Hi everyone,

An update for you. The below letter has been sent to the BABCP accreditation team, highlighting our petition and the points made. Thank you so much for all your support, having over 200 signatories is amazing and really gives strength to our argument, and why this change is needed. If you could keep sharing and supporting that would be amazing and help us even more in changing things.

We will keep you updated on the BABCP's response.

Best wishes

----

Dear Mr. Tommy McIlravey, 

We write to you to express our dissatisfaction with the BABCP’s decision to forbid fully accredited practitioners the ability to continue to be accredited if they move to a country outside of the UK. We also enclose with this letter, a petition with over 240 signatures of fellow therapists who agree with the points described in this letter. The signatories have been updated of this letter.

We understand that there would be administrative challenges to allowing therapists to continue to practice outside of the UK, however it is our belief that it will be of great value to the BABCP in changing their policies for these individuals. As a first step, we would ask you to consider permitting those already fully accredited to continue to be so even if living abroad (or spending part of the year living abroad). Currently, the policy of labeling it as a ‘break in practice’, is detrimental to those who have worked hard to become trained to the standard of the BABCP as we are prohibited from counting any of the practice or supervision during this time to maintain our accreditation. This is even so if the client is within the UK, which is no different to working remotely with a client when you do not live in the same UK city.

We would ask that in light of the above, you also consider the below points:

Equality between regulators 
We would like to highlight to you that other institutions allow their therapists to continue to practice and maintain their accreditation such as the BACP and HCPC. This means that there are already structures in place by other institutes who trust their practitioners to work abroad, yet maintain the standards of care. This brings into question if other accreditation bodies allow therapists to have the flexibility on where they reside, why does the BABCP not? The BABCP works along with the EABCT already, so there are foundations in place for the BABCO to learn from other european based accreditors and build stronger networks

Brain drain to DClinPsy and lack of IAPT staffing
Importantly, we are at a point in time where demand for mental health services and highly qualified accredited professionals are in demand. We know that we lose many highly competent therapists early in their careers to the DClinPsy. This leads to a huge turnover within IAPT services, with PWPs and CBT therapists leaving for the DClin. Much is being done to try to have more longevity in these careers, both to the advantage of clinicians and clients but the problem remains. Given the HCPC allows for working abroad remotely, early stage clinicians who wish to take less risk in their career, or may wish to work abroad at some point, would naturally opt for DClin. We are therefore losing part of our workforce and this only impacts IAPTs ability to retain staff. IAPT offers many remote contracts, but due to the need to be BABCP accredited, abroad remote BABCP therapists abroad cannot apply. The impact on clients is therefore longer waitlists and lesser experienced staff, and loss of staff to DClin.

CBT Staff Shortages 
Furthermore, in an environment where services nationally are seeking out CBT therapists, having access to therapists who live abroad and are still accredited will add to the workforce. Denying CBT therapists their accreditation due to them moving to another country, can result in the number of possible candidates to be reduced. This can also result in skilled workers seeking employment privately or with services not based in the UK. There is also the risk that CBT therapists who were part of the BABCP but move abroad will join the BACP, due to their flexibility on location.

It also leads to a lack of experienced staff within services due to not being able to have longevity in careers. In the worst case scenario, and which we have witnessed happening, therapists are beginning to work unaccredited. This is dangerous for both therapist and client. 

Reciprocal nature
BABCP does allow working with overseas clients, which is far more complicated than BABCP therapists abroad working with UK clients, in regards to various legal and ethical consequences. There are no such consequences for UK therapists based overseas, as we are following all UK based standards and procedures in exactly the same way as those based in the UK. 

In a similar vein, the BABCP requirement means UK BABCP therapists abroad cannot provide CBT therapy to UK based clients. However, a non-BABCP therapist or a therapist with no British qualifications, or qualifications whatsoever, would be able to do so. Changing to allow maintained accreditation would be safer for both clients and practitioners.

Lack of modernity 
There are more people than ever who are choosing to live across countries but continue their work with their clients. COVID-19 changed the way that we know work as fixed to one place. By refraining from allowing BABCP therapists to maintain registration, it creates an environment and lack of willingness to move forward. It keeps us a non-forward facing organisation, in comparison to other countries that allow their psychological practitioners to hold their license while living abroad (e.g. Italy, USA, Austria, Spain, Germany, Japan). It is time to keep up with the modern world and other countries’ psychological bodies that are steps ahead.

The BABCP works with the EABCT already, and being a more global forward thinking organisation would allow the BABCP to raise its profile and build stronger networks. 

It is worth noting that certain digital platforms, such as IESO, have recognized the benefits of a geographically diverse workforce and allow CBT therapists to operate from various countries worldwide. However, the irony lies in the fact that despite such progressive initiatives by these digital companies, the BABCP's current policies create a roadblock for accredited therapists. In the case of IESO, where BABCP accreditation is a prerequisite for employment, the forced rescindment of accreditation renders these opportunities unattainable for qualified practitioners living abroad.

Monetary value
More CBT therapists maintaining registration means there will be more compensation towards the great work the people at BABCP do. Indeed, more CBT therapists are moving towards BACP accreditation as this allows them to work from abroad.

Diversity
It is well known that the majority of CBT research focuses on Western populations. There is a great need to understand CBT for diverse communities and non-Western populations. However, if well trained CBT therapists are unable to move easily, it seems that this will never be achieved as we have no practitioners ‘out-there’ to really feedback or learn from. Due to having to give up the BABCP accreditation once moving abroad, if practitioners are gaining valuable experience, it is not translated back to other practitioners as a result in a meaningful way. This stops all practitioners from being able to develop and provide a higher quality of client care. 

Hindrance to Professional Growth
Due to having to relinquish the BABCP accreditation once moving abroad this also stops practitioners from being able to develop. Many courses, workshops and other professional development opportunities require an accreditation body. This means that a person trained to the BABCP standards, can no longer develop as a professional or are limited to the training they can apply to. 

We wish to thank you for taking the time to read our concerns and hopes for the BABCP. We feel so strongly about retaining the BABCP accreditation due to the support and guidance the institution holds. We are proud to call ourselves CBT Therapists, and wish to maintain the standards set out by the BABCP. We hope that you can see that in considering our above statement you will validate our work as CBT therapists so that we do not lose accreditation we worked so hard to attain.

Yours Sincerely, 

Very Hopeful CBT Therapists