Select Committee on Innovation, Universities and Skills Written Evidence


Memorandum 27

Submission from the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London

  I am responding to the invitation to comment on these proposals in my capacity as programme Leader for a range of family therapy training courses at the Institute of Psychiatry ( Kings College London). I am also chair of the Registration Committee for the Association for Family Therapy.

  In the psychotherapy and counselling fields there is a great deal of concern about the current proposals. Whilst respecting the wish to ensure that funds for education are fairly targeted, our view is that these current proposals could have a serious effect on the opportunities for training in therapy and counselling and on the quality of the workforce. In our field of family therapy we expect candidates for training to have a prior degree and professional training. On application to the Diploma and MSc programmes (the recognised training in family therapy) they will frequently have a higher or equivalent qualification to the one they wishing to study. This previous study and experience is a requirement as a platform for the psychotherapy studies.

  If they are not exempted it will have a serious effect on courses ability to offer affordable courses and therefore impact on the workforce which is dedicated to one of the governments priorities of working with children and families. Family therapists undertake this work at a complex level. It will make it difficult to attract the best professionals into courses and also severely affect the diversity of students and in consequence the diversity of the workforce. This would seem to be contradictory to many aspects of government policy and good practice.

  I would urge the committee to ensure that family therapy is made an exemption from this proposed policy.

January 2008






 
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