Counselling is Changing .. Okay Then ... Let's get our professional on
There is a change happening in counselling and psychotherapy which is causing lots of noise within the industry but is barely noticeable outside. Some people are excited by it, and some are worried about it; some are thoroughly fed up with hearing about SCoPEd and some are probably hoping that if they ignore the whole thing for long enough, it might quietly wander off.
It isn't going to.
The six professional bodies that make up the Partnership of Counselling and Psychotherapy Bodies (the ACC, BACP, BPC, HGI, NCPS and UKCP) have now fully implemented the SCoPEd framework within their membership structures.
So perhaps the question now isn't whether we like change but is
“What are we going to do with it?”
Because professionalism isn't the enemy of relationship here at Training By Liberty, our answer is increasingly becoming:
Counselling is Human
There is something wonderfully human about counselling.
We sit with another person; we listen, we notice, we wonder, we build a relationship in which something different might become possible. I don't want us to lose that and reassuringly, neither does SCoPEd.
One of the significant changes incorporated into the framework was a greater emphasis on the therapeutic relationship and the qualities of the therapist; as previous iterations seemed to dismiss or ignore entirely the value of the relationship that is held so centrally in humanistic modalities. Its five overarching areas are professional framework, assessment, therapeutic relationship, knowledge and skills, and self-awareness and reflection.
That matters because becoming more professional does not have to mean becoming more clinical, more distant or more bureaucratic.
It can mean becoming clearer about why we do what we do, what informs our decisions, where the boundaries of our competence lie, and how we can account for the choices we make. That feels rather different.
So what exactly is being standardised?
SCoPEd is a shared framework for the scope of practice and education of counsellors and psychotherapists working with adults. Its stated purpose includes creating a shared understanding of training and practice requirements and identifying the core competences required for safe and ethical practice.
And this is where I think we need to separate standardisation from sameness.
SCoPEd isn't asking every therapist to practise in the same way.
It explicitly acknowledges different theoretical approaches and different routes into the profession. It also says that individual courses may contain additional competences, differing depth of focus on one area and philosophical or theoretical detail that simply cannot be captured within generic standards.
That’s Good.
I don't want a profession containing thousands of identikit therapists. Our philosophies matter as do our modalities and our personalities and more importantly our unique human experience. The relationships we create with our clients matter more.
But underneath that wonderful diversity, there is a reasonable question:
Shouldn't there be some things that a client can expect from all of us?
Surely there should be a shared expectation that we understand ethical practice, that we know the limits of our competence and will work within them. Is it so unreasonable to expect that we use supervision and that we can assess risk and need appropriately. Isn’t an understanding of the purpose, value and legalities of safeguarding risk are a bare minimum our clients should receive from us? And how can we learn, grow and develop if we are unable to reflect on ourselves and understand what it means to be human more deeply. If I can’t explain the theoretical philosophy underpinning my practice why should the client trust that I am reliable and worth trusting?
Those aren't restrictions on our individuality, they are the foundations underneath it; the scaffolding within us that makes us better therapists.
And importantly, SCoPEd is about minimum standards.
This is another distinction worth making because some of the anxiety around SCoPEd has understandably centred on its Columns A, B and C.
The framework describes these as different entry and progression points based on training, practice and competence. It also explicitly states that therapists can practise competences associated with another column where they have the skills and knowledge to do so. Progression to another column is available where all the relevant requirements can be evidenced, but therapists do not have to progress if those additional competences or standards are not required for their role.
And collecting certificates in an increasingly impressive folder does not automatically make anybody a more effective practitioner; having a higher level of qualification does not mean you are a more proficient therapist.
What the framework does give us is something much more useful: a common language through which we can describe and evidence professional competence.
That is potentially a very good thing.
Because "I know I practise ethically" isn't quite enough anymore and maybe this is where the biggest cultural shift sits.
Most therapists I know care deeply about practising ethically but increasingly the professional expectation isn't simply that we are ethical; it is that we can demonstrate our ethical reasoning.
