Counsellor/Psychotherapist

Accreditation Scheme

‘A quality standard for the experienced practitioner who can demonstrate high standards of competent and ethical practice’

Application Pack

This pack must be read in conjunction with the Guide to Applying

Applications will not be returned after assessment

Please retain a complete copy for your own records

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Registered Charity 298361

Standard for Accreditation

‘A quality standard for the experienced practitioner who can demonstrate high standards of competent and ethical practice’

You can apply for accreditation if you provide counselling or psychotherapy to individual people, couples, children and young people, groups or families and can provide satisfactory evidence to meet all Criteria 1 to 9

Criteria for application

Eligibility Criteria 1-4

When you apply and throughout the assessment process, you must be:

1.A registered member of BACP

2.Criteria removed – no longer required

When you submit your application you must be:

3.Practising as a counsellor and/or psychotherapist

4.Your training and supervised practiceYou must have undertaken training and supervised practice to meet one of the following criteria:

Either:

4.1 You have been awarded a qualification from a BACP accredited training course

and

Have been in practice at least three years when you apply for accreditation
Have at least 450 hours of supervised practice accumulated within three to six years (they do not have to be consecutive years)
Of the 450 hours at least 150 of the hours of supervised practice must be after the successful completion of your BACP accredited course
Have been supervised for at least 1½ hours per month throughout the period of practice submitted

or

4.2 You have successfully completed and received an award for practitioner training that:

Included at least 450 hours of tutor contact hours
Was carried out over at least two years (part-time) or one year (full-time)
Had a supervised placement as an integral part of the training
Covered theory, skills, professional issues and personal development

and

Have been in practice at least three years when you apply for accreditation
Have at least 450 hours of supervised practice accumulated within three to six years (they do not have to be consecutive years)
Of the 450 hours at least 150 hours of supervised practice must be after you have successfully completed your practitioner training
Have been supervised for at least 1½ hours per month throughout the period of practice submitted

5.SupervisionYou have an ongoing current contract for counselling/psychotherapy supervision for a minimum of 1½ hours per month. For all practice submitted you must be able to demonstrate you had supervision arrangements for a minimum of 1½ hours per month.

Reflective Practice Criteria 6-9

6.Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

6.1Describe one CPD activity, relevant to your area of practice, detailing what the activity is, that you have undertaken in the 12 months before applying for accreditation

6.2Provide reason(s) for choosing the activity with reference to your practice

6.3Show how the activity has influenced your practice

7.Self-awareness

7.1Describe an experience or an activity which has contributed to your own self-awareness

7.2Provide a reason(s) for choosing the experience or activity

7.3Show how you use this self-awareness in your practice

8.Knowledge and understanding

8.1Describe a rationale for all your client work with reference to the theory / theories that inform all your practice.

8.2Describe the place of your self-awareness within your way of working

8.3Describe how issues of difference and equality impact upon the therapeutic relationship.

9.Practice & Supervision

In your case material account for:

9.1How your practice is consistent with your described way of working (in 8.1)

9.2How you use your self-awareness in the therapeutic relationship

9.3How your practice demonstrates your awareness of issues of difference and equality and the impact they have on your counselling / psychotherapy relationships

9.4Use of the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions

How supervision influences your practice by:

9.5Describing the awareness you have gained through reflection in and on supervision

9.6Showing how you apply that awareness in your practice

If you would like to download an application pack, visit Accreditation at

Accreditation eligibility checklist

Criteria / or
1 / Am I a registered member of BACP?
Will I remain so for the duration of the assessment process?
2 / Criteria removed – no longer required
3 / Am I currently in practice as a counsellor and/or psychotherapist and will remain so for the duration of this application
4.1 / Have I have been awarded a qualification from a BACP accredited training course
Have I had a minimum of 450 hours of supervised practice?
With a minimum of 150 practice hours post-training?
Gained over a minimum of three and a maximum of six years?
Supervised to a minimum of 1.5 hours per month?
Or
4.2 / Have I successfully completed practitioner training of a minimum of 450 taught contact hours?
Over not less than two years part-time or one year full-time?
In addition to the 450 taught hours, had an integral supervised placement?
Did the training include theory, skills, professional issues and personal development?
Have I had a minimum of 450 hours of supervised practice?
With a minimum of 150 practice hours post-training?
Gained over a minimum of three and a maximum of six years?
Supervised to a minimum of 1.5 hours per month?
5 / Do I have a contract for counselling supervision for a minimum of 1.5 hours per month, for each month in which practice was undertaken?

