provide eligibility to registration with the HPC.  In regulating a profession the HPC are looking to protect the public, it is not intended to remove competent professionals from practice.  We will be working with our accredited courses to assist with any changes that are necessary in the future.

I'm already on a training course - what will statutory regulation mean for me?

When the profession is regulated then you will need to apply to the regulator (the Health Professions Council) to be registered with them.  They initially have three possible routes open for registration:

1. Transfer from an existing voluntary register.  A decision will be made, in the future, on which registers are eligible and thereby which registrants are able to automatically transfer.  Some registers will require years of practice for eligibility and this route may therefore not be possible for you.
2. Completion of an approved qualification.  It is possible that your course will automatically become an approved qualification.  HPC have not made any decisions, as yet, on which qualifications it will approve but in the past they have initially accepted courses that are accredited by a professional body.
3. Grandparenting. If neither of the above routes is possible then the grandparenting route will hopefully still be available - this is assuming that you will have practised prior to the opening of the register.

Is it better to do a qualification that is based in Higher Education?

In the past the Health Professions Council (the regulator for counselling / psychotherapy) has mainly had approved qualifications which are linked to Higher Education.  As counsellor / psychotherapist training exists in other sectors, in addition to Higher Education, we have been pursuing this issue with HPC.  We have been told that, in principle, HPC is not concerned with the sector that a course is delivered in as long as it meets their Standards of Education and Training.  As part of the Standards a threshold academic level will be set for counsellors / psychotherapists, however, this has not currently been decided upon.  We will continue to raise this issue with HPC as the process continues so that we can update prospective students.

How will existing members gain access to the Health Professions Council register?

There are three possible ways to gain registration with the HPC.  We will be pursuing the detail of all of these areas with the HPC over the course of the next year so hope to eventually be able to provide more definitive information.

1. Transfer from an existing voluntary register.  BACP is hopeful that the UKRCP (United Kingdom Register of Counsellors and Psychotherapists) will be a register that is accepted by the HPC.  If this register is accepted then there will be a transfer of information between the two organisations and no further assessment will be necessary for the individuals concerned to become registered.
2. Completion of an approved qualification.  At the moment it is not known which qualifications will be approved when counselling / psychotherapy is regulated.  We understand that, in the past, HPC has accepted the training courses which have been approved by the Professional Bodies relevant to the field, and therefore graduates of those courses.  We hope that this will be the case with counselling / psychotherapy but we do not have any assurances on this from the HPC.  However, the professions that are currently regulated by HPC have generally all linked in with Higher Education qualifications.  Counsellor / psychotherapist training courses exist in three sectors - namely Higher Education, Further Education and Private training organisations.  Our course accreditation scheme has courses from each of these sectors.  We understand, from HPC, that it is possible for trainings outside of the Higher Education sector to be approved.  We will therefore be exploring this further to understand what this will mean for accredited courses and their 'graduates'.
3. Grandparenting.  Generally this route is used to try and capture those individuals who are not eligible by either of the two routes referred to above.  The detailed requirements for counsellors / psychotherapists gaining registration via this route are not known as yet.  Previously there have been two routes for grandparenting applicants.  The specific requirements of each route are determined by the amount of time that an applicant has been in practice prior to the profession becoming regulated.  It is likely that the grandparenting period will be open for a minimum of two years and the usual assessment process involves the scrutiny of case studies.