Welcome

During the election, Andrew promised to set up better communications. The plan is very simple: every few weeks we will send out a primarily factual update of around 2,000 words. The Bulletin aims to be a very flexible tool and when things are hot we may send it out more frequently. Although written by the chair and chief executive, we will draw in news from the vice-chairs and various committees.

Both of us welcome your feedback. Please send your emails to

Andrew and David

An update from David

Developing UKCP as a member organisation

In 2009 the governance of UKCP changed dramatically. First 80 psychotherapy organisations voted to give the vote to 7,000 therapists. Then we had our first truly democratic national psychotherapy elections in the UK. The changes were certainly not painless but we can be proud of how far we have come.

But I expect that most psychotherapists will want to see and hear how the new UKCP makes a real difference relevant to their concerns and their practice. UKCP needs to change from being solely a professional standards regulator - august and aloof - to being a professional membership association. This bulletin is a (modest) part of those changes.

Professional standards organisations only need to contact their registrants once a year, to collect membership fees. Membership organisations must be different. If we are to earn the voluntary membership of psychotherapists we will need to improve communication first and foremost. Andrew and I, and the other officers, need to make sure that all members know what we are doing on your behalf, and we need more channels to report to you than are provided by The Psychotherapist once a quarter, or conferences and general meetings.

Recently we conducted a thorough opinion survey which told us that The Psychotherapist is well-liked by its readers, and we are very pleased to see those results. But The Psychotherapist is not enough. Over the coming months you will see many changes that aim to put us in much closer and regular contact with members.

Andrew and I are both political animals, and Andrew is reporting to you (below) about our work on the hottest topic, statutory regulation. I could easily write you another 1,000 words on the many other political developments that are not about regulation, and I will be doing that in future issues of the bulletin. But we also recognise that UKCP needs to be about more than politics and regulation.

We must increase the relevance of UKCP to your day-to-day practice, and this will mean better member services.

Referrals and website

One of the benefits that we know would be appreciated by members with private practices would be more referrals flowing directly from the UKCP register to members. We know that the current website facility for referrals is not good enough. We have commissioned database and web software that will overcome the technical obstacles. So we are now ready to hear from you about the kind of therapy referral services that you want UKCP to provide. We have struggled to think through how to cope with sheer diversity of therapists available through UKCP - a diversity that is probably not well understood by people searching our database. You may already use other websites or other routes for referrals. Tell us how we can improve your UKCP to help provide you with a better referral service. Please email your comments to

We also aim to replace our existing paper-based membership renewal systems with web-based renewals and direct debit payments. We realise that some members may have misgivings about these changes and we are very happy to hear your views about how we can make it work for you. Our existing paper bureaucracy is unfriendly, error-prone and inefficient - but we don't want to replace it with an unfriendly, error-prone efficient electronic system!

The changes we are making to the membership database and register will start to take effect towards the end of May, and your comments are welcome at any time. Again, please email .

Forthcoming UKCP events

Over the past two years we have expanded UKCP's programme of professional conferences and other events, and seen that there is demand for even more.

In six weeks time we will hold a major two-day conference about education, training and practice, at Queen's College Cambridge on 19-20 March. We have a superb line-up of plenary speakers and participatory sessions. Education and training lie at the very heart of psychotherapy and this event offers a great opportunity for dialogue and networking. For more details about this event and a booking form, please see www.psychotherapy.org.uk/event8.html

We will shortly be holding an event in Belfast as part of a programme to provide opportunities for dialogue and networking wherever members practice. Future events are planned although no dates have been fixed as yet. But after Belfast, the next will probably be in Scotland, followed by further events in Wales and the English regions. Details of all our current events can be found at the end of this email or on our website at www.psychotherapy.org.uk/conferences_events.html

Professional Occupational Standards

UKCP is about to publish professional occupational standards for a number of modalities of psychotherapy, along with a special geographic version of our register. This will be available primarily on disc and online, and is aimed at commissioners of therapy services. These developments are just as important to our members' prospects within managed psychotherapy services, as a referral service is to those with private practices. Nowadays, service commissioners (NHS, employers, charities, etc) are increasingly expecting a thorough structured approach to defining services and the characteristics of the professional staff providing services. We are proud that UKCP will be publishing our professional occupational standards put together through the Herculean efforts of UKCP psychotherapists, and available in advance of the well-resourced government equivalents from Skills for Health. Details about this publication will soon be available on our website and in the forthcoming issue of The Psychotherapist.

David

An update from Andrew

The HPC situation

You'll remember that my election policy was that UKCP would develop a multi-track approach to statutory regulation so that all the main preferences within UKCP would be properly represented. Members will, when the time comes, be able to make an informed choice.

Track one of our multi-track approach involves negotiating with HPC to get the best deal going for those members who want or need to register. Track two involves exploring the possibility of a different regulator. Track three is what used to be called principled non-compliance and is now known as alternative professional accountability. At its meeting on 15 January, the Board of Trustees backed the policy. I know I am biased, but this way of managing the matter really does seem to work. I think it will also hold us together as an organisation.

On 10 December last year, the full Council of HPC agreed to communicate to the Secretary of State for Health that they were 'good to go' on regulating counselling and psychotherapy. On 23 December, the HPC chief executive sent a letter with recommendations including that there should be only the two protected titles (psychotherapist and counsellor) and one united register for the two professions. It was acknowledged that myriad things have not yet been sorted out back at HPC. The Professional Liaison Group is going to have to be resurrected, a decision in which UKCP played a significant part.

