The Psychotherapy Register

There is an increasing interest in the sequence and process of the formation of the psychotherapy register. I thought it might be helpful to spell out the process that will be taking place over the next few months.

The first draft proposals for entry requirements and curriculum contents for trainings have been circulated to all our member organisations for critical comment. We are waiting to hear from them and hope to be able to make some comment in the mid-year mailing which will appear in September.

The major discussion of these criteria will take place at a Special General Meeting called for 12 October when we hope to reach broad agreement on the requirements for entry and training. Additional refinements will appear in a set of regulations to be agreed at the Annual General Meeting in January 1992.

After this, we will be able to decide upon the functions and, therefore, the structure of the Registration Committee. We will have to do an appraisal of costs and draw up a realistic budget which will form the basis of applications for grants from appropriate Government departments. We should stand a good chance of getting a grant for what will, in effect, be a national project of forming a register of psychotherapists.

We should, therefore, be in a position to appoint or elect the new Registration Committee at the Annual General Meeting in January 1993. The new Registration Committee will then set up and maintain a register of the practising members of the Member Organisations of UKSCP. This register will not have any official status but we hope that it will achieve official recognition in due course.

There will have to be a transitional period during which practising psychotherapists can get on to the register by appropriate means to be agreed upon. After an initial transitional period, only those who have completed an approved training will be eligible to be registered. We expect that there will be some form of on-going professional development required in order for psy