Glossary of Terms and Professional Bodies relating to counselling and psychotherapy

Glossary of Terms

Awareness: The open, spacious quality of consciousness which makes the perception of anything possible.

Humanistic: in this approach the counsellor/therapist is regarded not so much as an 'expert' who knows more than the client but as someone who is skilled in facilitating a process of self-discovery in another. The central belief is in the possibility for change and growth towards fulfilment of potential, in which the individual is self-aware and responsible for her/his own choices. Humanistic Psychology or `3rd force psychology` evolved in the 1950`s in the USA as an alternative to both psychoanalysis and behaviourism.

Human Potential (or Personal Growth): the idea that each of us has the seeds of our own potential - the potential to become who we truly are - within us and that life supports the unfolding or emerging of that potential from within, given the right conditions.

Integrative: as we use it, means integrating the core values and assumptions underlying different approaches to counselling into a meaningful whole that fuses with the counsellor`s own personal values.

Modular: a unit (of learning/training, in this instance) that can be taken on its own or as part of building a training qualification for oneself.

Process: the living expression of the organism in the moment - i.e. what you are feeling, sensing, experiencing in the immediate present.

Therapy: the practice of giving systematic attention to another`s process with the intention of facilitating (literally `making easier`) the other`s personal growth or self-discovery.

Transpersonal: literally - that which is beyond the purely personal - i.e. that which connects, unites and transcends us but which is experienced and given meaning individually.

GLOSSARY OF PROFESSIONAL BODIES

AHP(B)

The Association of Humanistic Psychology in Britain. Has a code of Ethics but doesn't accredit. AHP(B) is the `parent` body of UK AHPP and has its own humanistic journal `Self & Society`.

UKAHPP

The United Kingdom Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners. A professional association in the field of Humanistic Psychology, Psychotherapy and Counselling which also accredits individuals in various categories e.g. 'psychotherapist', 'humanistic counsellor', 'gestalt therapist'. It has a complaints procedure, code of ethics and practice.

BACP

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. An advisory charitable organisation concerned with setting standards for counselling and training nationally. It has a complaints procedure, code of ethics and practice. It also accredits, although you can belong to it without being accredited by it.

IPN

The Independent Practitioners Network. A national humanistic practitioners network for people who want an active - participant role in Self and Peer accrediting, supervision, ethical and complaints management and networking.

UKCP

The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy. An umbrella body that has drawn up its own register of psychotherapists. You cannot register directly with UKCP, but through an organisation like AHPP which is a member of UKCP.

UKRC

The register of counsellors that has been set up by the BACP and COSCA (Scotland).

For more information on professional bodies and to keep abreast of developments:
http://www.bacp.co.uk/regulation/ and http://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/iqs/sid.06042940334243069903791/statutory_regulation.html