REGISTRATION AND ETHICS IN PSYCHOTHERAPY

I will consider registration with respect to professionalism. In particular, I will define the ethical quality of professionalism in psychotherapy and distinguish it from practical aspects such as contract and rules of practice; and I will argue that registration would be better guided by an ethical rather than a practical concern. My remarks will be confined to psychoanalytic psychotherapy and to the current British situation, which includes three dominant features: a large public sector; the division of the professional regulatory structure into two registering bodies; the growing importance of universities. I will draw some conclusions for discussion.