The new BACP Ethical Framework, which takes effect on 3 November 2026, is particularly explicit about this. Members are expected to be able to explain the reasoning behind decisions, account for the factors informing them and, where appropriate, demonstrate collaborative decision-making.
Its ethical decision-making process asks practitioners to identify the ethical issues, consider relevant internal and external factors, record the decisions and actions taken, consider whether they were consistent with ethical principles and responsibilities, and review the process.
That doesn't mean creating a twelve-page document every time something slightly awkward happens.
It means being able to say:
That is professional practice.
And actually, many counsellors are already doing it. We just need to ensure that we become better at making it visible.
Interestingly, one of the things I noticed when I became a therapist and still see often on Facebook groups and hear in group discussions - counsellors seem to have an intense mistrust of paperwork.
But Professionalism lives in the decidedly unglamorous bits like record keeping, contracts, policies, privacy notices, insurance, supervision, contingency planning; and maybe this is the part of becoming a profession that doesn't make quite such an inspiring Instagram post.
But as a profession, it is important to understand that these things aren't separate from the therapeutic work as we can see, professional frameworks explicitly locate them within ethical practice.
For example, BACP's 2026 framework requires appropriate records that are factual, adequate and relevant, securely stored and compliant with data-protection requirements. But what about if you trained many years ago and were told not to keep notes “because they could be used against you”? Suddenly keeping client records, understanding ICO/GDPR requirements and obligations feels overwhelming and frightening but it doesn’t need to be – in fact, ensuring we are aware of the purpose and obligation makes it much less scary.
We all know that professional ethics require practitioners to have appropriate qualifications, training and experience for the services we offer, we need to keep our knowledge and skills up to date, maintain appropriate insurance and undertake adequate supervision; but have we really explored what the consequences of NOT doing these things might be on our clients, our selves, and our profession?
And remember, the protection of the client is the centre of the explicit requirement to have a clinical will and an executor who can communicate with clients if the practitioner unexpectedly becomes unable to do so, for whatever reason, not just if they die.
Think about what might happen with your client work if you are taken ill? Your loved ones are injured/unwell or there is a huge shift in circumstances. If you just disappear off the face of the earth and are uncontactable, How might your clients experience that? It is so far from the care, empathy and warmth the therapists I know have for their work.
And I know, none of the listed requirements can make somebody warm, empathic or relational. But it does mean that the warm, empathic, relational work takes place inside a professional structure designed to protect the people who trust us.
And surely those two things belong together.
Professional identity is becoming important too
There is another little line in SCoPEd that I think deserves much more attention than it sometimes gets.
One of the foundational Column A competences is the ability to articulate the rationale and philosophy underpinning your own therapeutic practice.
· Not Rogers' philosophy.
· Not Beck's.
· Not Freud's.
· Yours.
Of course, our training and theoretical models inform us. But eventually we have to develop our own coherent understanding of people, distress, relationships, change and the purpose of therapy.
· What do you believe?
· How does that belief influence the way you practise?
· What happens when your values meet a client's very different values?
· What happens when theory doesn't provide a neat answer?
That development from student who knows counselling theory to practitioner who has a coherent professional identity is enormous.
And it doesn't happen magically on the day somebody hands us a diploma.
Training needs to change too
This is where we, as training providers, have responsibility.
SCoPEd specifically identifies the framework as a resource through which training organisations can integrate generic professional standards into learning outcomes and assessment criteria, while retaining the philosophical and theoretical distinctiveness of their courses.
So we cannot reasonably tell practitioners that the profession is changing while continuing to train them as though nothing has happened. That is why our Diploma has evolved so much over the last couple of years, and why we continue to reflect and learn from our students.
It is also why our own programmes have been added to, as the profession is evolving, so does Training By Liberty.
Our Professional Certificate in Counselling Practice sits in that sometimes-uncomfortable space between qualifying and becoming established in practice. It focuses on applying theory to actual client work, using supervision purposefully, ethical reasoning, reflective practice and beginning to form a professional identity.
