A new independent report released today reveals widespread discrepancies between the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) regulatory body’s required standards for clinical psychology training courses and the delivery of these courses in the UK.

Data from FOI (Freedom of Information) requests issued to all UK clinical training courses reveals a disturbing trend: professional practice is now becoming politicised. The curricula are being decolonised; evidence-based practice is being side-lined; and students are being encouraged to view their primary purpose as agents for social change.

The report argues that this move threatens the well-being of patients. The HCPC needs to act immediately to bring these training courses back into line or the whole profession will be brought into disrepute. 

Mental health services in the UK are under threat from ideology, poor governance, and censorship. If these threats are not addressed, clinicians fear that their patients will be put at further risk, and the discipline of psychology will lose all credibility.

In particular, psychologists are breaching legal, ethical, and HCPC guidelines through the promotion of discriminatory opinions and practices; potentially preventing those in need from seeking help, and also putting patients at risk by promoting ineffectual or damaging treatments.

The team behind the Save Mental Health campaign explained: ‘It should be of great concern to the HCPC regulator that clinical psychology training courses no longer provide training that fully meets its standards.  The adoption of discriminatory and unethical practices is certainly not in the best interests of patients.

‘Clinical psychology’s scientific knowledge base and evidence-based practice are being eroded. The undermining of clinical competence and expertise has implications for the management of risk and safeguarding.

‘Courses are in thrall to critical social justice ideology and the disparity between what they are teaching and the Government regulator’s standards is in itself, a scandal.’

Save Mental Health are a collection of academics, psychologists and health professionals who are concerned about mental health services in the UK. We are committed to protecting evidence-based mental health treatment and are working with a number of different organisations in order to protect the interests of mental health workers and their clients.