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

  1. Ensuring research supports the UKCP’s policy objectives to increase access to psychotherapy.
  2. Improving education about research and promote its importance within the UKCP membership.
  3. Developing an effective system for collating clinical data from our membership.
  4. Combining existing and new research to improve the evidence base for psychotherapy, as well as promote its importance for wellbeing and mental health.
  5. 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 June 2025 and is now accepting abstracts. The theme for this year is Connecting with self, others and the environment in a complex world. 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.

I am seeking psychotherapists or psychotherapeutic counsellors (3+ years post-qualification) to participate in my MSc research at University of Warwick.

The study explores the experience of working with potentially autistic clients in therapy when that autism hasn’t been named by the client / diagnostic status is unknown. Psychiatric studies confirm that autistic people have a significantly higher risk of mental and physical health comorbidities, and a lower life expectancy. Guidance issued to medical professionals in the UK advises to hold the potential of autism in mind when working with people, in order that they may understand and better accommodate their needs and differences. In therapy there is the additional risk of a double-empathy problem, whereby therapeutic work can fail through core differences of expression and experience resulting from the combination of an autistic person with a neurotypical person. In the UK the psychotherapy profession doesn’t have a diagnostic remit, and there is a lack of research or training around how to recognise whether someone may hold this difference, or what to do when we do identify this potential in client work. This study seeks to fill this gap in the research literature; exploring the experience of decision-making around broaching perceived difference in neurotype, specifically autism, in therapy and the associated experience in the client work following this decision. Up to 6 participants will be interviewed via MS Teams. Participants need to be UK-trained and UK-based, and working with adults. 

For further information please contact helen.r.forbes@warwick.ac.uk

I am Black Researcher currently looking to interview 10-20 UK Black Women who are currently training as therapist and/ or Black women qualified within the last five years to take part in an important study “Exploring the intersectional experiences of Black women who train as therapist”.

The inclusion and exclusion criteria are outlined below.

Suitability Criteria:

  • Self-identify as Black
  • Female
  • UK-based

I would like to interview you about your experiences going through training as a Black woman and understanding your lived experience and the often invisible embodied impact. The interview will be for 90 minutes and will a combination of a semi structured interview and a creative body map exercise to understand the embodied impact. Interviews will be held on-line and if requested I will travel to meet you in a private room or arrange a private room in central London. Your voice matters and will add to an important growing body of research about Black women in the UK.

 If you are interested in taking part, please contact Anthea Benjamin- a.benjamin@surrey.ac.uk

 This project is being carried out by researcher at the University of Surrey via the Surrey Black scholars scheme. This project has received favourable ethical opinion from University of Surrey Ethics Committee and case ref: 0117. Anyone happy to take part in this crucial research, please get in touch with me via email at a.benjamin@surrey.ac.uk.

Are you a first-time mother who is currently training to be a psychotherapist or counsellor, or have recently completed your training?

I am conducting a research study as part of my Master’s degree in Integrative Psychotherapy at the Minster Centre, in collaboration with Middlesex University. This study aims to explore the unique lived experiences of trainee therapists who became first-time mothers during their training.

Who can participate?

You may be eligible to participate if you:

- Became a mother for the first time during your psychotherapy or counselling training

- Are currently in the final stages of your training or recently qualified as a therapist

What’s involved?

Participants will take part in a 60-90 minute interview, conducted remotely online and recorded. The interview will explore your experiences of transitioning to motherhood while training to become a therapist. I will ask you to describe your experience in as much detail as you are able and feel comfortable with. Your identity and responses will be kept confidential. The project has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee and will be conducted in accordance with the BACP’s ethical guidelines for research.

Why participate?

Your insights will contribute to a deeper understanding of how first-time motherhood impacts psychotherapy training and professional development. This study may help inform future support for mothers in similar roles.

Interested?

If you’d like to participate or want to learn more, please contact Yimen Lee.

Email: yimenlee@gmail.com

Phone: 07795 965326

This study aims to understand therapists’ experiences of using the embodied-relational approach to navigate trauma-related dissociation. If you fulfill the participant criteria, then you will be invited to participate in a semi-structured interview, which will be held in a private room and take 60 minutes to complete. Once you have been selected to take part, we’ll meet for me to obtain your informed consent and give you time to ask questions. You will be asked to check several statements as to whether you have been given appropriate information about the research project and your participation. You will need to check all boxes to proceed. Before the interview you will be asked whether you will consent to participate. If you verbally say yes, then the interview will be conducted. If you verbally say no, the online meeting will be terminated and will end. You will also be required to generate a participant number (see section on anonymity below).

The criteria for participants is: accredited BACP/UKCP psychotherapists or counsellors who identify as embodied-relational therapists and have experience (5 years or more) working with trauma-related dissociation.

Please contact: u2180299@live.warwick.ac.uk for more information.

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