SCoPEd partners announce joint project adoption

A message from the SCoPEd Oversight Committee (SOC) independent chair Paul Buckley

I’m pleased to confirm that all partners have formally decided to adopt the SCoPEd framework. This has been decided individually by each of the partners.

This means that the six SCoPEd partners have each agreed:

• to align their membership categories to reflect the SCoPEd framework
• to develop a shared agreement on pathways and routes between SCoPEd columns.

The partners will continue to work collectively as they move towards adopting and implementing the framework. The partners will be in touch with their members and registrants with regards to what the next steps and timelines are for their own organisation.

The SCoPEd partner organisations are:

• Association of Christians in Counselling and Linked Professions (ACC)
• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
• British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC)
• Human Givens Institute (HGI)
• National Counselling Society (NCS)
• UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).

Collectively, the SCoPEd partners represent approximately 75,000 counsellors and psychotherapists from a diverse range of backgrounds, approaches, philosophies, and professional training.

If you have any questions, please contact your membership organisation via their usual channels.

Paul Buckley
SCoPEd Oversight Committee independent chair
Jan 2023

UKCP statement on the future of the SCoPEd framework

UKCP responded with great enthusiasm and commitment, in 2016, for the co-creation of a differentiated scope of practice for counselling and psychotherapy, which we all believed would help bring clarity to our profession, to the public and to commissioning services.

The framework has used an evidence-based process of mapping existing competence frameworks, professional standards and practice standards to identify areas of overlap and areas of difference between counselling and psychotherapy.

The chair, board and chief executive officers at the time, and those in the intervening years, have been in complete support of the project and have backed the inclusion of UKCP at all levels of the project. Our representation on the technical group has remained consistent throughout, with full participation.

Since 2016, we have conducted a joint consultation with members and in UKCP we received a highly favourable response to the project.

At this time of change in terms of senior positions at UKCP, we wish to reaffirm our commitment to the project. The current chair, board of trustees and acting chief executive officers are in full support of moving forward and integrating the framework into our Standards of Education and Training and continuing with future steps as agreed across the partnership.

More information about the SCoPEd framework is available here.