Criteria for: Psychotherapist | Counsellor | Therapist
Group Counsellor | Educator | Researcher | O.D. Consultant

If you don't currently meet the criteria for Psychotherapist you may qualify to be an Associate Member. Associate members are working towards full accreditation. Click here for criteria for Associate Membership.

Accreditation Criteria for Psychotherapist

The criteria for psychotherapist accreditation are under revision, in line with revised UKCP standards. Applicants may apply on the basis of the current criteria detailed below, but should be aware that there may be additional requirements which are being finalized; further details will be provided on www.ahpp.org when available. One new requirement already introduced, in line with UKCP standards, involves a mental health placement - see below.

A psychotherapist is considered to be a professional capable of working with people with complex problems over a long period of time and capable of knowing when and where to refer cases that go beyond his or her own training, capabilities or facilities. The application should reflect this ability and should satisfy the committee that the applicant has reached the levels of maturity, experience and knowledge which, in the opinion of the committee, are necessary for the accredited psychotherapist.  UKAHPP places emphasis not only on formal training but also on the creative use of knowledge gained in training, and qualities of creativity, openness, warmth and maturity. Applications should demonstrate these qualities, particularly in the written work and the case studies
  
Specifically, this means that a person being accredited needs:

1. To have completed a broadly ranging psychotherapy training of at least 4 years' duration, at post-graduate level, comprising minimum 900 tutor contact hours (which does not include any prerequisites to entry requirements, individual therapy, personal study time or peer group work) and a substantial piece of written work.  The applicant will demonstrate that this training has included:

1. an in-depth knowledge of the thinking of the main humanistic theorists with a thorough understanding of the clinical applications and therapeutic models of at least two of these. This will include relevant models of the self along with formulations of developmental processes, psychopathology and therapeutic possibilities. The nature and purpose of the therapeutic relationship, including transference and countertransference, will have been explored both theoretically and experientially.
2. a knowledge of, and appreciation of the application of, existential approaches to psychotherapy
3. knowledge of psychoanalytic and object relations theory, its development and relationship with humanistic theory and practice.
4. an understanding of the relationship between the different models outlined above, with the addition of the psychiatric model.
5. an appreciation of the boundary between the psychotherapeutic model of neurosis and that of mental illness; an ability to recognise severely disturbed clients and the limitations and appropriateness of psychotherapy should have been developed.
6. an appreciation of the main models of research methodology.
7. A substantial proportion of this knowledge to have been gained through experiential methods of learning – the applicant will have had personal experience of the impact on his or her person of the therapeutic practice of such models within the training environment and this should be apparent throughout the application.

Please note that the applicant’s training and practice of psychotherapy should be broadly-ranging, incorporating more than one core modality.  The applicant should be able to communicate the knowledge gained in training and supervised practice in verbal and written form. The application should show that training and supervised practice has led to the development of abilities for critical reflection on the client’s process, the therapeutic relationship, therapeutic approaches used and the therapist’s own psychological processes. This should be demonstrated in all parts of the application, the written work, the case study and the interview. 

During training, applicants are expected to have completed a written piece of work (not a case study) on a therapy-related subject, of at least 8,000 words (or, to agree to write such a piece at a later date).

2. To have been in therapy throughout the training course(s) and to have experienced the sort of therapy she or he is offering, to the same extent and frequency, over a minimum normally of four years, three years of which with the same therapist (who should differ from the applicant's supervisor & trainer).

3. To have had regular supervision of psychotherapy client casework, following completion of training, for not less than two years with the same supervisor who should differ from the applicant's therapist, on a one-to-one basis; and to have completed 450 hours of client contact at a ratio of at least 1 hour supervision to 6 hours' client contact; the supervisor should be a more experienced practitioner who uses the same approach(es) in which the applicant has been trained; a supervisor’s report is required as part of the application.

4. To have worked after completion of training with at least six psychotherapy clients for varying durations over a minimum period of two years, and to have the minimum caseload of six clients when applying; a combination of one-to-one and suitable groupwork may meet this requirement in some case (as groupwork varies greatly, this is decided by the Membership Committee upon receipt of individual applications).   A psychotherapy case study (approx. 3,000 words) of a recent case representative of your practice is required; the case study should follow the guidelines provided with the application forms and demonstrate the knowledge, skills and capacity for critical reflection gained in training and supervised practice, as noted elsewhere in this document. 

5. To have professional liability and malpractice insurance, and be in good ethical standing with any “equivalent” previous accrediting/training organisation.

