#SCoPEd discriminates against working class & migrant therapists who can't afford academic training (tuition fees + extra costs for personal therapy, supervision, loss of income). It ignores the value of CPD on which WC&M therapists rely on to advance their professional practice.

WC&M therapists are downgraded to 'Therapist A', a group that are apparently unfit to bring with them the "4.2.b. Ability to critically appraise the history of psychological ideas, the cultural context, & relevant social & political theories to inform & evaluate ongoing practice"

This is very problematic: 1) It ignores the impact of life experience, independent learning, previous career choices, etc. through which we can develop such abilities. 2) It implies that universities have a monopoly on teaching & evaluating such abilities, which must be a joke.

Training institutions have repeatedly demonstrated how little they prepare trainees to work with issues related to class, race, gender, ability, religion… They've failed to make ALL training, not just "basic" ones, accessible to marginalised people & are complicit in oppression.

Also, implying that 'Therapist A' doesn't have "1.12.b. Ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams with other professionals to maximise therapeutic outcomes" & similar competences is problematic & a double-bind. Such skills don't come with a Master's degree but work experience.

But how can 'Therapist A' gain such skills if their employability is consistently devalued by the very membership body that is supposed to represent them? ScoPEd wouldn't be necessary if the BACP hadn't introduced a mis-leading & dividing Accreditation system in the first place.

WC&M trainees have limited resources to complete lengthy placements to work for free at reduced income, so some skills HAVE to be gained from employment. Not to mention that underfunded services RELY on trainees to provide core work, so 'Therapist A' likely has that experience.

Not to mention that many WC&M therapists often work mental health jobs already to finance their training, a field where the migrant, working class, PoC workforce is systematically exploited through low pay, precarious employment, no work-life-balance, stressful working conditions

#CN suicide, self-harm

As a mental health support worker, I've seen people through suicide attempts & self-harm at times on a weekly/daily basis. My wage was too low to enable me to save for academic training. No commitment from employer for my mental health, so private therapy.

But according to SCoPEd, I wouldn't bring with me the "2.2.a. Ability to recognise more significant mental health symptoms & difficulties, & know when & how to refer on" bc I couldn't afford 4yrs academic training, while my professional work experience prepared me for that.

This is not to say that anyone who works in mental health could be a therapist, the point is that SCoPEd erases the value of non-linear biographies that do not fit a minority norm. Many of us have work experience & lived experience that is not reflected in the proposed framework.

Some have been 'Therapist A' for 40yrs, where in the framework is their work experience reflected? Some people can't do (further) academic training bc they're single parents, pregnant, chronically ill… SCoPEd either assumes there is no oppression or doesn't care if there is one.

ScoPEd assumes that everyone entering the profession at point A has had the same life trajectory, which can only be modelled against a norm, otherwise it wouldn't make grading possible. It's applying the same principle like in psychiatry: What are the illnesses we have drugs for?

SCoPEd is a PR stunt for employers to show that BACP have authority & value when its own accreditation renewal by @prof_standards has been pending since April. Instead of doing the work that members are paying for, it's wasting resources to reinvent the wheel & divide members.

I want @BACP to focus their resources & attention on improving the livelihood of ALL members, especially the most vulnerable, dismantling inequalities within our profession which includes training & employability & representing the value of counsellors in a contested field.