Just read the 2nd Iteration of SCoPEd and unsurprisingly I'm not impressed. The abandonment of titles seems insincere - the titles are gone but the hierarchy still exists. Plus the competencies as mapped out don't reflect the reality of becoming a therapist.

As lovely as it is to have, therapist C must have 450hrs client hours in training (which by proxy locks myself and 1000s of other qualified and experienced therapists from ever moving from B to C, unless we're wealthy enough to embark on a full Masters Degree).

This metric doesn't actually mean much. Therapist C is not more competent than Therapist B because they had 450 client hours whilst training. There are many other relative and relational variables at play when assessing competencies. We can't just dismiss phenomenology.

And once again, a knowledge of pathology and the medicalisation of human distress appears to equate to a more competent practitioner than somebody who thinks more holistically, such as myself.

Then there's the fact that therapist A trainees will undoubtedly encounter client work that require therapist C competencies. Because not everybody with chronic mental health difficulties find themselves in a mental health clinic.

People with complex mental health difficulties might find support from charities that support people who are: homeless, battling addiction, facing bereavement/death, facing challenges because of their sexuality and identity, war veterans etc...

So if this iteration is to be enforced somebody best get in touch with all the front line services which are highly dependent on trainee therapists and let them know the flow of free labour has to be halted.

Or is okay for therapists a to do this work for free, but not paid?

Because anyone who hasn't completed a Master's Degree in psychotherapy is not competent enough to engage in work involving people experiencing complex/chronic mental health disorders.

As a framework it reads as if becoming a therapist is linear process, which it's not - it's messy, unsettling and challenging. There is growth and there is destruction. What works for one will not work for another.

Effective therapy is an art, not a science, and to claim otherwise damages the profession in my mind.

As registered therapists we're considered to possess the integrity to safely work with vulnerable people who are suffering but apparently we lack the integrity to evaluate our own competencies.

Apparently all therapeutic/professional competencies are gained through education/training and real life experiences are considered worthless.

It's smacks of, we can't measure this so let's just disregard it, which is something the behaviourists did in the 50s if I'm correct?

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (Cameron,1963)

Apparently this bit of wisdom is beyond the comprehension of the SCoPEd team.

Unsurprisingly, I'm disheartened.