Application Form

Part A – Your details

BACP member number:
BACP Register number:
Title (Mr, Mrs, Ms, other):
First name(s):
Surname:
Address:
Postcode:
Daytime phone number:
E-mail address:
May we contact you by e-mail? / Yes / No

When did you first start to practise as a counsellor/psychotherapist?

New interactive Accreditation Resources are available to help you understand the requirements and assist you through our accreditation process. These resources are free to access at

Part B – Complaints and refusals

Please delete Yesor Noto leave the correct answer showing

1) Is there a formal complaint against you currently being investigated by us or any other relevant professional body? (If yes, see below) / Yes / No
2) Has any formal complaint made against you been upheld by us or any other relevant professional body? (If yes, please provide a copy of the details of the complaint and outcome from the relevant body.) / Yes / No
3) Have you been refused recognition, certification or accreditation by any relevant professional body? (If yes, please provide a copy of the details of the refusal from the body concerned.) / Yes / No

If you have answered YES to Part B 1), we will be unable to accept your application for accreditation until the outcome of the investigation has been decided.

Part C – Eligibility for application

Please delete Yes or No to leave the correct answer showing:

Do you understand that you must remain a Registered Member in order to submit your application? / Yes / No

Part D – Current practice

Please delete Yesor Noto leave the correct answer showing:

Are you currently in practice as a counsellor/psychotherapist and will remain so until you receive your decision? / Yes / No
How many client hours do you undertake each month?
Please give details of all your current counselling/psychotherapy practice.
(In each case please give your role, the setting and include your employer’s details)
Declaration of Honesty
I declare that as far as I know, my application contains only true information. I hereby authorise the officers of BACP to make such enquiries as they consider necessary to verify the information given. I understand that if any incorrect, incomplete or plagiarised information is discovered, my application for accreditation may be invalidated and my application withdrawn. Such matters may also be referred for consideration under the Professional Conduct Procedure or the Article 12.6 procedure as appropriate.
Applicant’s Signature:
Date:

Part E – Diary of Current practice

In the blank tables provided, please give details of your work with clients over the past month. (If you cannot use the last month for any reason, use a four-week period from the past six months.) The hours of counselling/psychotherapy work you use in your application should not include assessment interviews, training sessions, supervision, cancelled or missed sessions (Could or Did Not Attend or CNA/DNA).

The number of sessions you show should be similar to the number shown in Part D and should show all client types that you work with.

Please show the sessions for each type of work setting and keep all sessions from the same setting together in the same table. Do not give clients’ names. Give each client a reference letter or number, and give a description of their gender (‘M’ for male and ‘F‘ for female) and age in brackets. For example, for a female client aged 45 and referred to as client A, enter A (F, 45).

If you have a large number of clients and work settings, please copy the blank tables.

Here are some examples:

Type: individual clients, GP Practice
Client Details: P (50,M), Q (19,F)
Date / Session No. / Client / Length (mins) / Main concerns of session
02.04.2012 / 31 / P / 50 / Feels hopeless and helpless about his marriage
09.04.2012 / 32 / P / 50 / Expectations about marriage, memories of parents’ marriage
13.04.2012 / 33 / P / 50 / Deeper look at relationship with mother
12.04.2012 / 5 / Q / 50 / Looking back over first week of ‘food diary’
19.04.2012 / 6 / Q / 50 / ‘Going backwards’ and feeling out of control
Type: couple work, private practice
Client Details: X (36, F) + Y (39,M)
Date / Session No. / Client / Length (mins) / Main concerns of session
02.04.2012 / 10 / X, Y - DNA / 50 / Y is ill. X feels happier about Y’s job, taking night classes
09.04.2012 / 11 / P / 50 / Talking about ending
Type: family therapy, ABC Counselling Agency
Client Details: A (41, M) + (B43, F) + C (13, M) + D (12,F)
Date / Session No. / Client / Length (mins) / Main concerns of session
01.04.2012 / 9 / All / 60 / Beginning to talk about ending
08.04.2012 / 10 / All / 60 / Agreed ending in two weeks
15.04.2012 / 11 / A + B / 60 / Parents only scheduled to attend, beginning to end
22.04.2012 / 12 / All / 60 / Final session

Group work can be shown in the same way as the family therapy example above

Part E – Diary of Current practice

Type:
Client Details:
Date / Session No. / Client / Length (mins) / Main concerns of session
Type:
Client Details:
Date / Session No. / Client / Length (mins) / Main concerns of session
Type:
Client Details:
Date / Session No. / Client / Length (mins) / Main concerns of session
Type:
Client Details:
Date / Session No. / Client / Length (mins) / Main concerns of session

Your route to accreditation

If you are applying using route 4.1 (BACP accredited training), you should now go to part F

If you are applying using route 4.2 (other training) you should now go to part G

 See the Guide to Applying section on ‘your training’ if you are not sure which route is right for you.

