Professional Standards Authority 16.07.2024
Submitted by
• Maria Albertsen, Founder of Counsellors Together UK (CTUK) in**@uk***********.uk
• Dr Elizabeth Cotton, Associate Professor of Responsible Business, University of Leicester ec***@le*******.uk
Our concerns are as follows:
1. Governance procedures
In 2022, as part of the BACP annual resolutions and motions process, a resolution was submitted to BACP for member consideration. The resolution asked the BACP to “take a firm stance against counsellor exploitation and communicate with organisations advertising such jobs to make them aware of the importance of paying qualified therapists a decent, proportionate wage”. This resolution was passed at the Annual General Meeting in November 2022.
In February 2023, the resolution authors wrote to BACP to ask what the next steps would be. They received a response on 17th February 2023 stating that the BACP Board of Governors and the Governance Team had discussed how to take forward the resolution at the meeting of the Board on 27th January 2023. BACP stated that they would be contacted within the next two weeks with further details regarding the plans being put in place. This timeline was not adhered to and a letter was eventually received over a month later on 29th March 2023 to acknowledge receipt of initial letter. At the date of this submission, and over 18 months since the resolution had passed, no action has been taken by the BACP to implement the resolution.
Resolution details can be found here.
2. Complaints procedures and sanctions
In March 2023 and 12th July 2024 the BBC reported on the concerns it had shared with the BACP about the counselling service delivered through Health Assured, one of the largest online therapy platforms providing Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) in the UK and accredited by the BACP. This resulted from an investigation carried out by BBC Radio 4’s File on Four programme looking at EAPs, developed by the BBC journalists Alys Harte and Ella Rule, with contributions from Dr Cotton. Concerns raised included confidentiality breaches, re-routing calls to untrained staff, and improper safeguarding.
There has been no immediate action taken by the BACP, such as suspension of accreditation while a full investigation takes place. There has been no public statement made by BACP in relation to their investigation.
Our concern is that the lack of transparency and action around these two important professional issues have undermined the standing of the psychotherapy and counselling profession. We ask that the PSA raise these concerns with the BACP as part of the renewal process.