Some organisations have called for a judicial review. Their lawyers have now taken things to the first formal stage. UKCP is not involved in judicial review in any way as an organisation (the Board understood well that I have let my name be used for fundraising in an exclusively personal capacity). To be frank, I have no idea whether a judicial review will succeed or not - but there does seem to be some evidence that HPC did not do all the legally necessary research into whether they were the best placed body to regulate us. The grounds for accelerating the judicial review were stated to be that there was an unacceptable contradiction between, on the one hand, the many problems with regulating counselling and psychotherapy that had emerged during the HPC process and, on the other hand, the up-beat and reassuring tone of HPC's letter to the Secretary of State.

Together with BACP and BPC, with whom we are working very closely now, we are beginning to engage with HPC proactively rather than following the step-by-step approach they have hitherto laid down. This is track one in action. Some very tough negotiating has led to an invitation from HPC to UKCP to critique the HPC fitness to practise system (that's their name for what we call ethics, conduct, discipline, etc). We are extremely pleased about this because it gives us the chance to be proactive and creative. I've set up a series of small working groups to develop our constructive critique. All the three big membership organisations agree that, for the individual practitioner, the fitness to practise system will be an important thing to get to grips with and that it is not really right for us in its present form. They will probably join us in developing the critique. Carmen and Kathi will go on representing us at HPC in a variety of ways and David and I will be handling the overall politics of the situation.

Things are at a hellishly difficult point as I write because, contrary to what we all expected, HPC seem to be rushing to get a draft of the main lines of regulation sent out by the Department of Health for consultation far earlier than expected. This closes down the chances of a rethink. We are trying to do something about this because there is a growing feeling that, while statutory regulation is an inevitability, HPC may not be the right regulator. At a Confer conference on regulation, held on 23 January, it was clear that BACP also want there to be a chance for a reconsideration of HPC as the regulator. It is very possible that they will join us in holding a Convention on the Future of Psychotherapy and Counselling. BPC are also much more interested than I thought they would be, though they remain committed to HPC. All of this activity comes under Track two.

Track three - alternative professional accountability (APA) - is also under way in that we are exploring how the UKCP Central Complaints Process might be used by individuals entering APA. Of course, organisational members will want to consider keeping their ethics systems in operation for their members who would prefer to use those. Some modifications might be needed but there is time to attend to this.

One crucial aspect of track three is to confirm the existing commitment to refrain from transferring people to the HPC register who do not want to be transferred. I promise that everyone will get the chance to signal that they want to be transferred; those who don't want to be transferred need not fear that it will happen over their heads. It is a difficult technical matter because there are no precedents for the transfer of a part of a voluntary register to HPC. We will sort it.

Reconciliation

I don't think I'm kidding myself when I say that virtually everyone who is active in UKCP is working hard at the necessary processes of conciliation and reconciliation required following the divisive election. In the last issue UKCP Newsletter (December 2009), I explained how much continuity of personnel there is, and how hard I'm working to protect the interests of members who definitely did not vote for me. (If you missed the last issue, you can read it online: at www.psychotherapy.org.uk/ukcp_newsletter.html)

The Board has reassured me that I do have a mandate for the various things that I campaigned on during the election but I am not finding it as hard as I thought to hold back on some of these personal preferences. It matters to me that I become a good-enough chair for all the members - the move from 'I' to 'we' that was highlighted in the Newsletter.

The Alliance

On another topic - the Board supported the Colleges and Faculties Committee's suggestion that I explain again my connection to the Alliance for Counselling and Psychotherapy - Against State Regulation.

The first thing I want to say is that my connection to the Alliance is hardly a secret. Everyone who voted for me knew of it because it came up so often. As I stated in the election: I am not the leader of the Alliance, which is very loose knit and ultra-democratic.

The Alliance contains differences of opinion within itself, just as UKCP does. It was formed to oppose regulation by a state agency (HPC) and now calls for a Convention to explore the whole range of approaches to regulation, with nothing ruled out in advance, including independent statutory regulation by another body.

There is a considerable overlap between the Alliance and UKCP. Over 1,250 UKCP members have signed the Alliance petition against HPC as the regulator. About 40% of the Alliance's numerous supporters are, they reckon, UKCP members. Most of the rest are BACP. Rather few belong to the Independent Practitioners Network.

And finally

I'd like to conclude by saying that I am doing my best to be an inclusive chair. The multi-track approach seems to be working even if the outcome of the regulation process is still an unknown. I have made some mistakes, of course, and I don't have an easy-going personality which makes aspects of being chair emotionally and interpersonally difficult. And I am not getting any younger. But UKCP, thanks to a huge extent to the work of the previous administration and the extraordinary qualities of David Pink, is realising its potential. In the next Bulletin, I plan to update you on the amazing things going on around the formation of the new Diversity, Equalities and Social Responsibility Committee.

Andrew

UKCP events

13 February 2010

Belfast regional event 

A UKCP regional event at Belfast Waterfront.

Regional days provide an opportunity for local practitioners to meet some of the UKCP Officers, to share experiences of practising in the area, and to contribute to developing UKCP as a professional membership organisation.

19 March 2010 - 21 March 2010

Nourishing psychotherapy - art, science and education

This conference is a forum for training and education issues and offers an opportunity for dialogue and networking for anybody involved with the provision of psychotherapy training. Quality training will ensure a vibrant, forward-looking and thriving profession.

More information about this event can be found at www.psychotherapy.org.uk/event8.html

5 June 2010

Supervision conference

London

More details to follow

10 July 2010

Research conference

London

More details to follow

3 September 2010 - 5 September 2010

2010 UKCP Conference - Self other and society

York University

A three-day annual professional UKCP conference focusing on clinical challenges of the 21st century such as working with the marginalised, the social unconscious, broadening access to psychological support across society and psychotherapeutic perspectives to global change.