CPC Founding Document

CPC Founding Document

Background

The Child Psychotherapy Council (CPC) was registered as a charity on 14 October 2021. CPC was founded to protect the standards and ethics of child psychotherapy and to ensure the recognition of child psychotherapy as a distinct profession. CPC holds the belief that therapeutic work with children is different to therapeutic work with adults and requires a distinct and complex set of skills and knowledge.

CPC’s primary goal is to ensure that those who use the title child psychotherapy are trained to the highest standard, have received thorough and comprehensive training and continue to receive appropriate support throughout their careers. It provides a register of highly qualified cross-modality child psychotherapists of the highest standards.

CPC provides a centre of excellence, a golden standard that can be trusted. CPC aims to be the professional home for those working in child psychotherapy and intends to ensure that these standards are met throughout the UK.

CPC strives to ensure that children, parents, families and the general public have a greater understanding of the field of child psychotherapy so that they have a greater understanding of the quality of the service they are receiving and are therefore able to source appropriate support.

Several professions are protected and regulated in law, whereas the term child psychotherapy is not protected despite practitioners working with some of the most vulnerable members of society. CPC aims to safeguard the most vulnerable families and children from inadequate practice.

CPC is committed to ongoing review and reflection of our own practice in respect of equality, diversity and inclusivity. CPC supports practices that promote genuine equal opportunity for all members of CPC – trustees, board members, members, volunteers, employees and service users of all ages.

CPC aims to ensure that everyone has access to psychotherapeutic services regardless of race, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, social class, religion or belief and actively promotes poverty aware practice.

CPC actively opposes the practice of conversion therapy and does not accept those who practice conversion therapy as members of CPC.

Aims of CPC

CPC is dedicated to the advancement of child psychotherapy as a distinct profession within the field of child and adolescent mental health. It aims to:

-       protect the title of child psychotherapy to ensure it is only used by appropriately qualified practitioners; 

-       create a community of child psychotherapy professionals with a shared vision and influential voice;

-       promote rigorous standards for training and continuing professional development; 

-       establish a body of best practice principles, ethics and guidelines to be adhered to by practitioners and researchers;

-       lobby for funding and improved mental health services for children and young people;

-       influence public policy and legislation related to child mental health;

-       pioneer research in child psychotherapy practice and outcomes; and 

-       inform the general public on the practice, benefits and outcomes of child psychotherapy and how to select the right mental health service. 

Organisational Structure

The CPC Board of Trustees was set up with Bozena Merrick (Chair), Alix Hearn (Vice-Chair) and Nadja Rolli (Treasurer) as the founding trustees.  It was registered as a charity on 14 October 2021 with charity number 1196150. The trustees are initially in position for the following number of years:

-       Bozena Merrick: 4 years

-       Alix Hearn: 4 years

-       Nadja Rolli: 3 years

CPC is a registered company, registration number CE026897 and its registered office is 17A East End Road, London N3 3QE. CPC has been registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office since 22 February 2022.

Throughout 2021/2022 various members joined to carry out essential roles within CPC. The following committees and committee members were formalised in March 2023:

Communications Committee

-          Alix Hearn (Chair)

-          Magda Raczynska

-          Zoe Miranda

Research Committee

-          Martin Butwell (Chair)

-          Nadja Rolli

-          Alix Hearn

Governance Committee

-          Kim Fowler (Chair)

-          Asa Marks

-          Bozena Merrick

Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee

-          Anna Lippa (Chair)

-          Kim Fowler

-          Lucy Fuller

Complaints Committee

-          Asa Marks (Chair)

-          Anna Lippa

-          Magda Raczynska

Ethics and Professional Standards Committee

-          Lucy Fuller (Chair)

-          Diana Samuels

-          Bozena Merrick

Membership Committee

-          Diana Samuels (Chair)

-          Zoe Miranda

-          Nadja Rolli

The terms of reference for each committee set out the roles and governance of each committee in more detail.

The Executive Committee sits between the board of trustees and the committees set out above and its members are comprised of the chairs of each committee and some additional members. The full list of executive committee members is as follows:

-          Bozena Merrick

-          Alix Hearn

-          Nadja Rolli

-          Martin Butwell

-          Kim Fowler

-          Asa Marks

-          Lucy Fuller

-          Diana Samuels

-          Magda Raczynska

-          Anna Lippa