Professional Standards Authority accredits The CBT Register UK 
For Association for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (AREBT) members, we have some excellent news to share. Today, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) has accredited The CBT Register UK which is run by the British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) and AREBT. The PSA is an independent statutory body, accountable to Parliament.
Under the Accredited Registers programme, practitioners on The CBT Register UK will now be able to display the Accredited Registers Quality Mark, a clear sign that they meet the PSA’s standards.
Registration with an Accredited Register gives employers, patients, clients and service users and the public confidence that practitioners have signed up to robust professional and ethical codes. All Registers accredited by the Authority must have transparent complaints processes so poor performance can be addressed. Where serious wrongdoing occurs, the practitioner will be removed from the Register.
There are three main roles on the CBT Register which play an important part in helping to provide access to evidence-based psychological therapies:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Practitioners
- Evidence Based Parent Trainers
- Wellbeing Practitioners (Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWP), Children Wellbeing Practitioners (CWP) and Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHP))
NHS England has committed to increasing access to evidence-based psychological therapies and the PWP, CWP and EMHP roles will help to deliver this. People working in these roles in the NHS in England must be on the CBT Register UK or registered with the British Psychological Society (on their Wider Psychological Workforce register which is also accredited by the PSA) as a condition of their employment.
Alan Clamp, Chief Executive of the PSA, said: ‘We are pleased to accredit The CBT Register. Bringing these practitioners into a broad framework of assurance is good for patients, service users and the public, and is the best way to promote quality. The Accredited Registers programme offers a layer of protection for people receiving health services and gives the practitioners on The CBT Register UK the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to good practice.’
BABCP President Saiqa Naz said: ‘I am thrilled that the PSA has approved accreditation of our CBT Register. This formal approval pays testament to the commitment of staff and volunteers at BABCP, and is recognition of our commitment to protection of the public, and of the high standards at which our registered therapists and practitioners work.’
AREBT Co-Chair Professor Stephen Palmer said: ‘We are very pleased that the PSA have accredited the CBT Register. This is the first time that a register of practitioners who specialise in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, including Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, has been PSA accredited. This is an important and ground-breaking event in the history of CBT in the UK. PSA-accredited status gives our Register a quality mark which will inspire confidence in the public when searching for a suitable CBT psychotherapist.’
Background information
Accreditation does not mean that the PSA has assessed the merits of individuals on the register. This remains the responsibility of the organisation which holds the Register. Accreditation means that the Register meets the PSA’s high standards in governance, standard-setting, education and training, management of the register, complaints handling and information.
The Accredited Registers programme encompass a growing range of occupations and organisations and the PSA may accredit more than one register in any particular occupation. Further information about Accredited Registers is available at www.professionalstandards.org.uk/what-we-do/accredited-registers
The Initial Accreditation Report of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) and the Association of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (AREBT)’s application for accreditation of the Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy (CBT) register can be downloaded from: Initial Accreditation Panel Report – BABCP-AREBT July 2023