How To Choose A Therapist
How To Find A CBT Therapist
You’ve made the decision that you want to start therapy, or at least you think you do. Now you need to figure out how to find a therapist. And if it’s cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) you’re looking for, you might be wondering how to find a CBT therapist who is fully qualified and suited to help with your specific needs, whether it’s anxiety disorders, depression, or other concerns.
With so many therapy services available and long NHS waiting times for treatment, many people are turning to private online therapists or private practitioners offering face to face sessions, to access help more quickly.
Choosing a therapist is not easy, especially with the variety of talking therapies on offer such as Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Psychodynamic, and Person-Centred Therapy. If you’re specifically looking for CBT sessions, it’s important to ensure the therapist is BABCP accredited and has undergone the proper training.
So, the first question you need to ask yourself is what kind of therapy do I want? Do you want a CBT therapist, a psychoanalyst, a humanistic therapist, etc?
Once you’ve decided on the type of therapy you want, you will need to choose a therapist.
This is one of the most important decisions you will make on this journey-choosing the right therapist for yourself. On the one hand, you can’t know whether a therapist is right for you until you’ve spoken with them, or even started to work with them. This is because you won’t know whether you like them or not, feel understood by them, or feel comfortable talking to them, until you actually get started.
How To Find A Qualified CBT Therapist
There is another deciding factor, when choosing a therapist to help you work on your mental health problems, that is as important as deciding what kind of therapy you want to embark on, and whether you feel heard and understood by your therapist. And that is their qualifications and experience.
You may have already decided that you would like to find a CBT Therapist. And if that’s the case-great! You’re nearly there. You’ve narrowed it down to the type of therapy you’re looking for.
The next step is finding a register of therapists that you can trust. Why is this important? Because CBT is not a protected title. What does this mean? It means that many non-CBT therapists are referring to themselves as “CBT Therapist” BUT they are not accredited by the BABCP, and have not completed the minimum required training required by the BABCP in order to achieve accreditation status. Yet they are splashing the words “CBT” and “CBT Therapist” all across their webpages to attract individuals like you, who are looking for a CBT Therapist for their mental health problems.
CBT Is Not A Protected Title
What does it mean that CBT is not a protected title? It means that any therapist, from any theoretical background (Humanistic, Integrative, etc) can call themselves a CBT therapist and use “CBT Therapist” all over their website and marketing materials. They can splash “CBT” all over their webpages to attract individuals like you, to explore their website, because they know that CBT sells.
Why does CBT sell? Because CBT is an evidence-based therapy that has been proven effective in treating many mental health conditions, and so every therapist out there is riding on the coattail of the CBT title.
Moreover, CBT is the most researched type of therapy, and the evidence base for it is strong. Insurance companies cover it, and GP’s and other medical professionals tend to recommend it, over other therapies. It is cost-effective, and offers good value for money, compared to other therapies. And so it makes sense that non-CBT therapists want to profit from this.
Minimum Training Standards
Accredited CBT therapists have completed CBT training that meets the minimum requirements for accreditation, and this provides you, a member of the public, with the assurance that when you attend for your CBT sessions, you are in safe hands.
According to the BABCP: “accreditation demonstrates that a CBT therapist has both core professional mental health training or recognised equivalent, as well as specific CBT training. To be accredited, our members must have applied and demonstrated that they meet high standards of training and experience in CBT.
Many therapists from other therapeutic orientations (who may be using the CBT title on their websites), may have taken a short course in CBT, or attended a workshop in CBT, or perhaps their counselling psychology course may have contained a CBT “module”. But that training does not meet the same standard as the training of a BABCP accredited therapist. And it certainly does not permit them to splash “CBT Therapist” across their website pages. But there is nobody policing this.
There are many courses with CBT components. However, unless they are Post-Graduate trainings in CBT alone, they might not offer the 200 taught CBT hours needed for accreditation.
Accreditation (and demonstrating that we are accredited on our websites) protects you, a prospective CBT client, and member of the public. It gives you the assurance that the therapist you will be receiving treatment from, for your mental health condition, has met the minimum standards in their training and practice.
Choose Wisely
When you are choosing a therapist, how can you ensure that you are receiving CBT from a BABCP accredited CBT therapist? You can ask the therapist you speak to if they are BABCP accredited, and/or you can check whether they are listed on the CBT Register. It really does matter that you are receiving treatment from a therapist who has the appropriate training and accreditation.
In the same way that it is not a legal requirement for electricians to be registered with their respective bodies, my guess is that you would prefer it if your electrician was registered with their appropriate schemes before they touch your electrics. This gives you the assurance that they meet specific standards and have undergone rigorous assessments of their work.
The same with dentistry. Same with medicine. And the same for psychotherapists. You get the picture, I’m sure.
Choose Wisely
When you are choosing a therapist, how can you ensure that you are receiving CBT from a BABCP accredited CBT therapist? You can ask the therapist you speak to if they are BABCP accredited, and/or you can check whether they are listed on the CBT Register. It really does matter that you are receiving treatment from a therapist who has the appropriate training and accreditation.
In the same way that it is not a legal requirement for electricians to be registered with their respective bodies, my guess is that you would prefer it if your electrician was registered with their appropriate schemes before they touch your electrics. This gives you the assurance that they meet specific standards and have undergone rigorous assessments of their work.
The same with dentistry. Same with medicine. And the same for psychotherapists. You get the picture, I’m sure.
S.F.-London
Accreditation Matters
The BABCP (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies) is the leading organisation for cognitive and behavioural therapies in the UK and Ireland, and if you are in doubt about a therapist’s credentials, you can check their CBT Register and type in the therapist’s surname to check if they are accredited.
Accredited CBT therapists have met the minimum training standards, and have demonstrated competency in their CBT skills and theory.
As part of the accreditation and reaccreditation process, CBT therapists must demonstrate their commitment to continued professional development by demonstrating that they are attending conferences, workshops and other training events. Whereas non-accredited CBT therapists and therapists from other orientations (who have done “a bit” of CBT as part of their other therapy training), do not.
Any therapist who calls themselves a CBT therapist should be able to demonstrate to you, the client, that they are accredited by the BABCP and meet the minimum training standards. If they cannot, then they aren’t a CBT Therapist. It’s that simple.
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy provided by an Accredited CBT Therapist
Knowledge Is Power
For a prospective CBT client like yourself, the fact that CBT Therapist is not a protected title makes it difficult for you to know how to find a therapist, and how to know for certain whether you are receiving CBT by an accredited CBT therapist with the required skills, experience and qualifications.
According to the BABCP (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies):
“Accreditation means that a CBT therapist has both core professional mental health training or recognised equivalent, as well as specific CBT training. To be accredited, our members must have applied and demonstrated that they meet high standards of training and experience in CBT”.
A colleague of mine, BABCP Accredited Stephen Wilson of Warwickshire CBT and I have had many discussions over the years about how we can better educate the public about the importance of BABCP accreditation. We met when we were both committee members on the BABCP’s Special Interest Group for Independent Practitioners, way back in 2010. Sadly, things have not progressed much vis a vis CBT being a protected title. And so we both continue to educate the public through our own websites.
S.F.-London
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