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The Employment Department has established a number of Lead Bodies under the National Standards Programme. Each Lead Body is responsible for setting the standards required for National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) for the various occupations within its remit. The methodology (functional analysis) is not negotiable, having been agreed by the Employment Department and the National Council for Vocational Qualifications. Essentially this means that Lead Bodies will define the competencies required for the NVQs in their field of employment.
The Lead Body for Advice Guidance and Counselling was established in 1992 and has already drafted a list of the competencies for these occupations. The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) at its annual general meeting in January 1994 decided to ask this Lead Body to consider the feasibility of including psychotherapy within its remit. This decision was taken in the belief that NVQs are likely to be the qualifications of the future and on the grounds that psychotherapy seems to belong in the same family as advice, guidance and counselling. The UKCP has thus agreed to participate in a process that aims to define the competencies deployed in psychotherapy. This article was prompted by that decision.