7 May 2008
The response to the e-petition issued on 11 March 2008 set out the Government’s policy position on the regulation of psychotherapists. It stated that the Government’s view was that the scope of statutory professional regulation should provide for three main modalities within psychotherapy. We are aware that some people have interpreted this as implying that final decisions about the scope of psychotherapy regulation have now been taken. This is not the case.
We are also aware that there is an ongoing debate about the precise number of modalities which should be included within the scope of regulated practice in future and that there is an argument for more than three modalities to be included. Final decisions about the precise scope of practice to be regulated have yet to be taken. This will be done in consultation with the stakeholders, including the professional bodies.