It isn't about stuffing another model into your counselling toolkit. As the course information says, the focus is on learning how to use what you already know.
Then there is a different stage.
Our Advanced Professional Diploma in Clinical Counselling is designed for experienced practitioners ready to examine ethical reasoning under pressure, clinical judgement in uncertainty, complexity, reflective practice and the development of a professional voice that can withstand scrutiny.
The programme works explicitly with areas including assessment and formulation, power and difference, rupture and repair, complaints and professional scrutiny, and grounded professional identity.
And that distinction matters.
Professional development shouldn't simply mean more courses, it should mean development that makes sense for where you actually are.
We also don't need to pretend SCoPEd is perfect; I know this would be very easy to turn this into a piece of cheerleading but I'm not going to.
There has been disagreement about SCoPEd. There are legitimate questions about standards, power, accessibility, routes through the profession and the implications of categorising practitioners.
Challenge is useful and professions should be willing to examine their structures. Professional bodies absolutely need to be accountable, and frameworks should evolve when evidence, practice and society evolve and even if you don’t like it, SCoPEd itself describes the framework as a living document, intended to evolve and undergo major review approximately every five years.
So disagreement doesn't necessarily threaten professionalisation, it sometimes strengthens it by asking questions like who benefits? Who might be disadvantaged? Does the requirement genuinely improve client safety or are we merely creating another hoop? It should be challenged.
Exploring all of those things can be done while also recognising the value of a profession beginning to agree collectively on what safe, ethical and competent practice looks like, right?
Because ultimately this is about trust
The stated vision behind SCoPEd is for counselling and psychotherapy to be better understood, valued and trusted by clients, employers, commissioners and society.
That is a goal I can get behind because I want us to protect what is extraordinary about this work; the relationship, the humanity, the privilege of being trusted with somebody's story, the freedom to work from different philosophies and modalities, the creativity and individuality practitioners bring into the room; I could go on.
I don’t believe Professionalisation has to squash any of that; I believe it can be the structure that helps us hold it safely.
Maybe you need to tighten your record keeping.
Maybe you need a clinical will
Maybe your supervision contract needs reviewing.
Maybe you have been making thoughtful ethical decisions for twenty years but have never actually documented the reasoning behind them.
Maybe it is time to articulate your professional philosophy.
Maybe you want to explore Column B competences.
And maybe you don’t.
Our original thought when developing these programmes was that professional development should feel uplifting and encouraging, rather than devaluing; because so much of this is already happening in good counselling practice and simply needs to become more explicit, more obvious
This is not about becoming homogenous therapists, but maybe it is about being able to stand a little more confidently in what we do, understand the responsibilities that come with it, keep learning, keep questioning and be willing to account for our practice.
Together we can raise standards without losing ourselves.
We can challenge each other, support each other and learn from each other.
And we can make sure that when somebody says, "I'm a counsellor," it means something.
So, counselling is changing. Okay then. Let's get our professional on.
References
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) (2026) Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions. Lutterworth: BACP.
Professional Counselling and Psychotherapy Board (PCPB) (2025) SCoPEd Framework: January 2022, amended 2025. Professional Counselling and Psychotherapy Board.
Professional Counselling and Psychotherapy Board (PCPB) (2026) About the SCoPEd Framework.
Professional Counselling and Psychotherapy Board (PCPB) (2026) How to use the SCoPEd Framework.
Professional Counselling and Psychotherapy Board (PCPB) (2026) PCPB marks major milestone in collaborative work as SCoPEd framework is fully implemented. 3 March 2026.
Professional Counselling and Psychotherapy Board (PCPB) (2024) SCoPEd Partnership Update. 14 February 2024.
Training By Liberty (2026) Professional Certificate in Counselling Practice: Course Information. Training By Liberty.
Training By Liberty (2026) Advanced Professional Diploma in Clinical Counselling: Course Information. Training By Liberty.
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