Special Edition - BACP SCoPEd
NOTE: BACP has issued the following statement clarifying the reference made in this podcast to counselling and psychotherapy being considered high risk by the PSA:
The PSA has not yet conducted a risk assessment of their accredited professions, and we would like to apologise for the error in communication. What we intended to convey was that the PSA is publicly committed to taking a risk assessment approach and that looking at the current list of voluntary accredited registers (not statutory regulated), it is quite possible that counselling and psychotherapy would be seen as higher risk when compared to some other occupations. The PSA's approach to risk assessment for statutory and voluntary registers was published in 2016, and you can read more on their website. You can also read about the SCoPed project here: https://www.bacp.co.uk/about-us/advancing-the-profession/scoped/
SCoPEd (Scope of Practice and Education) is a project to set out the training requirements and practice standards for counselling and psychotherapy. It is much discussed in the Counselling Tutor Facebook group. In this special edition of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, Rory Lees-Oakes interviews Caroline Jesper and Jens Bakewell of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
Caroline Jesper is Head of Professional Standards at BACP. She has previously worked as a BACP Accreditation Assessor and as a Professional Standards Development Facilitator, developing BACP competencies and curricula. She is a supervisor and a BACP-accredited counsellor - and was a senior lecturer for many years, developing and delivering counselling and supervision training.
Jens Bakewell is an ecotherapist, supervisor and counselling trainer who works part-time in BACP's accreditation team, assessing applications for accreditation for individuals, courses and services.
Caroline and Jens answer a range of questions, which we list below, with some of the information they provided. To hear the full questions and their answers, please listen to the podcast.
Click any question below to see the answer.
Why is BACP not seeking government regulation of the profession rather than going down the route of SCoPEd?
Going back to 2012, statutory regulation was being discussed by the government, with the then Health Professions Council as the regulatory body. However, there were some difficulties reaching consensus on the professional standards.
Following a general election, the idea of statutory regulation (which would always be a decision to be made by Parliament rather than by a profession) was dropped, but BACP had realised that it made sense to prepare for the future possibility of this being raised again.
The Professional Standards Authority's current consultation has highlighted a desire for shared standards with different entry points for professions, together with an 'enhanced regulation model', which ranks professions by risk. The profession of counselling and psychotherapy is seen by the PSA as high risk in this model. SCoPEd again helps us prepare.
Would it not be better for BACP to align with the European Certificate of Psychotherapy (which is held by around 120,000 psychotherapists across 41 European countries) - or indeed the World Council for Psychotherapy - rather than having SCoPEd?
Given that different countries have their own legislation governing psychotherapy, it is not as easy as it might seem to work outside one's own territory. But BACP - which already has international recognition - may well link in with these wider initiatives in future. And SCoPEd will help it do so, and help individual BACP members to apply for the European Certificate of Psychotherapy if they so wish.
What does SCoPEd mean for students, qualified practitioners and accredited members? Might their work so far be wasted?
NOTE: BACP has issued the following statement clarifying the reference made in this podcast to counselling and psychotherapy being considered high risk by the PSA:
The PSA has not yet conducted a risk assessment of their accredited professions, and we would like to apologise for the error in communication. What we intended to convey was that the PSA is publicly committed to taking a risk assessment approach and that looking at the current list of voluntary accredited registers (not statutory regulated), it is quite possible that counselling and psychotherapy would be seen as higher risk when compared to some other occupations. The PSA's approach to risk assessment for statutory and voluntary registers was published in 2016, and you can read more on their website. You can also read about the SCoPed project here: https://www.bacp.co.uk/about-us/advancing-the-profession/scoped/
SCoPEd (Scope of Practice and Education) is a project to set out the training requirements and practice standards for counselling and psychotherapy. It is much discussed in the Counselling Tutor Facebook group. In this special edition of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, Rory Lees-Oakes interviews Caroline Jesper and Jens Bakewell of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
Caroline Jesper is Head of Professional Standards at BACP. She has previously worked as a BACP Accreditation Assessor and as a Professional Standards Development Facilitator, developing BACP competencies and curricula. She is a supervisor and a BACP-accredited counsellor - and was a senior lecturer for many years, developing and delivering counselling and supervision training.
Jens Bakewell is an ecotherapist, supervisor and counselling trainer who works part-time in BACP's accreditation team, assessing applications for accreditation for individuals, courses and services.
Caroline and Jens answer a range of questions, which we list below, with some of the information they provided. To hear the full questions and their answers, please listen to the podcast.
Click any question below to see the answer.
Why is BACP not seeking government regulation of the profession rather than going down the route of SCoPEd?
Going back to 2012, statutory regulation was being discussed by the government, with the then Health Professions Council as the regulatory body. However, there were some difficulties reaching consensus on the professional standards.
Following a general election, the idea of statutory regulation (which would always be a decision to be made by Parliament rather than by a profession) was dropped, but BACP had realised that it made sense to prepare for the future possibility of this being raised again.
The Professional Standards Authority's current consultation has highlighted a desire for shared standards with different entry points for professions, together with an 'enhanced regulation model', which ranks professions by risk. The profession of counselling and psychotherapy is seen by the PSA as high risk in this model. SCoPEd again helps us prepare.
Would it not be better for BACP to align with the European Certificate of Psychotherapy (which is held by around 120,000 psychotherapists across 41 European countries) - or indeed the World Council for Psychotherapy - rather than having SCoPEd?
Given that different countries have their own legislation governing psychotherapy, it is not as easy as it might seem to work outside one's own territory. But BACP - which already has international recognition - may well link in with these wider initiatives in future. And SCoPEd will help it do so, and help individual BACP members to apply for the European Certificate of Psychotherapy if they so wish.
What does SCoPEd mean for students, qualified practitioners and accredited members? Might their work so far be wasted?
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