Part F: Applicants applying under Criterion 4.1

BACP accredited training course

Full title of course:
Main theoretical approach:
Other theoretical approaches:
Training institution’s name:
Institution’s address:
Postcode:
Institution’s phone number:
Start date of course: / Date completed:
Title of the award you received: / Date received:

 See the Guide to Applying section on ‘your training’ for more information

Part F: Practice submitted under Criterion 4.1

You must give details of at least 450 hours of counselling/psychotherapy practice. You should show at least three and not more than six years practice. (These do not have to be calendar years, they could be separate 12-month periods and do not have to be consecutive.)

You must show that at least 150 hours of your practice took place after you completed the training submitted. Please identify this in the column headed post training practice hours. Give a total for each 12 month period and a final cumulative total for all practice hours claimed.

Please use a separate line of the table to show each practice setting within any 12 month period. You can continue on a separate sheet if necessary.

For all the practice you have given details of, you must have been supervised at least 1½ hours a month and submit a completed ‘Part H’ for each arrangement.

Use the last column to confirm that you have included supervision details to cover this practice.

Here is an example of a completed table:

Dates for each 12 month period
(from - to) / Your role, the place and setting for this practice / Hours of practice during period / How many are post-training practice hours? / Number of months practiced in this period / Have you included supervision details for this practice?
(Part H)
From:
01/01/07
To:
31/12/07 / Addiction counsellor at ABC agency, Luton / 100 / 0 / 10 / Y
From
01/01/10
To: 31/12/10 / Addiction counsellor at ABC agency, Luton / 100 / 60 / 10 / Y
From:
06/04/13
To:
05/04/14 / Counsellor of patients, consulting room at Glendale Surgery, Bristol. / 150 / 150 / 10 / Y
From:
06/09/14
To:
05/09/15 / Own private counselling practice, 28 The Elms, Bristol / 73 / 73 / 8 / Y
From:
06/09/15
To:
05/05/16 / Own private counselling practice, 28 The Elms, Bristol / 162 / 162 / 8 / Y
Please give totals for these two columns: / 585 / 445

Part F: Practice submitted under Criterion 4.1

Now go to Part H: Supervision of Practice

Part G: Applicants applying under Criterion 4.2

Training not accredited by BACP

The training you give details of in this section does not need to have been undertaken all on one course, although there must be clear evidence of practitioner training in counselling/psychotherapy. Please copy this form and complete for each course you want to give details of, starting with the most substantial course(s). You can only use courses that you have successfully completed and for which you have received the award certificate.

Your training must have included a supervised placement as an integral part of your course. You must be able to give details of this placement. You should not count your placement hours in the formal taught contact hours total given for the course.

You must show how the course covered the following elements:

theory
skills
professional issues
personal development

If you have an official breakdown of the course hours and elements from your training institution, you can send this providing the breakdown is clearly shown.

You must send us copies of your award from each course

See theGuide to Applyingsection on ‘your training’for more information

Full title of course:
Main theoretical approach:
Other theoretical approaches:
Training institution’s name:
Institution’s address:
Postcode:
Institution’s phone number:

Part G: continued

Please provide a breakdown of the number of formal taught contact hours (not including hours in placement). For example, three hours a week, two 20-hour residential weekends over two academic years = 202 hours:
Total taught hours:
Start date of course: / Date completed:
Title of the award you received: / Date received:
Dates of your placement:
Please give details of your placement:
Please briefly describe how theory, skills, professional issues and personal development were covered on the course:
Theory:
Skills:
Professional Issues:
Personal Development:

Part G: Practice submitted under Criterion 4.2

Please use a separate line of the table to show each practice setting within any 12 month period. You can continue on a separate sheet if necessary.

For all the practice you have given details of, you must have been supervised at least 1½ hours a month and submit a completed ‘Part H’ for each arrangement.

Use the last column to confirm that you have included supervision details to cover this practice.

Here is an example of a completed table:

Part G: Practice submitted under Criterion 4.2

Now go to Part H: Supervision of Practice