Research at UKCP
Research is central to the future of the psychotherapy profession. Through our work we aim is to raise the profile of the profession, utilising the expertise of our membership.
UKCP’s strategic aims
- Ensuring research supports the UKCP’s policy objectives to increase access to psychotherapy.
- Improving education about research and promote its importance within the UKCP membership.
- Developing an effective system for collating clinical data from our membership.
- Combining existing and new research to improve the evidence base for psychotherapy, as well as promote its importance for wellbeing and mental health.
- Collaborating with psychotherapy researchers to define and address the needs for future research.
How we will work towards achieving these aims
- Among the UKCP members are many influential researchers. We are working to strengthen connections with our research-active members to support impactful and widespread dissemination of their work, as well as to assist us in our drive to inform policy.
- Collaboration is essential the UKCP’s research strategy to develop innovative, high-impact research. We are working to enhance connections across the board with universities, the NHS and charitable organisations.
- We will be collaborating both internally and externally to promote the importance of research within training programmes and across the profession as a whole.
Current research projects
University of Sheffield
UKCP has provided funding to Professor Michael Barkham and his team at the University of Sheffield to conduct in-depth analyses of longitudinal IAPT datasets. This research will contribute to the evidence base for psychotherapy in treating depression in adults.
NHS pathways project
UKCP is conducting a three-year-long research project tracking students in the NHS pathways pilot. We aim to understand students’ experiences providing therapy in the NHS and how their training translates to working in this environment. We are in year two of the project.
Special issue EJPC
We're collaborating with the European Journal of Psychotherapy (EJPC) on a special issue entitled “Decolonising psychotherapy and empires of the mind: Opportunities and debates.” A call for papers was issued to UKCP members and the selected articles have been sent for peer review. More information can be found on our webpage.
Research Events
UKCP is holding a one-day research event in late spring 2026 and is now accepting abstracts. The theme for this year is The evolving psychotherapy profession: practice, ethos and community. Please go to our events webpage for more information.
Get involved – connect and collaborate
We are always looking for new ways to support our members with research and to connect with non-UKCP academics and practitioners. We are actively seeking to hear more about existing research and to discuss collaborations across all modalities. Our current areas of focus include:
- New ways of assessing psychotherapy and evaluating its effectiveness
- Collaborating on, and supporting, studies of effectiveness across therapeutic modalities and client populations
- Innovative research, investigating the therapeutic process
- Practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
If you would like to get involved or discuss active research projects or proposals, please email the research team.
Research working group
As a relatively small organisation with limited resources, we have been working hard to think of ways to improve research for the organisation and the membership. To help us accomplish this, we have put together a board level Research Working Group. Members of the group include Prof Divine Charura (DCounPsych), Dr Sofie Bager-Charleson, Prof Vicky Karkou, and Dr Gella Richards.
The group will be focusing on how to better support the membership with research, whilst also addressing external research strategy.
This will include:
- Improving education and guidance about conducting psychotherapy research.
- Assessing how we may be able to support therapists to gain ethical approval to conduct research.
- Enhancing networking and collaboration opportunities.
- Promoting research funding opportunities.
Research noticeboard
Are you a UKCP member involved in a research project?
Our noticeboard aims to help psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors:
- recruit participants for a study
- notify members of ongoing research projects
- identify collaborators.
If you’re a UKCP member interested in circulating information about research to other members, please fill out this form and our research team will be in touch. Requests to post on the noticeboard will be reviewed on the 20th of every month. Those accepted will be posted on the 25th of every month for a duration of four weeks.
Please note: requests may not be accepted for a variety of reasons, including the volume of requests or the research topic.
Are you a counsellor or therapist who is currently working in a boarding school in the UK? I am interested in hearing about your therapeutic practice and experiences!
I am a child and adolescent psychotherapeutic counsellor, and I’m currently undertaking a Masters research project at the University of Cambridge. The project aims to learn more about current counselling practice in boarding schools, to share knowledge and expertise from counsellors to improve therapeutic support for boarding students. I also wish to identify key themes which emerge in counsellors’ work in boarding schools, and how these may be similar or different to the picture presented in available literature. My research is based on a strong commitment to promoting the best interests of children and young people, alongside respect for the counselling profession and its role within school environments.
Participation would involve an interview which would last up to one hour, which will either be online or in person depending on participant availability and preference. The anonymised data from these interviews will be analysed and reflected on, and then presented in the form of a Masters dissertation.
If you would be interested in contributing to this study and would like more information about participating, then please get in touch with me at heth2@cam.ac.uk.
The purpose and objectives of the research are to develop a greater understanding of psychoanalytic/psychodynamic psychotherapy when working with adult patients who have experienced childhood sexual abuse and their ways of functioning in the clinical setting. The intent is to gain knowledge to build on and expand ideas and practices within therapy to show how they may find a sense of authentic self. Often adults who experience sexual abuse in childhood hide from the world in various ways and struggle to think of themselves as credible so daring to share emotions and thoughts may feel as terrifying as opening Pandora’s box full of misfortunes which could potentially be revisited until they discover hope for the future.
You are being invited to take part in this study because you have clinical experience of working with adults who have been sexually abused in childhood.
Are you a psychodynamic or psychoanalytic therapist who has worked with adult patients who have experienced childhood sexual abuse? You are invited to participate in a research project. This would involve having an interview via Zoom which will last between 60 and 90 minutes.
By contributing to this study, you will be offering your expertise to a crucial area of research and helping to advance the knowledge and understanding of working with this patient group. If you are interested in participating or would like to learn more, please contact:
Project researcher: Donna Rumsey
Email: dr24466@essex.ac.uk
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