Choosing A Therapist
Please read this carefully to ensure you receive appropriate treatment by a suitably qualified CBT therapist
Over the last few years there has been an increasing demand for CBT. This is largely a result of the government’s initiative in making CBT more widely available on the NHS. In turn, many more non-CBT trained therapists are calling themselves CBT therapists even though they do not have the appropriate training. They are even going so far as to say they offer CBT on their websites, though if you look closely at the organisations to which they belong, they do not belong to the BABCP, the lead organisation for cognitive and behavioural therapists. More importantly, these individuals are not members of the BABCP, nor are they accredited by the BABCP.
The reason most of these non-CBT trained therapists are marketing themselves via their websites as providing CBT, or using CBT techniques is because they know that CBT has received much attention in the media over the last few years and they also know that it is *the* therapy that has been proven effective by way of randomised controlled trials. CBT is cost-effective, and most insurance companies will fund CBT, whereas they will not necessarily fund other types of treatment.
Accreditation with the BABCP is the standard set by the BABCP to ensure that those offering CBT, are providing quality cognitive-behavioural therapy to the public. Unfortunately, at this time, the provision of CBT is not regulated; anybody can say they provide CBT. Unfortunately, most members of the public are unable to discriminate between those therapists who do have a valid degree/qualification in CBT, and those who do not. And believe me, the non-CBT trained therapists know this, and take advantage of this by referring to CBT all over their websites with the sole intention of attracting members of the public to their site; it is a marketing strategy, and it is misleading and dishonest. Many psychologists or non-CBT therapists will lead you to believe they are qualified in providing CBT by mentioning “CBT” and “cognitive-behavioural therapy” numerous times on their websites. I have noticed that they often use these terms and “key phrases” more frequently on their webpages than those of us who are genuinely qualified in this area. That should serve as a warning sign to the public; the overuse of such phrases.
Therapists like myself, as well as a colleague of mine Stephen Wilson, who is based in Derby, have taken it upon ourselves to educate you via our own websites because this is all we can do to protect you from seeking CBT from someone who isn’t qualified to provide it. Click here to read about this on Stephen’s website; he does an excellent job describing this problem that I highlight above.
As an accredited cognitive-behavioural therapist, I feel strongly that these individuals should not be misleading the public; I feel protective over prospective patients/clents who may not know whether a therapist has the appropriate training to do what they say they do. I also feel protective over my own profession; accredited cognitive-behavioural therapists have worked hard for their qualifiations and titles, and we do not believe it is OK for therapists without appropriate qualifications to be misleading the public via the information on their websites.
When choosing a cognitive-behavioural therapist, it is important to ask the therapist:
- What was the name of your CBT course?
- What are your qualifications?
- What % of your training consisted of CBT?
- Did you qualify from a BABCP accredited course?
Many psychologists use CBT in their work, but they are not CBT therapists. A CBT therapist is someone who uses CBT as their main model in their work, and they have completed a recognised CBT course; not a week-end short course, but a course of a minimum duration of one year.
Many therapists who have formal training in other types of therapy (NLP, Hypnotherapy, Humanistic Therapy) may have covered “some” aspects of CBT on their training course but that does not qualify them to market themselves as CBT practitioners or therapists.
If it is CBT you are interested in, don’t be afraid to ask if their training course was a formal CBT training course, and what course it was. Most importantly, are they accredited with the BABCP?
Note: being a member of the BABCP is not the same as being accredited with the BABCP; anybody with an interest in CBT can join the association to become a member.
I am providing you with this information because I have come across websites of therapists (specifically in the Canary Wharf area) who advertise themselves as providing CBT, though when I enquired, I discovered that none of the therapists have a CBT qualification, nor are they accredited by the BABCP.
There are a lot of therapies out there, and other therapies can indeed be helpful, depending on your particular problems. However, if it is CBT you want, it is important to ask if your therapist has the appropriate training.
A list of recognised CBT courses can be found here:
http://www.babcp.com/Accreditation/Course/BABCP_Course_Accreditation.aspx
To see if a therapist is accredited with the BABCP, click here.
For more information on Choosing a Therapist I refer you to: