The British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) is the lead organisation for Cognitive and Behavioural Psychotherapies (CBT) in the UK and Ireland with over 26,000 members. Our mission is to support the development of CBT, and those who deliver it, to improve the mental health of people across the UK and Ireland.
Alongside the Association for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (AREBT) we keep the CBT Register UK and Ireland. This is the only officially recognised register of BABCP and AREBT accredited CBT therapists, supervisors and trainers, Wellbeing Practitioners andevdience-based Parent Trainers. The CBT Register is a Professional Standards Authority (PSA) Accredited register. We are committed to promoting the highest standards of CBT practice, training, and supervision. All registrants listed on the register have met our standards of training, maintain clinical practice, supervision and professional development; and commit to abide by our Standards of Conduct, Performance, and Ethics.
BABCP is a registered charity in England and Wales, and a company limited by Guarantee, reporting to Companies House. Our constitution is defined by our Memorandum and Articles of Association.
The following information is our submission to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) call for submissions to ‘Pregnancy and postpartum mental health‘.
Researchers
There are four considerably prominent researchers that write about perinatal clinical psychology and CBT. Please find their details below alongside some publications:
Dr Fiona Challacombe: https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/publications?author=fiona-challacombe
Dr Nichole Fairbrother: https://www.bcchr.ca/nfairbrother
Professor Heather O’Mahen: https://experts.exeter.ac.uk/747-heather-o’mahen/publications
Dr Sarah Healy: https://pearlperinatal.com/about/
Publications
BABCP has two journals: Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy and the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist. Both of our journals feature the latest in research of the theory and practice of CBT. We have published several papers on perinatal mental health, particularly with a focus on how these issues impact services. I’ve listed by journal below:
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy
Challacombe, F., Feldmann, P., Lehtonen, A., Craske, M. G., & Stein, A. (2007). Anxiety and Interpretation of Ambiguous Events in the Postnatal Period: An Exploratory Study. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 35(4), 495–500. doi:10.1017/S1352465807003748
Fairbrother, N., Thordarson, D. S., Challacombe, F. L., & Sakaluk, J. K. (2018). Correlates and Predictors of New Mothers’ Responses to Postpartum Thoughts of Accidental and Intentional Harm and Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 46(4), 437–453. doi:10.1017/S1352465817000765
Tunks, A., Ford, E., Berry, C., & Strauss, C. (2025). Healthcare professionals’ prioritisation of barriers to accessing evidence-based psychological therapy for perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 53(4), 303–320. doi:10.1017/S1352465825101136
Fairbrother, N., & Keeney, C. (2025). Diagnostic classification of fear of childbirth: why specific phobia may not be enough. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 53(3), 289–295. doi:10.1017/S1352465825000128
Maguire, P. N., Bhullar, N., Cosh, S. M., & Wootton, B. M. (2023). Help-seeking and treatment delivery preferences for women experiencing perinatal anxiety symptoms. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 51(4), 271–285. doi:10.1017/S1352465823000012
Pinar, S., Ersser, S., McMillan, D., & Bedford, H. (2022). A brief report informing the adaptation of a behavioural activation intervention for delivery by non-mental health specialists for the treatment of perinatal depression. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 50(6), 656–661. doi:10.1017/S1352465822000315
Fairbrother, N., Barr, R. G., Chen, M., Riar, S., Miller, E., Brant, R., & Ma, A. (2019). Prepartum and Postpartum Mothers’ and Fathers’ Unwanted, Intrusive Thoughts in Response to Infant Crying. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 47(2), 129–147. doi:10.1017/S1352465818000474
The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist
Buckler, T. (2025). Understanding the therapeutic needs of mothers affected by infant removals: how can Maternal Mental Health Services best support them? The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 18, e59. doi:10.1017/S1754470X25100354
Kerr, A., Warnock-Parkes, E., Murray, H., Wild, J., Grey, N., Green, C., … Ehlers, A. (2023). Cognitive therapy for PTSD following birth trauma and baby loss: clinical considerations. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 16, e23. doi:10.1017/S1754470X23000156
Hassan, H., & Holmes, N. (2023). CBT for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression in the context of pregnancy loss: a case study reflection. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 16, e33. doi:10.1017/S1754470X23000259
Other related publications of interest
Patient and therapist experiences of exposure therapy for anxiety-related disorders in pregnancy: qualitative analysis of a feasibility trial of intensive versus weekly CBT. BJPsych Open, 9(6), e189. doi:10.1192/bjo.2023.585
Challacombe, F., Green, C., & Bream, V. (2022). Break Free from Maternal Anxiety: A Self-Help Guide for Pregnancy, Birth and the First Postnatal Year. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Simon, Natalie A., Evans, Jenna, Bispham, Darcy, Williams, Ffion, Jones, Jonathan, Roberts, Neil P., Waters, Cerith S., A Systematic Review of Factors Associated With Treatment Engagement and Outcome for Women in the Perinatal Period Receiving Individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Depression, Anxiety, and Trauma-Related Disorders, Depression and Anxiety, 2025, 3698331, 31 pages, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1155/da/3698331
