BPC help establish new Commission on the future of counselling and psychotherapy
The BPC has joined with counterparts from the Partnership of Counselling and Psychotherapy Bodies (PCPB) in establishing a new Commission on the future of counselling and psychotherapy. The Commission will examine the current and future landscape of the professions and the key issues affecting the sector, professionals, services and clients.
The Commission is co-chaired by Phil Hope, the former Minister for Care Services at the Department for Health and Social Care, and Andrea Sutcliffe, the former Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The Commission will bring together counselling and psychotherapy professional bodies, leading academics, care providers. clinical experts, and those with lived experience. The BPC will be represented by two practicing psychoanalysts: Lee Smith, Chair of Trustees, and Professor Alessandra Lemma. Professor Lemma is an academic and a consultant clinical psychologist at the Anna Freud Centre.
The Commission was initiated with the first of four open evidence sessions, focusing on the state of the sector, and featured presentations from Joe Lane, Deputy Director at the Children’s Commissioner’s Office, Dr Sarah Hughes, the Chief Executive of MIND, and the former Liberal Democrat Health Minister, Sir Norman Lamb.
Throughout the session, the Commission considered issues around the current availability and delivery of counselling and psychotherapy services to children and young people; and the opportunities and challenges for prospective therapists and other mental health professionals.
The next meeting of the Commission will discuss regulatory issues, including the current voluntary system of regulating psychotherapy in the UK, followed by two further sessions on the current evidence base around counselling and psychotherapy, and future challenges and opportunities for the professions. Following the conclusion of the open sessions, the Commission will issue a call for evidence (expected to be launched in January 2026) in which stakeholder organisations and individuals will be invited to submit research and recommendations for consideration. Finally, the Commission will publish a report with recommendations for policy and legislation, to which the Government will be invited to respond.
The BPC will be in attendance at all the upcoming sessions and will prepare its submission to the call for evidence. If you would like to discuss the work of the Commission, or wish to propose any research or recommendations for the BPC’s submission, please get in touch at hello@bpc.org.uk.
