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Professor Ed Sallis OBE, Chair of Register Advisory Board
 

Welcome to the website for the BACP Register of Counsellors and Psychotherapists.

BACP is delighted to announce that its register is the first psychological therapists' register to be accredited under a new scheme set up by the Department of Health and administered by an independent body, accountable to Parliament. You can read more about the scheme here.

The scheme means that members of the public will be able to choose a counsellor or psychotherapist belonging to a register approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.

BACP Chief Executive, Laurie Clarke, said:

"This accreditation is great news for counsellors, psychotherapists and their clients. By recognising the important role the profession plays in the country's health and emotional wellbeing, it will give our members the status within the health and social care sector that they deserve. At the same time, given the increasing number of practitioners offering counselling services, this new safeguard provides a vital standard of service to help people select the very best counsellor or psychotherapist for them."

We anticipate that you may well have some concerns and questions about this new and important development and what it might mean for you if you are or are thinking of seeing a counsellor or psychotherapist. You may well find an answer to any questions you have here.

There is also a list of frequently asked questions for counsellors and psychotherapists.  For general queries about the Register, please contact 01455 883300 or info@bacpregister.org.uk.

Please note that the Register website is still in its infancy. We welcome comments and suggestions regarding information you would find useful. Please click here to offer feedback.

News

  • The primary purpose of the BACP Register is protection of the public. We are inviting members of the public to give us feedback so we look at improving our service to you. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/92NP3GN

  • The new logos showing registration status on the BACP Accredited Register will be available from 3 June.  Please read the BACP Advertising policy to see how to download and use the logo.

  • The National Audit of Psychological Therapies (NAPT) is working with psychological therapy services in England and Wales to help improve access to, the appropriateness of, the acceptability of and the positive outcomes from talking treatments for anxiety and depression. Service user feedback and opinion is essential to helping services evaluate and improve the psychological therapy or talking treatments they provide. The team at NAPT are organising three Service User Reference Groups in July 2013 to build on the feedback they have already received from service user questionnaires (over 25,000) and are looking for people to go along and share their views.  NAPT are looking for people who are over 18 and are currently in therapy or have had therapy for depression and/or anxiety in the past year. Everybody that attends will get a free lunch, refreshments, a £50 reimbursement for their time and reasonable travel expenses. You can find out more information and register your interest at www.rcpsych.ac.uk/napt or by emailing the NAPT Team at napt@cru.rcpsych.ac.uk.   

  • Click here to hear the latest on the Register  Making Connections - Cardiff

  • The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (previously known as the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence) has produced guidelines concerning clear sexual boundaries between healthcare professionals and patients. All registrants of the BACP Register (accredited by the Professional Standards Authority) are encouraged to read these guidelines and reflect upon them in conjunction with their accountability to the Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP 2013), with special attention to paragraph 17. pdf file Sexual Boundaries

  • BACP Register is developing its service to the public and is delighted to launch its 'Ask Kathleen' page, which will help the public understand the purpose of the Register and what good practice should be.  If you are interested in knowing more, please click here.

  • From January 2013, the Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Professional Conduct Procedure will be published as separate documents.  The separation results from the development of the Register, which will administer the professional conduct procedures for BACP individual and organisational members and registrants. There are no substantive changes to either document and the minor revisions are explained in the opening pages.