The Time for Statutory Regulation is Here

A shorter version of this article was published in The Guardian on 25 October 2024

Rachel Hall’s argument in The Guardian of 19th October 2024 is well made. As a psychotherapist qualified since 2001, a voluntarily-regulated Senior Accredited Member of BACP (the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy), and a Registered Member of UKCP (the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy), I believe our profession is behind the curve.

The glaring truth is that I could have set up in practice without going through the rigorous processes that these two organisations required of me. The fact that I choose to be held account to two different bodies is because I know that what psychotherapists and counsellors endeavour to do is deeply important and at times extremely taxing and difficult.

What I mean is that we meet with folk at vulnerable points in their lives, who entrust us with their troubles, their minds and fragilities. The word ‘entrust’ is crucial. We are held in a position of great trust and as such have huge responsibility.

‘Above all, do no harm’ is a primary foundation of ethics in medical practice.

The truth is, that this awesome and almost sacred undertaking makes huge demands on us as professionals. Our regulatory bodies require us to undertake regular and ongoing training, have regular supervision with an experienced practitioner who should support and challenge us, and our training bodies require that we too are clients for a minimum number of hours so that we pay attention to our own wounds and legacies so as to minimise these becoming entangled with our clients.

In addition, both these bodies have complaints procedures, of which I myself have direct experience, having gone through a year’s investigation in 2005 before eventually going to a gruelling day panel who dismissed the complaint. This was early in my career and I learned a great deal from the process. I would not have been subject to this if I had not voluntarily submitted myself to it. There was no legal requirement for me to do so.

The fact is that the psychotherapy and counselling professions are behind the curve and, as psychiatrist and ex-health minister Dan Poulter says, out of step with other healthcare professionals. This matter has been discussed on and off since the 1970s and was included as a white paper by the Labour government in 2007. We need to play catch up.

I have no doubt that as the demands on us – individually, as a society and globally – increase as they have since the pandemic, the volume will be turned up on need and distress. As this happens, it is inevitable that some will abuse the vulnerabilities of others and behave in wrong ways. We need the most rigorous checks and balances.

I believe that we need a new regulatory body, separate and distinct from the membership organisations we already have, a statutory body that holds us to the highest standards and mitigates against rogue practitioners. We need an organisation whose sole job it is to protect the public interest and sets, monitors and enforces standards. This will give our profession greater standing and the public greater protection and confidence in us.

Having said this, regulation of psychotherapy will never be straightforward. By the very nature of our endeavour, in the process of investigation, we have also to hold and contain the painful distress of others. When in pole position and close contact, it is natural for slings and arrows to land in our direction that do not originate with ourselves but from a person’s past wounds. Sometimes complaints will be made that need to be met head on, worked through and ultimately seen in a larger context of these wounds. Inevitably, sometimes we will also make mistakes along the way. We are human. All this needs to be untangled carefully. These matters are delicate, complex and sometimes fraught; and any process of complaint needs to be rigorous in understanding the nuance and complexity inherent in the processes of therapy and healing. Much wisdom will be needed here.

So, let us have statutory regulation. Let us not be afraid to do so. Let us stand tall. We have a noble profession, and we need to meet the challenge.