Overview
The Birkbeck Counselling Association is accredited by the BPC (British Psychoanalytic Council) as a Member Institution (MI) along with other professional associations embodying training, research and academic thinking within psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy.
BCA accept applications for BPC registration and .acts as ‘gatekeeper’ for individual BCA members who wish to apply for BPC registration as Psychodynamic Counsellors. Details of the application process are outlined in section 3 below.
Please note it is an essential requirement of BPC registration to be a full BCA member and to pay your subscription by STANDING ORDER or other automatic payment.
Memorandum of Understanding Against Conversion Therapy. The BPC is a signatory of the MoU and it is good to know about it. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a joint document signed by over 25 health, counselling and psychotherapy organisations which aims to end the practice of conversion therapy in the UK.
Conversion therapy is the term for therapy that assumes certain sexual orientations or gender identities are inferior to others, and seeks to change or suppress them on that basis.
The 2017 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) makes it clear that conversion therapy in relation to gender identity and sexual orientation (including asexuality) is unethical, potentially harmful and is not supported by evidence. It updates the 2015 version released at the Department of Health, which focused exclusively on sexual orientation.
The Requirements
There are four basic conditions for individual BPC registration:
1. Membership of BCA – you must be a full member of the BCA and MUST be paying your subscription by STANDING ORDER or other regular automatic payment.
2. Training – You must have graduated either from the MSc in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy (previously called MSc in Psychodynamic Counselling), or from the MSc in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents (previously called MSc in Psychodynamic Counselling with Children and Adolescents).
3. Clinical experience – You must have completed two psychodynamically/psychoanalytically supervised long-term cases (of at least one year) either during your training and/or subsequently and you must be able to provide references to support this.
4. CPD and Ethical Code – You must be willing to work according to BPC’s Ethical Code and Complaints Procedure, and must meet the annual CPD requirements. You can find information about these on the BPC website:
BPC Professional Standards and CPD
If you do not meet condition 2 but feel you have comparable training, you may be eligible for a comparability assessment. You are welcome to discuss your situation with the chair of the scrutiny committee (see below). There are also FAQs about comparable trainings and the comparability assessment process.
5. From 2025 onwards, students who have started their training course and wish to pursue registration will need to utilise therapists and supervisors who are BPC registered Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists (or Psychoanalysts). This is a more specific requirement than Birkbeck’s own requirement. Current requirements are applicable until 2025.
The Application Process
Applications will be processed by a ‘Scrutiny Committee’ – a BCA sub-committee consisting of a number of experienced BCA members, most of whom are also BPC members. The function of the scrutiny committee is to help you make a successful application by ensuring that you meet the requirements. You will be allocated an application advisor from the scrutiny committee, who will be your point of contact and help you through the application process.
The scrutiny committee’s decision will normally be based only on your application form and references but, in some circumstances, you may be asked to write about your clinical work or attend an interview. Your application advisor will discuss this with you if it is required.
You can view the application forms and guidance notes here. When you apply, you will be sent electronic versions of the forms to complete and return by email. The first stage of making an application is to contact the chair of the scrutiny committee – the guidance notes will tell you how to do this.
Fees
Details of BPC’s annual registration fee can be found here
Student membership of BPC
Students currently training on either of the two MSc courses named above are already eligible for free student membership of BPC. Contact the BCA student liaison officer for further information. studentrep@birkbeckcounsellingassociation.org
