Are you a member yet? Membership is open to all and is the first step towards accreditation.
Accreditation as a CBT Practitioner is a voluntary, peer-reviewed process. Unlike other professions such as psychology, nursing and medicine, it is not a legal requirement to be state-registered in order to practice as a psychotherapist, (including CBT) either privately or within an institution.
The BABCP accredits practitioners who have been fully trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and have demonstrated that their training meets the BABCP Minimum Training Standards.
This means that they have been properly trained by appropriately qualified CBT trainers in the theory and practice of CBT, on a post-graduate level, assessed CBT training course.
Accreditation also involves a commitment to ongoing CBT-specific Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and supervision. Whilst most courses involve a degree of assessment of the competence of the therapist, accreditation and reaccreditation are not a specific verification of therapist competence.
You can check if a therapist is accredited through the CBT Register UK. Practitioners are awarded Provisional Accreditation for their first year of accreditation. This is not a lesser form of accreditation than Full Accreditation – it simply means newly Accredited and BABCP checks at the end of the Provisional year that those practitioners have developed good practices of CPD and supervision.
Practitioners who have been Fully Accredited for at least three years, who have experience of complex cases and supervision and/or training can apply for Supervisor and/or Training Accreditation.
The BABCP accredits courses at two levels. Practitioners who have completed a Level 2 accredited course will meet the requirements for Practitioner Accreditation. Further information can be found at course accreditation.