First published in
NLP World, Volume 1, No. 2, July 1994
The Royal Road To Recognition:
NLP in Psychotherapy and Counselling
James Lawley
NLP Psychotherapy and Counselling has made great strides in
becoming accepted, and even respected in Great Britain. Five years
ago the Association for NLP (ANLP) decided to follow the route of
accreditation for its psychotherpists. This article is a report on
the progress made to date. It covers the background, the validation
process, and the factors underlying the success of the Association in
gaining recognition.
The UKCP
In 1981, a Parliamentary private member's bill attempted to
introduce legislation to control psychotherapy within Britain.
Following the failure of this bill, the British Association for
Counselling (BAC) organised a symposium amongst psychotherapy organisations. The aim of this initiative was to
establish a dialogue about regulation of the profession. This was the
beginning of a series of annual meetings which culminated after seven
years in the formation of the UK Standing Conference for
Psychotherapy (UKSCP).
Four years later, the UKSCP realised its dream of becoming the
national Council for the profession of Psychotherapy in Britain. It
marked the occasion by changing its name to the United Kingdom
Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and published the first National
Register of Psychotherapists. The Register, which contains around
3,000 names of which 52 are NLP Psychotherapists, was presented to the
Government at the House of Lords in May 1993. The current Government
prefers not to introduce legislation to control professions who
adequately regulate themselves. This means the UKCP governs by
persuasion rather than statute.
The UKCP currently has around 70 member organisations
representing
the broad spectrum of approaches to psychotherapy in the UK. It is
structured by grouping organisations with similar approaches to
psychotherapy; for example Analytical, Behavioural, Family,
Humanistic and Hypnotherapy. Finding a pigeon hole for NLP was quite
a source of debate within UKCP and we are now in a group called
Experiential Constructivists which is made up of the ANLP and
Personal Construct Psychology. PCP grew out of the work of George
Kelly in the 1950's.
The UKCP also operates at a European level and is the sole UK
representative on the Board of the European Association for
Psychotherapy. This umbrella organisation
has members representing almost every European country.
The Association for NLP
NLP Psychotherapists and Counsellors in the United Kingdom are
now
eligible to register with the UK Council for Psychotherapy. The only
NLP accrediting body recognised by UKCP is the Association for NLP.
The ANLP has been a member organisation of UKCP and its forerunners
since 1987. It is a Registered Charity and a Limited Company with
over 600 members, and is probably the largest NLP Association outside
of the USA.
In 1992, the ANLP established a Psychotherapy and Counselling
Section (PCS) for the purpose of:
- Developing and maintaining standards for the practice of
NLP Psychotherapy and Counselling
- Monitoring the activities, and furthering the interest, of
its members
- Representing the interest of ANLP to other professional and
regulatory authorities engaged in the field of psychotherapy and
counselling
- Promoting NLP Psychotherapy and Counselling to a wider
public and furthering the use of the techniques, training and practice
of NLP in personal development
- The Psychotherapy and Counselling Section has 120 members
of which 52 are currently Registered with UKCP.
The NLP Route to Registration
Each organisation within UKCP defines its own procedures for
validating psychotherapists. These procedures have to be compatible
with the UKCP guidelines and member organisations are reviewed every
5 years.
Unlike many of the bodies within UKCP who provide for their
own
training and assessment, the ANLP is not a training organisation and
therefore cannot accredit psychotherapists directly. Instead, the
Psychotherapy and Counselling Section has established a set of
validation criteria and a Validation Panel which assess applications
from those members seeking registration with UKCP.
The Validation Panel consists of three members of the PCS
Committee, two distinguished NLP psychotherapists and six external
validators. The external validators are chosen for their experience
and reputation in the field of psychotherapy. They bring credibility
and an independent eye to the process.
Validation Criteria
The Validation Panel considers applications only from Full
Members
of the ANLP PCS who practice Psychotherapy/Counselling in the United
Kingdom. A prerequisite of membership of the PCS is acceptance of the
PCS Code of Ethics. The Code covers therapists responsibilities to
the client, confidentiality, and relationships with third parties.
Applicants to the Panel are awarded a Validated Status and registered
with UKCP upon evidence of:
- A minimum of 400 hours formal training in NLP and related
subjects including Practitioner and Master Practitioner certification;
- Knowledge of other psychotherapeutic approaches which come
under the auspices of UKCP and BAC;
- Graduate level of education or equivalent work experience
which satisfies MA course entry requirements;
- A minimum of two years experience of supervised work with
clients (totalling at least 400 client contact hours);
- Ability to identify and manage appropriately their own
involvement in the psychotherapeutic process;
- Ongoing supervision (good practice is considered to be 1
hour of supervision to every 20 client contact hours);
- Continued professional development after training; and
- Adequate malpractice and public liability insurance.
