UKCP reaccreditation

When you qualify as a family and systemic psychotherapist, you’re eligible to register with UKCP, a professional body which holds a national register of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Only therapists who meet UKCP’s exacting standards and training requirements can be on their register.

We support our members to apply for and maintain registration with UKCP. Find out more about how this works on our Register with UKCP through AFSP page.

Every 3 to 5 years, or more often than this if we request it, you’ll need to renew your registration with UKCP through AFSP, a process known as reaccreditation. We’ll ask you to provide evidence that you’re continuing to meet standards of safe and effective practice and keeping your skills up to date.

Continuing professional development (CPD)

Qualifying as a family and systemic psychotherapist is not the end of your learning journey. You have to complete annual continuing professional development (CPD).

For the reaccreditation process, you’ll need to submit a review of your CPD.

You need to:

• Undertake 250 hours of CPD over a 5-year period
• Complete a minimum of 20 hours of CPD in any 1 year within that 5-year period
• Discuss your CPD with your supervisor or in peer group supervision each year
• Keep an annual log of your CPD
• Submit a review of your CPD every 3 to 5 years as part of the reaccreditation process. The review should have details of the CPD you’ve done and what you’d like to do in the future, after discussing this in supervision. You can keep a log of your CPD in the MemberZone of our website

What can CPD include?

 Each year, CPD can consist of:

• 12 hours of supervision, or 18 hours in your first 3 years of practice
• 20 hours of keeping up to date with developments in the field. This could be through:
  • Reading AFSP publications, such as Context and the Journal of Family Therapy
  • Getting involved with AFSP. For example, through joining one of our committees or branches
  • Research and evaluation
  • Listening to podcasts
  • Teaching
• 18 hours of attending in-person or online events, including workshops, conferences, webinars or other training events. This should include:
  • Level 3 safeguarding training
  • Training that is relevant to your clinical practice
  • At least 12 hours of systemic psychotherapy training

Supervision

Your CPD record must demonstrate that you meet our supervision requirements.

During the first 3 years after you qualify as a family and systemic psychotherapist, you need to have a minimum of 18 hours’ supervision per year (or 1.5 hours each month). Of this, 12 hours should be individual face-to-face or online supervision. The remaining 6 hours can include live supervision or group supervision.

After 3 years of qualified practice, supervision should be:

• Every 2 months
• For a minimum of 12 hours a year
• With a family and systemic psychotherapist for at least 60% of the time. For the remaining 40%, the supervisor could have a different modality

Find out more about supervision

Maintaining safe practice

To be approved for reaccreditation, you must also demonstrate that you:

• Hold appropriate professional indemnity insurance
• Document your client hours
• Confirm there are no unresolved complaints or professional issues affecting your practice
• Provide details of your up-to-date criminal record check certificate
• Confirm that you have a professional will if you’re in independent private practice. Find out more in our CPD policy (PDF, 257KB)
• Reflect on your professional development and outline plans for your future development

Extra requirements for supervisors

If you’re on AFSP’s approved supervisors list and registered on UKCP’s directory of approved supervisors through AFSP, you’ll also need to do the following to maintain your registration:

• Have specific supervision of your supervision work at least 4 times a year for a minimum of an hour. This can be part of the minimum 12 hours of required supervision for registration as a psychotherapist.
• Attend 2 CPD events specifically focused on supervision. This can be part of the minimum 20 hours of required CPD hours for registration as a psychotherapist.
• Write a short statement of 250-500 words on your supervisory development during the past 5 years.

AFSP will make sure to ask you to complete the reaccreditation process for UKCP registration and registration as a supervisor at the same time.

Download our approved supervisors list CPD policy requirements policy (PDF, 111KB) for more information.

The 6-step reaccreditation process

1. We will contact you by email to complete and submit a reaccreditation review form in the MemberZone area of our website. If you’re selected, we’ll usually let you know in the December before the review year.
2. You’ll then receive a formal notice giving 4-6 weeks to complete and send the review back to us, along with your supporting documents. In exceptional circumstances, you may be granted a short extension. However, UKCP does not allow reaccreditation to be deferred. UKCP state if you are unable to participate in reaccreditation, your name will be removed from the list of registered psychotherapists until you are able to engage with the reaccreditation process.
3. Our membership administrator reviews all applications and sends them to the registration committee for approval.
4. The AFSP registration committee aim to respond to complete reviews within 3 months of receiving them. If they have any questions in that time, they will contact you. You will have 28 days to submit further information if they ask for it.
5. Possible outcomes include that we:

• Recommend you for UKCP reaccreditation
• Recommend you for UKCP reaccreditation with suggestions
• Need more information
• Don’t approve the application as it doesn’t meet our requirements
• Refer you to our ethics committee if you’ve breached our Code of Ethics and Practice (PDF, 199KB). For example, if you continue to practise as a family and systemic psychotherapist but no longer maintain professional registration.

6. If you disagree with the outcome of the reaccreditation process, you can write to the chair of the registration committee and the chair of AFSP. Our regulations officer will review your concern.