Published: 23 Mar 2020
Authored by: Partners for Counselling and Psychotherapy
23rd March 2020
Dear BACP, UKCP and BPC,
As you are aware, there has been a huge impact on our profession of COVID-19 which is likely to last for a very long time. Many counsellors and psychotherapists are now at real risk for their livelihoods. Many others ore overwhelmed with additional work. In addition, all are facing unprecedented pressures on their family relationships, mental health and wellbeing.
There are huge and complex issues about practice, training and placements moving online, which are likely to be seismically profession-changing on a permanent basis.
You have admitted that SCoPEd has been very poorly received by thousands of professionals and many organisations. While no doubt well intentioned, the fact that SCoPEd is now undergoing lengthy reiterations and is in the phase of damage limitation should give you the greatest pause for thought even in normal times.
These, however, are anything but normal times. Our profession has no appetite now for fundamental and widely opposed restructurings of standards and competencies. These were optional extras at the best of times: under the current circumstances SCoPEd will be a further intolerable burden on counselling and psychotherapy. Rather than directing any more resources into the continuation of SCoPEd, we want professional associations to focus all their attention on supporting their members for the foreseeable future.
Scrapping SCoPEd will send a strong message to the profession that you care about your members and have acted to ease further stress and red tape during the current crisis. We call on you to do so without delay.
This is an open letter and will be published on our website.
Sincerely,
Partners for Counselling and Psychotherapy:
Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility
National Counselling Society
The Psychotherapy and Counselling Union
Counsellors Together UK
The Alliance for Counselling and Psychotherapy
The Person-Centred Association
The College of Psychoanalysts
The Free Psychotherapy Network
UK Person Centred Experiential
Drop the Disorder
Surviving Work
The Black, African and Asian Therapy Network