Today’s Times carried this article. I’ve appropriated the image because, I must confess to no surprise for anyone who knows me, I’m not a Times reader. The writer of the opinion piece is seeking to engage with readers by tapping into their fear of anything they’re actively directed to be afraid of.
These days the primary audience for journalism is online, though the Times is paywalled (hence I can’t link to the story online, much as I’d like to). If a writer gets their articles engaged with, it is seen and analysed and gives them prominence, influence and security of income. A writer going unread would get none of that.
This problem of bogus therapists is nowhere near as huge an issue as might be inferred from the article. The fact that professional bodies such as the BACP exist is brushed aside in the text because this piece is not about reassurance, recommendation or care. It is all scare to get the clicks.
For starters, while the law does allow in its laxity for ‘wild west therapy’, in practice it is rare for reason of being dangerous not only to the clients but to the bogus practitioners as well, because, without access to the insurance we properly trained counsellors need to practice and that requires us, in order to get it, to be qualified and recognised through the likes of the BACP, the phoney therapist risks ending up sued and bankrupted. That in itself is a kind of safeguard, in that the risk involved diminishes the prevalence of such dodgy activities.
I do agree we need better legislation to support our profession and, for that matter, to support people into training through financial aid often inaccessible if you’ve already had a career before turning to counselling, which is common and, indeed, advantageous in many ways. There are those unqualified practitioners who are not out to deceive or act from bad intentions of any kind. They may simply have been conned based on what they could afford to pay for training, while having a genuine conviction this is what they want to do – help people. This is not to excuse them but it isn’t to excuse the profession either for being so expensive to enter into, which is a barrier even as the call goes out to increase diversity.
There are complex issues at play, often intersecting – and far less straightforward than some are willing to acknowledge, especially journalists looking to turn their readers into fearful people with opinions based on distortion and agendas.
To be clear, it is important you seek out legitimate, qualified counsellors who are attached to a professional body like the BACP and have full indemnity insurance. It is also wise not to assume those who are unqualified and poorly trained are all in it for the money and to actively deceive or manipulate anyone. Nevertheless, they are to be avoided for your safety as a prospective client. You deserve nothing less.
xph therapy offers integrative counselling, which means working with multiple therapy types, including CBT, psychotherapeutic and person-centred to develop a therapeutic pathway just for you, whatever outcome you’re hoping to achieve. Get in touch in a variety of ways. See the contact page for more info.