6. There is an additional, general requirement applicable to all applications in any class or category of membership, that in the judgment of the Membership Committee there is a good fit between the applicant (as evidenced from the application material, including case study and interview) and the humanistic ethos of UKAHPP, such that UKAHPP is agreed by the Membership Committee to be an appropriate professional membership organization, or "home", for the applicant.

Mental Health Familiarisation Placement (MHFP)

In accordance with the latest UKCP, Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy Section, training standards, UKAHPP is to introduce an additional criterion for accreditation in the category of Psychotherapist. The requirement for applicants to have completed an MHFP will be introduced fully as of 1st October, 2008. Applications considered through the Membership Committee between now and 1st October, 2008 will be subject to transitional procedures as detailed below. Furthermore, in addition to, and in support of, the MHFP the taught element of the applicant's training will have included the following elements:

• Current approaches to the management and treatment of mental illness
• An understanding of the use and effects of pharmacological treatment
• The basics of the legislative and organisational framework of the various agencies involved
• An understanding of the differences between responses to trauma and other severe emotional states and major mental illness as defined by the medical model of mental illness

The MHFP will be within a setting which enables the applicant to have experience of, and begin to recognise, major mental illness. This will require the applicant to spend time in such a setting in the role of observer or companion. Whilst the applicant should not be providing psychotherapeutic help they may become involved in providing simple skilled help, such as relaxation or basic counselling, if deemed appropriate by the placement manager.

Therefore, the MHFP will be in a professionally structured setting which allows applicants to spend time with those deemed to be suffering from major mental illness. Additionally, the setting must provide opportunities for discussion with staff involved in diagnosis and treatment. This might be achieved in a variety of settings, for example: psychiatric inpatient or day-patient services, community based charities concerned with rehabilitation and support, such as MIND, or other organisations offering help where the client group involves a large proportion deemed to have mental health problems, such as homelessness charities. In the case of the latter example, there must be an identified, trained, mental health worker (e.g. Registered Mental Nurse, Psychiatric Occupational Therapist or Psychologist) who will act as mentor and supervisor and there will need to be specific evidence that mental health issues form the core of the applicant's experience during the MHFP.

The MHFP, together with the taught element will be in such a setting and so structured as to ensure the following learning outcomes can be achieved:

• Develop a basic understanding of psychiatry and the mental health system, the rights of patients and the psycho-social issues involved.
• Understand the main principles of the Mental Health Act and the procedures for the compulsory admission and detention of patients.
• Enhance their ability to liaise with other mental health practitioners.
• Become familiar with psychiatric assessment and planning of a range of forms of intervention and evaluation procedures.
• Understand the range of mental illness that can lead to the involvement of the mental health system.
• Familiarise themselves with the different types of intervention used, including medication and electro-convulsive therapy, and their main side effects.
• Spend time with people who have been diagnosed with severe mental illness.
• Be able to empathise with patients who have been involved with the mental health system.

The duration of the MHFP will be sufficient to achieve these objectives and the AHPP considers this to mean a minimum placement of 48 hours, the equivalent of 1 day per week for a placement of 6 weeks.

Transitional Arrangments, for applications received before 1 October 2008
Where an application is judged by the Membership Committee to meet all other psychotherapist accreditation criteria, but the applicant has not undertaken or satisfactorily completed an MHFP, the application will be accepted and accreditation granted for one year whilst the applicant undertakes the MHFP. When the Membership Committee decides that satisfactory evidence has been presented that the MHFP requirement has been met, the applicant's accreditation will be extended to the normal five year period (four more years). After 1 October 2008 potential applicants must complete an MHFP and include satisfactory evidence to that effect before submitting an application for psychotherapist accreditation.

Note on the application process
The UKAHPP application forms will be revised at a later date to include a section documenting how the applicant has met the MHFP requirement. For the present, applicants preparing to undertake an MHFP should be aware that this documentation is likely to include: details of the setting/organisation in which the placement was undertaken, details of the trained mental health worker who acted as the applicant's mentor/supervisor, evidence that mental health issues formed the core of the applicant's experience on the placement, confirmation from the organisation and/or mentor/supervisor of duration and hours completed by the applicant, and a reflective account/diary by the applicant of his/her experience on the placement.

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Equal Opportunities Route

Applicants must present a case for their acceptance in whatever form they find appropriate. This route is for people with disabilities for whom other routes to accreditation would be inappropriate. With this exception, all applications must be made by the application forms in typescript. To obtain the application forms, please send a large SAE (£1 stamp) and cheque for £30 to:

Ian Doucet
UKAHPP Administrator
Box BCM AHPP, LONDON WC1N 3XX
(tel. 08457 660326)

The above requirements incorporate criteria adopted by the Humanistic & Integrative Section of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, of which UKAHPP is an accrediting member.