Youth Access

Youth Access responds to major mental health consultations

06 November, 2009

The Health Professional Council (HPC), the regulator which protects the interests of service users, has consulted on the recommendations of its Psychotherapists and Counsellors Professional Liaison Group (PLG) on potential statutory regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors.

Youth Access’ response argues that:

•    Clumsy distinctions between counseling and psychotherapy are of little value and will not serve to protect service users.
•    The register should differentiate between different modalities.
•    The register should differentiate between practitioners qualified to work with children and young people and those qualified to work with adults.
•    The principle of dual registration should also be extended to those counsellors in the children and youth sector workforce who been trained to work with adults and or children and or young people.
•    That both ‘psychotherapist’ and ‘counsellor’ should be protected titles.
•    The proposed standards put children and young people’s safety and emotional and mental health at risk for a number of reasons.

Read our full response.

Read further information about the HPC


Youth Access‘response to the Department of Health’s national consultation on the New Horizon’s strategy

'New Horizons' is the new DH strategy that aims to promote good mental health and well-being, whilst improving services for people who have mental health problems. It will build on the National Service Framework for mental health - widely acknowledged as the catalyst for a transformation in mental health care over the last ten years - which comes to an end in 2009.

Youth Access’ response calls for:

•    The development of young peoples’ mental health services in a wide range of settings distinct from child and adult, with excellent joint transition arrangements and support across each area to end the difficult, forced and often inappropriate transitions from adolescent to adult mental health services and the appalling consequences they result in for young people.
•    Investment in existing non-statutory models of good practice (please do not overlook the Youth Information, Advice, Counselling and Support Services (YIACS) and other VCS models).
•    Investment in research to produce credible evidence and support the development of effective interventions in non-statutory settings too (for e.g. Youth Information, Advice, Counselling and Support Services (YIACS).

Read our full response.

Thanks to members who responded to calls for feedback on the above consultations

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