Counsellor, psychotherapist, psychologist should all be protected titles?

[daretodenim]

I don't think people realise that they too could set up as one of these things and charge for their services.

It's not enough to say to check for BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) membership, because people shouldn't have to verify that their practitioner is actually qualified. Virtually nobody seeks out mental health support when they're feeling good. And the act of seeking help in itself often makes someone additionally vulnerable.

If I have 3 months of lingering stomach pain I go to the GP. I don't have to check through websites of people who call themselves doctors to see if they've had any training, check what that training actually is, and are registered with a body I've never heard of.

AIBU to think that for the mental health/safety of those seeking help, there should be clear naming of professions within mental health and it should be a crime to call yourself and offer services in something you're not. It should also be clear what the competencies of each professional level are - and are not - so people know what they need to look for in the first place, as well as whether their practitioner is being unethical by offering something out with their training.

Therapy should be an ethical and highly boundaried practice conducted by ethical and boundaried professionals. IMO if you act unethically in one area of your work (said CPD audit reports) in order to maintain your accreditation it opens the door for unethical work in other areas, maybe taking on clients you are not qualified to work with or being loose in other areas of reporting. It's the thin end of the wedge.

I couldn't agree more.

Oh I didn't know about that one. Wow.

I have a friend who did a three hour online counselling course and now calls herself a counsellor. Somehow she has got herself a job in a school and sees private patients charging £70 per hour. I feel it's very unfair when fully trained counsellors have undergone years of face to face training at a huge expense. They also have to have their own personal therapy and pay for this. It seems quite scary that people can call themselves a counsellor when actually they haven't been checked out by anyone or had any therapy themselves

That's exactly it. And while I agree it's unfair for the others who have done the proper study, my main issue is with the clients' safety. Because if someone is willing to do a three hour online training and charge people for their services as though they've got a proper qualification (ie not be straight up and say "I did a 3-hr online course in this") then they are exactly the unethical people who shouldn't be working with others' mental health!! There's no way they'll suddenly turn ethical in sessions even if they wanted to, because the ethics around counselling alone take more than 3 hrs to cover!! So purely from the standpoint of sufficient knowledge of ethics involved, she's not remotely qualified!

While the titles themselves might not always be protected, it is a criminal offense for a person to imply that they have a qualification that they do not have, or that they are qualified to do a certain job or provide a service even though they do not hold the required qualification:

Article 39(1) of the Health Professions Order 2001 makes it a criminal offence for a person, with intent to deceive (whether clearly or by implication) to:
say that they are on the HCPC Register;
use a designated title to which they are not entitled; or
say falsely that they have qualifications in a profession we regulate.

The words “by implication” mean that an unregistered person may be committing an offence even if they do not use the designated title directly (for example, if they describe the service they provide as “chiropody” or “physiotherapy”).

Source: www.hcpc-uk.org/concerns/what-we-investigate/misuse-of-title/

The unqualified person is also leaving themselves open to a huge civil claim if, as a result of following advice or counselling, the client comes to any harm.

That's exactly it. And while I agree it's unfair for the others who have done the proper study, my main issue is with the clients' safety. Because if someone is willing to do a three hour online training and charge people for their services as though they've got a proper qualification (ie not be straight up and say "I did a 3-hr online course in this") then they are exactly the unethical people who shouldn't be working with others' mental health!! There's no way they'll suddenly turn ethical in sessions even if they wanted to, because the ethics around counselling alone take more than 3 hrs to cover!! So purely from the standpoint of sufficient knowledge of ethics involved, she's not remotely qualified!

Exactly! I can't imagine you would even feel competent to help after three hours of online training. Imagine the harm gat could be done to vulnerable people and especially children. God knows how she got a job in a school.

The school's DSL should have done a thorough check into her qualifications and experience before engaging this person to work with children. This is very worrying on the part of the school.

I completely agree with you OP. Accessing support is hard enough (as in actually finding someone- since no therapist round my way seems to reply to emails or be able to maintain a steady line of communication) and it’s so dispiriting to finally have therapy set up only to realise they’re cr*p/unprofessional/randomly spouting stuff like ‘you’re psychic’. Erm, no.

I feel like I should report it but I wasn't sure who I should contact.

I agree. I'm a counsellor/psychotherapist and studied hard for 3 years as well as practiced for 100 hours in order to qualify. I'm still learning a few years on and regularly attend training courses etc to keep my knowledge up to date. It is really worrying that people can just call themselves a counsellor with no training whatsoever! It is actually pretty dangerous and I have worked with clients who have definitely been damaged by the many charlatans out there.
It is so important that any therapist you see is accredited with an industry body. This doesn't need to be the BACP necessarily though. For example, I am with the NCS (National Counselling Society) who many therapists prefer nowadays.

You could raise it with the school directly.

Controversial - but, even recognised training and registration with an appropriate body such as the BACP doesn't guarantee a competent counsellor. I know places which allow people to qualify who really shouldn't be allowed to, but because they pay their tuition fees they continue and then qualify.....

*The BACP is trying to get these titles protected by running a project called SCOPED.

its deeply unpopular amongst counsellors due to its solely being about qualifications rather than experience.*

The BACP isn’t a professional organisation though, it’s effectively one of several membership groups for counsellors and therapists, there’s no obligation to join any one of them. The issue with SCOPED is that it makes a distinction between counsellor and psychotherapist based in part on how far through the accreditation process someone is and seems to lack an understanding of the capacity and capability of well trained, experienced therapists who may not have jumped through their particular hoops. The project started out badly, with exclusion of some modalities of therapy, organisations protecting their own interests and little consideration given to the impact on practicing therapists. It’s not got much better as it’s progressed.

I think there should be a base level training for anyone calling themselves a counsellor or psychotherapist, but also know that’s no guarantee of competence. Some courses are better than others, some people are more suited to the work than others. Folk should always look for someone who is a good fit for them.

I am not sure that titles being protected would be as effective as some think. To some extent what you would see is that other titles would come into use. In the end it would still be up to the person seeking the service to look into what the different titles meant and finding out which ones applied to the people they were hiring.

This.
BACP is not the bench mark for therapy. It is a money making company who are trying to push ridiculous rules through that benefit only them.
It should be protected titles but at this point we really have no-one without an agenda for their own gain to push this through!

Actual cbt therapist here with the full diploma and it pains me to see therapists with a weekend cbt qualification saying they deliver cbt. I would never say I could do another type of therapy or that in a mental health nurse etc. All these titles should be protected and therapies shouldn't be inter mixed without the full qualification in my opinion x

Totally agree. I fell out with a friend who did a counselling degree at a private college (yes, commendable but she would never have been accepted at a proper University as she had zero qualifications) then started every conversation with “as a psychotherapist”. Mind you she was delusional on so many levels, not just that!