New therapy regulations 'will not ensure public safety'

Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy members describe Coru's steps towards regulation of the professions as 'shocking'. Stock picture

A row between the psychotherapy sector and regulator Coru has intensified, with the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) warning that new standards put patients at risk.

First steps towards regulation of these professions began in July, aiming to put an end to fake or ill-trained therapists counselling vulnerable patients.

However, the move has been greeted with frustration despite the sector being in favour of regulation. 

The IACP joins two other Irish bodies that previously shared their concerns.

IACP member Leo Muckley provides therapy and counselling from Glengarriff in West Cork.

He described the new rules as “shocking”, and said they ignore a public consultation. Mr Muckley said: 

Internationally-recognised best practice has been ignored — this is unacceptable. 

A key concern is that mandatory personal therapy sessions are not required in training.

“It’s not going to keep the public safe, in fact it’s going to make it more unsafe than things are currently,” he said. 

“It would be more unsafe because therapists would have academic knowledge but no actual experience of therapy.”

The IACP, representing 6,500 people, is calling on health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and the minister of state with responsibility for mental health, Mary Butler, to urgently intervene.

IACP chief executive Lisa Molloy said: “The IACP fully supports fair regulation and has been calling for State oversight for many years. But these new rules risk shutting people out of therapy, making waiting lists even longer, and leaving the most vulnerable without the help they need.”

Among other issues, the IACP criticised a “misleading and clinically inaccurate” division of care from mild to severely ill patients between counsellors and psychotherapists. It said: 

This false distinction risks confusing the public, undermining the profession, and damaging access to safe, effective care. 

However, Coru head of strategy and policy Catherine Byrne defended the regulator’s approach.

She said these professions offer “a really important service” and that “it’s really important the public can have trust in the services” at vulnerable times.

“At the moment, these professions are unregulated in Ireland,” said Ms Byrne.

“There is nothing to stop an individual setting themselves up, calling themselves a psychotherapist or counsellor without even basic qualifications.”

Coru is “very aware” of concerns, she said.

“But we’re very confident and comfortable, having gone through a robust consultation process, that the standards we’ve set are going to bring in for the first time those threshold standards.”

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Asked about fears that these create an unsafe environment, Ms Byrne acknowledged anxiety caused by this change.

"There is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that mandating personal therapy actually improves the competence of the practitioner or the outcomes for clients.”

She said it would be “inaccurate” to say training without mandatory personal therapy is not high quality.

Ms Byrne said there are 25 representative bodies in this sector and that “while a couple of the bodies have expressed concerns, that isn’t reflective of the breadth of the profession”.