Past News Articles


BABCP appoints first-ever Patrons

A SENIOR Appeal Court judge and his wife has been appointed as the BABCP’s first-ever Patrons.

Sir Mark and Lady Rachel Waller set up the Charlie Waller Trust in their son’s name when he committed suicide after suffering from depression. The couple have funded the first ever Chair of CBT in Britain and created a web site specifically for students suffering from depression.

They were “honoured and delighted” to accept being nominated as Patrons following a meeting of the BABCP Board.

Sir Mark and Lady Rachel have worked tirelessly since their son Charlie’s death ten years ago to raise greater public awareness of depression and the value of CBT as a treatment.

As well as creating their own charity, the Charlie Waller Trust, they have also begun a national programme of employing staff to raise awareness amongst GP’s and nurses, created a web site about depression amongst students and supported Lord Layard’s crusade to make CBT more accessible.

BABCP President David Veale said: “They have done a huge amount in a very practical way to reduce the stigma which still surrounds depression, to make more people aware of CBT therapy and to provide real help to other young people.

“They are extremely committed and active and will be very effective champions for CBT – I am very proud that they have agreed to be the first ever Patrons of the BABCP, as the leading organisation for CBT in the UK.”

Sir Mark – one of Britain’s most senior judges – said: “It’s ten years now since Charlie died, but our main thought ever since has always been to do all that we can to make sure that there are fewer young people like him who will suffer from depression.

“And to make sure that there are fewer families who have to go through what we went through. It helps us to know that we are doing something useful.”

The Charlie Waller Trust (http://www.cwmt.org/index.html) has contributed £250,000 for the first chair in CBT at Reading, held by BABCP member Professor Roz Shafran.

The web site for students - Students Against Depression - is at (http://www.studentdepression.org/site/)

Sir Mark and Lady Rachel have also welcomed the Government’s recent announcement of £170million to improve access to psychological therapies like CBT.

Sir Mark said: “CBT has unquestionable relevance as a psychological therapy for conditions such as depression, because its efficacy can be tested. It is evidence-based.

“We are delighted to give our support to the BABCP in any way that we can.”

A fuller version of this article is available in the December 2007 edition of CBT Today, which also includes news about awards for two young researchers.

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New Savoy Declaration

BABCP President David Veale is one of 19 signatories to a new declaration calling for psychological therapies to be free on the NHS within the next six years.

The 'New Savoy Declaration' brings together representatives from a wide range of organisations and modalities to congratulate the Goverment on implementing NICE gudelines for the treatment of anxiety and depression and calls on Britain to become a world leader in the provision of psychological therapy.

Read the full text of the 'New Savoy Declaration' here:

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BABCP Podcast

The first ever podcast for the BABCP by our President, David Veale. It's in mp3 format and contains brief interviews at the Brighton annual conference with Adam Radomsky, Stirling Moorey, Warren Mansell, Anne Hackmann, Graham Turpin & Phillip Tata. It has some experiential work on ruminations in honour of Ed Watkins, and finally as a reward for listening a couple of numbers from Elvis on the Brighton pier (total length about 50 minutes, size 25MB). Click here and enjoy!

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ALL SYSTEMS GO!

Every Strategic Health Authority in the country is now identifying at least two Primary Care Trusts to provide both low and high-intensity therapy.

At least 3,600 new therapists will be created over the next three years – with a huge amount of on-the-job training.

The expansion programme will mean that 900,000 more people will be able to access CBT, with 25,000 fewer people on sick pay and benefits by 2010/11.

Tenders for services will need to be submitted this Spring the Government announced.

Training of the new therapist workforce will start in September with £33 million being invested this year, a further £70 million the year after and another £70 million in 2010/11.

Health chiefs envisage a team of therapists in each PCT, housed in GP surgeries, Jobcentres, or voluntary organisations, who will take referrals from GPs and self-referrals. Therapy teams may also have employment advisors and other support services, a GP advisor and admin staff.

Each population of 250,000 will have around 40 properly trained therapists available.


 

October 2007 BABCP welcomes £170 million boost for CBT

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has announced a substantial £170 million expansion of psychological therapies to provide better support for people with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Full Article Here..


10th May 2007

Health Secretary announces £2million for expansion of centres to treat anxiety and depression.

Patricia Hewitt hails talking therapy pilots a success and announces more to follow.

Document here.....

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30 April 2007

BABCP President David Veale featured in a special CBT edition of BBC Radio 4’s ‘All in the Mind’ on Tuesday 1st May.

Read more....

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19 April 2007

HEALTH MINISTER ANNOUNCES 10 MORE CENTRES FOR TALKING THERAPY

Read the full article HERE.....

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16 April 2007

Paul Stallard's Lecture on CBT and Children. - Expert’s concerns about child mental health services

One of the UK’s leading experts takes a critical look at child mental health services by examining the evidence, practice and future of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) at a public lecture (Wednesday 18 April 2007).

Read more.......

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2 April 2007

Computer based CBT available now.

Health secretary, Patricia Hewitt has announced that computer-based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for mild depression and anxiety should be available to all patients in England from April.

The two computer programmes Fear Fighter and Beating the Blues teach patients how to deal with stressful situations and negative thoughts and provide an alternative to medication. Guidance issued by the Department of Health recommends that local NHS trusts provide the computer therapy to patients with mild or moderate depression or anxiety before prescribing drugs.

Beating the Blues treats people with mild to moderate depression. Fear Fighter is aimed at people who have phobias or suffer from panic attacks.

Ms Hewitt said: "On April 1, we will reach the first milestone in our drive to provide choice - namely quicker access to computer-based self-help services to stop mild mental health problems

Click here for Fear Fighter

Click here for Beating the Blues

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27 February 2007

The Government’s White Paper on Regulation is now available here, in full and in summary, for BABCP members to consider.
The paper 'Trust, Assurance and Safety - The Regulation of Health Professional's in the 21st Century' will also be discussed at the BABCP’s NCF meeting on March 13th.
If you have any comments on the proposals please send them to: babcp@babcp.com
Complete White Paper
Executive Summary
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15 September 2006


The Depression Report
For those that haven't seen The Depression Report - A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders - from The Centre for Economic Performance's, Mental Health Policy Group, here it is...
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14 August 2006


Response to Lord Layard.
BABCP urges members to lobby their MPs and key Ministers in support for funding many more CBT practitioners and psychological treatment centres.
See the details and a draft letter to your MP ...

See the letter from BABCP to Patricia Hewitt ...

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8th January 2006

Knowledge, skills and experience required to be a competent CBT psychotherapist, information to help with Agenda for Change. Collated by Katy Grazebrook. More...

8th January 2006
Agenda for Change – Collation of jiscmail advice from BABCP members for BABCP members. Collated by Katy Grazebrook. More...

 

August 2004 - Supervision Contract and Agreement discussion document by Michael Townend.
Health Profession Council update (2002) by Chris Williams. Important changes are ongoing in how various professional groups are regulated and this has possible implications for psychotherapy and consequently also for CBT accreditation/BABCP. This short article aims to summarise the options for change that are ahead and discusses some of the implications of change.
NICE Guidelines: (2002) A report by Andrew Gumley