If applicants do not meet the above criteria, other factors
may be
taken into account such as: research, publications and other
contributions to the field of psychotherapy; together with
accreditations from related professions (eg. medicine, psychiatry,
psychology, social work, counselling, etc.).
Validation by PCS, and registration with UKCP is for a period
of
one year. After 12 months each NLP Psychotherapist has to reapply to
the Validation Panel to seek an extension to validation for a further
year.
Behavioural Flexibility
Although the above criteria have been in effect for the last
two
years, the ANLP PCS are continually reviewing the validation criteria
based on changing UKCP directives. This gives us a wonderful
opportunity to practice our behavioural flexibility. For example, the
1995 Validation Criteria will include the additional requirement
that:
"Training shall be over a period of three-years and
shall include a critical understanding of the relevance of studies in
human development, psychopathology, sexuality, ethics, research, and
social science."
In case you are thinking NLP is universally admired in
Britain,
let me assure you it is not. A recent piece in a national publication
was headed "Neurolinguistic Nonsense" and within the UKCP there are
many, especially those from analytic backgrounds, who express strong
concerns about the validity of NLP. More than once ANLP delegates to
the Annual General Meeting of the UKCP have had to defend the right
of NLP to be represented at all!
Whence Credibility Comes?
So how have we managed to gain such a level of acceptance for
NLP,
albeit sometimes grudgingly given? In my opinion, two key factors
have been: the quality and rigour of ANLP procedures and the ability
of our delegates.
In addition to establishing the validation process, the PCS
has
produced By-Laws which govern the operation of the PCS Committee; A
Code of Ethics by which all members agree to be bound; A complaints
and disciplinary procedure; An appeals procedure and a Code of
Practice for the Supervision of NLP Psychotherapists and Counsellors.
The documented descriptions of these codes and processes have been so
highly received within UKCP that several other organisations have
used them as models for their own standards and procedures.
ANLP delegates have had to use all of their rapport skills
when
attending UKCP functions. We have taken the time to pace the fears of
the more traditional approaches to psychotherapy before putting our
case for recognition. We realise that it is not NLP itself that
causes the reaction, rather the implications NLP raises for the
established models of psychotherapy.
Our efforts have been rewarded, and for the first time the
ANLP
has a representative on the Governing Board of UKCP. This gives us an
excellent opportunity to explain that the NLP model of psychotherapy
is different, not invalid! We also get to find out what is going on
within other organisations.
I would be delighted to hear from NLP organisations who
already
have an accreditation process for NLP Psychotherapists, or are
establishing one.
James Lawley,
Chair of ANLP PCS 1993-1994
Chair of Validation Panel 1993-1995
POTTED HISTORY OF THE ANLP(not included in the original article)
1985
|
October |
ANLP established. Eileen Whicker is first chairperson. |
1986
|
Summer |
Rapport Issue 1, published as 6 page newsletter. |
1987
|
February
|
Frank Kevlin elected chair of ANLP and Jo Hogg appointed as Secretary.
|
|
November |
First one day Conference - attended by 80 people |
1988 |
Spring |
ANLP accepted for organisational membership of British Association for Counselling (BAC). Membership of Association reaches 100. Susan King becomes new editor of Rapport.
|
|
Summer
|
ANLP accepted to participate in Rugby Standing Conference on Psychotherapy (RSCP)
|
|
December |
Annual conference expanded to 2 days and attended by 160. |
1989 |
Spring |
Membership exceeds 200. |
|
Summer
|
Rapport Issue 9, produced in 16 page format. |
|
November
|
Third Annual Conference attracts 226. |
1990 |
January |
ANLP elected as full member of UK Standing Conference on Psychotherapy (UKSCP, formerly RSCP, to become UKCP). |
|
May |
First extra one-day conference held in conjunction with AGM. |
|
September |
Frank Kevlin dies and Sue Burke assumes the chair. |
|
November |
ANLP Annual Conference attended by 320. |
1991 |
May |
Membership goes over 400. |
|
Summer |
Carol Harris becomes editor of Rapport at Issue 15. |
1992 |
Spring |
Administrative Office and telephone Help Line established in the Midlands run by Sue Gazey. |
|
|
Issue 17 of Rapport fills 28 pages. |
|
June
|
Psychotherapy and Counselling Section of ANLP is born. |
|
November
|
Conference attracts over 400 delegates. |
1993 |
January |
Dermot Grace becomes Secretary of NLP while Jo Hogg continues as Conference Organiser. |
|
May |
38 NLP Psychotherapists accepted for first annual UKCP Register |
|
July
|
Summer Conference extended to 2 days. Membership exceeds 600.
|
1994 |
June |
Peter Child elected to Chair. |
|
Winter |
Rapport Issue 26 goes glossy with 60 pages having increased publication from 3 to 4 times a year. |
|
|
|
Complied by James Lawley
13 July 1995