Regulate the Charlatans

[Jaco45er]

We have all been there, turning to Google, searching for the "cure", the quick fix. Then we are inundated with all sorts of claims to cure you, once you part with your cash that is !!!!!

Interesting article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2467452/Health-Notes-MP-battles-quack-therapists.html

[Rennie1989]

I'm happy something is being done about this. I've seen the sites that promise a magical cure for a price and I find it disgusting that these people will scam a very vulnerable and desperate group of society. Although this should be a hint to the government to supply mental health treatment with more funding.

[gypcyg]

I agree but what about Homeopathy remedies - Most Doctors want these banned yet people who try them swear by them (Prince Charles likes them too).

So who would decide what is a quack remedy? Before I spend any money on anything I google reviews about it.

[yenool]

Seems like a good idea but as always with governments the important info will be buried in the small print/details.

One of the issues I have is that according to my GP there is basically no psychotherapy in this area anyway. You can have some short term CBT on the NHS but that is about it. So they government need to look at funding these therapies too.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Sadly and for the 2nd time now, Parliament has ended before the Bill to regulate counsellors & therapists progressed and there has been no agreement to carry it forward to the next session.

This has happened twice so I think this MP, Geraint Davies, has little or no willingness to progress it:

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/counsellorsandpsychotherapists.html

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2014-15/counsellorsandpsychotherapistsregulation.html

I don't believe he is committed to improving mental health at all, its just a point scorer or to raise his profile!

[Paul H]

Hello

I belong to the UKCP, one of the few psychotherapy professional bodies which campaigns for regulation of the 'industry'. I'm always amazed at how few of the people who call me ask about training or qualifications. I took four years to be accredited by UKCP. Some people set themselves up as therapists after a couple of weekends of 'training'.

There's nothing, in fact, to stop any of you setting up shop as a therapist tomorrow.

It really does pay to grill your potential therapist about their training.

However, good training doesn't make a good therapist - at least in so far as you're concerned. In my view the relationship with your therapist - all other things being equal - is the major component of successful therapy.

Best wishes

Paul

[MyNameIsTerry]

The Bills have deep dumped, Paul. They were clearly nothing more than a MP trying to justify their position since he raised them and let them expire without pushing them at all. Hopefully his constituents will see him for this and not allow him to keep his seat.

A question. Have UKCP actually raised this issue? These Bills were to regulate all therapists & counsellors, although there are many obvious holes in it e.g. hypnotherapists were not mentioned. The Bill relied on the HCPC to draft the Code of Ethics and presumably who it covers.

You might find that part of the reason why people don't ask the questions is because they are struggling just to get through each day of their lives. There are many qualifications and many associations out there which just serve to confuse any consumer let alone someone struggling to think straight! Many of the self regulation associations are obvious fakes too since you can join them the minute you pass an online diploma and guess who owns the training company? :whistles:

[Paul H]

Hello Terry

it's certainly the case that my professional body (which belongs to UKCP) supports it. Hypnotherapy is perhaps particularly prone to the 'fixers' of psychotherapy and its a short step from believing that we have the power to 'fix' to adopting an unethical misuse of that supposed power.

I'm particularly keen on UKCP and BACP accreditation because they both insist on personal therapy as a part of training. Therapists ought to be somewhat more self-aware than their clients and I've seen a good many therapists who are lacking in this regard.

Yes, I appreciate your point regarding those who struggle and yet many of my clients - despite their depression/anxiety and suchlike - do manage to hold down jobs and positions of responsibility. Perhaps I over-egged my comment and yet during my time in practice I think I've had no more than two or three people enquire as to the quality of my training /qualifications.

I'd simply urge would-be clients to investigate such things and to enlist the help of loved ones if this is difficult.

Best wishes

Paul

---------- Post added at 23:15 ---------- Previous post was at 23:09 ----------


I agree but what about Homeopathy remedies - Most Doctors want these banned yet people who try them swear by them (Prince Charles likes them too).

So who would decide what is a quack remedy? Before I spend any money on anything I google reviews about it.


There's a whole debate on how far therapy is placebo. Placebo has a bad rap and yet belief is key. There's plenty of evidence supporting placebo and so I'd say that if a client has faith in homeopathy then it's entirely feasible that he or she will experience positive results.

This is an entirely different thing, however, to therapists making unsubstantiated claims with regard to the efficacy of their approaches.

Best wishes

Paul