The recent debate on regulation and particularly the fiasco of the ‘differentiated criteria’ between psychotherapy and counselling makes me feel the need to write something about the slippery slope I feel my profession is sliding down.

I have some understanding of what regulation is like. A number of years ago, before embarking on a career as a therapist, I was the managing director of a corporate insurance brokerage, employing seven staff. I had gone from running a business that was self-regulated under the old Insurance Brokers Registration Council where it was a criminal offence to call yourself an ‘insurance broker’ (although those who didn’t want to go through the process called themselves ‘consultants’ or ‘insurance services’ and the public was generally none the wiser – more of this later). Then some six years ago the Government decided that the insurance industry was going to be regulated by the FSA and panic ensued. Significant numbers of decent folk decided to retire earlier than planned, and I fear history will repeat itself here.

Crushing numbers of edicts were issued by the FSA, most of which needed deciphering and did little to protect the public, just added to the paperwork. So a new industry within an industry was born – compliance. We had to pay a firm of compliance consultants because we couldn’t afford our own full-time compliance officer, several hundred pounds a month to interpret the law. Not because the new law improved our service, but because of fear – fear that if we hadn’t complied with the prescribed rules and regulations then that could result in a fine so penal that we’d be out of business. I can feel that fear welling up inside me again; regulation is about fear, not a stick I relish the thought of hanging over me whilst I practise the art of counselling.

I would like to set out the reasons why I don’t believe the profession should be regulated:

1) Regulation doesn’t work: there is no concrete evidence that regulation works. I only need to refer to the recent banking crisis: where were the FSA when we needed them?

2) Who are the regulators? Will the new regulators have experience of our profession? Will they be wise, experienced qualified therapists with a thorough understanding of what we do, or will they be administrators and bureaucrats with no understanding of counselling and psychotherapy and their subtle nuances? No, the experienced therapists are all too busy doing the excellent job of supervising us all. The HPC’s lack of understanding that counsellors and psychotherapists do effectively the same thing also proves the case, and I repeat, is only the start.

3) We don’t need fixing: I don’t come across many people who have a problem with counsellors. I am proud of what I do and I don’t get any negative feedback when I tell someone that I am a counsellor. Far from it. A further indicator is that our professional indemnity insurance premiums are extremely low. We all seem to pay around £100 per year, about a 10th what other professions such as insurance brokers, solicitors and accountants pay. It wouldn’t be so low if we were being sued for professional negligence on a regular basis, or if complaints against us in general were high. Insurance companies are driven by profit and our premiums reflect our extremely low risk.

4) What will happen? A number of professionals will retire early or choose a different title to work under: ‘Wellbeing Consultant’, ‘Stress Therapist’, ‘Therapist’, ‘Empathic Listener’, ‘Coach’ – take your pick. Regulation won’t work. It is the rule of fear by regulators who speak a different language and don’t necessarily understand the profession. The people who gain are the regulators and the new compliance consultants, not the therapists and most importantly not the clients.

Jonathan Lloyd MA 
MBACP Dip Couns 
(and formerly ACII)