UKCP Training Standards Committee

How do I train to be a psychotherapist?       

There are many different training courses for psychotherapists and the number and variety of them can sometimes seem bewildering.
 UKCP does not itself provide training but one of its functions is to approve trainings and most of the Member Organisations of the UKCP are involved in training, either running training courses themselves or accrediting trainings in many different kinds of psychotherapy.

Other trainings are provided by organisations which are members of BPC, the British Psychoanalytic Council, but the BPC differs from the UKCP in only concerning itself with the psychoanalytic psychotherapies. Psychotherapy trainings are also provided within other professional trainings, particularly psychiatry, clinical psychology and nursing. Some of these trainings may be to levels equivalent to those that are approved by UKCP and most have their own systems of regulation.*

Making a choice:

If you want to pursue a psychotherapy training you will need to find out about the different kinds of psychotherapy, or modalities as they are described at UKCP, and think about what interests and attracts you.
Some of the questions you might ask yourself include:
What kind of psychotherapy do I want to practice?  Do I want to be a hypnotherapist or a humanistic psychotherapist? a behavioural or an analytic psychotherapist?
Do I want to work with individuals or couples or families or groups?
Do I want to work mainly privately or within the NHS or other public service or in a voluntary organisation setting?

If you are unsure about the kind of psychotherapist you want to train as, or what setting you hope to work in, then you need to do some reading about the different approaches.*

Many Training Organisations run Introductory Courses and these are an excellent way of finding out more about the modality being taught and the organisation's general approach and attitude as well as about your own interest and likely suitability.
 
The UKCP brings together a wide range of organisations concerned with the training and practice of psychotherapy. The Member Organisations are grouped together in Sections* that relate to the different modalities of psychotherapy. There are currently eight Sections and these cover:

• Analytical Psychology
• Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy.
• Experiential Constructivist Therapies.
• Family, Couple, Sexual and Systemic Therapy.
• Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy.
• Hypno-Psychotherapy
• Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
• Psychoanalytically-based Therapy with Children. 

Member Organisations of these different Sections provide training or accredit trainings provided within the NHS or Universities. Each  Section has produced  a Flag Statement* which provides a brief description of the psychotherapy the Member Organisations provide training in.

Once you know what kind of training you want to pursue, then you need to find out more about the training opportunities within the appropriate Section and start to consider practicalities such as the resources you will need, including travel time. The training organisations are listed by UKCP so you can find out which organisations operate in your locality. There is still an uneven spread to the provision of psychotherapy training. In London and the South East region you will be able to find trainings of nearly all the different modalities, but in other regions of the UKCP the provision is less comprehensive, although this situation is changing and choice is widening.

UKCP has established basic Training Standards* across all modalities and these apply to all the recognised and accredited training courses. You can view these standards on the UKCP website or ask the office for a leaflet. Amongst other things the Training Standards set out minimum entry requirements for professional psychotherapy training.

Once you have got hold of the basic information about the range and nature of the various psychotherapy trainings you can locate those that interest you and are accessible and then write or phone them for a prospectus. Most trainings will be happy to offer you advice and many will offer you the chance of an exploratory interview. Some, of course, will be linked to work in the NHS
or to a higher degree.

Training in psychotherapy is demanding: courses are a minimum of four years part time and are often very expensive so it is important to learn about what is available and be clear about what you want before you embark on one.

UKCP, 2nd Floor, Edward House, 2 Wakley Street, London, EC1V 7LT
Email :