Psychological Therapist for Independent Statutory Reglation

We the undersigned, representing a voice for the professions of psychotherapy and counselling supporting statutory regulation with the Health Professions Council (HPC) would like to bring to your attention the following:

1.       Professional independent statutory regulation for talking therapies is a necessary requirement for the growing professions of all the psychological therapies.

2.       The 2007 White Paper on professional regulation ‘Trust, Assurance and Safety’ recommended the HPC as the regulator of choice for psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors and other psychological therapists. The HPC has proven to be the appropriate fit-for-purpose regulator of choice for several of the psychological therapies i.e. Arts (psychotherapist) Therapist and Practitioner Psychologist.

3.       The HPC is capable of ensuring that there is increased and necessary public protection with minimal infringement on the practice of psychotherapy and counselling as it has done for the above mentioned talking therapies.

4.       The HPC is working consultatively through the Professional Liaison Group (PLG) and its wide consultation processes ensure the best possible appropriate requirements for standards of proficiency (SOP) that recognise the diversity of modes of practice in the professions, leading to the professions working with the HPC to evolve standards for delivery of training and education provision. In addition the HPC have formed a working group to revise the SOPs and move away from the use of the medical language inherited.

5.       The HPC Fitness to Practise procedures are relevant to any profession providing services to patient and client populations including psychological therapies. The HPC’s procedures must ensure that decision making about fitness to practise is based on continuous assessment for appropriateness.

6.       The HPC is and must remain an efficient and cost effective option for regulation of psychological therapies offering practitioners an accessible registration fee and value for money at no cost to the Government and a very modest cost to registrants.

7.       By not moving forward with the regulation of all the talking therapies an inequality and lack of consistency of the perception as to the value of psychological therapies exist. This distorts funding, recognition and availability of diversity of thought and philosophical base currently available to meet the diverse needs of clients and patients. The current scope of the regulatory framework has the potential to deminish the variety of traditions of psychological therapies that have been a part of British culture.

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