SCoPEd is an important part of our wider work to support and enable our members to access more opportunities to provide professional help to more people across society. 

The SCoPEd framework will enable us to more effectively promote the skills and abilities of our members in a way that hasn’t been done before. It will benefit BACP members by: 

  • enabling new opportunities for growth for all BACP members at all stages of their professional journey 
  • bringing greater credibility to the profession with a single shared framework adopted by six Professional Standards Authority accredited bodies 
  • encouraging a diverse and varied profession accessible by therapists with very different backgrounds and types of training, knowledge, and experience 
  • giving employers and commissioners a single framework to use to help the profession become better understood, valued and trusted by those who employ our members and commission our services 
  • as a result of being better understood, valued, and trusted, increasing access to paid opportunities for all BACP members to thrive wherever they sit in the framework. 

The SCoPEd framework is already starting to benefit clients, employers, commissioners and wider society by: 

  • presenting a clearer picture of the wider counselling and psychotherapy profession, showing collaboration across the profession for the first time 
  • distinguishing highly trained and qualified counsellors and psychotherapists – like all BACP members who are aligned to the framework – from those who undertake trainings which fall far short of the minimum requirements identified in the SCoPEd framework 
  • giving greater clarity about the range of skills that different counsellors and psychotherapists can provide 
  • mapping the shared minimum training standards, knowledge and experience in this way for the first time 
  • enabling employers and commissioners to make more evidence-based and informed choices by improving their understanding of the skills, knowledge, and experience of a range of qualified therapists who have met the SCoPEd framework standards. 

Ultimately, we believe the SCoPEd framework will enable BACP registered, accredited and senior accredited members to have greater access to more opportunities to provide professional help for people across society. 

See also