Psychotherapy professionals in the UK: Expansion and experiment

The workforce providing psychological therapies in the UK has traditionally been divided according to where they work, sharp boundaries between professional associations and adherents of different treatment models, and allegiances to other professions. There are signs of a more unified (and larger) psychotherapy profession emerging as a result of government initiatives that, directly or indirectly, have the potential to reduce each of these divisions. The paper summarises recent initiatives in service delivery, training standards, evidence-based practice and professional regulation that are working to reshape the workforce responsible for providing psychological therapies in the UK, especially within publicly funded services.