NAPCP: Accreditation

Classes of Membership

  1. Accredited Counsellors and Psychotherapists.
  2. Associate Members.
  3. Trainee Pastoral Counsellors and Psychotherapists.

All classes of membership are renewable after a period of five years unless membership has already been withdrawn or rescinded.

A member is deemed to have voting rights provided always that s/he is a fully paid up Accredited Member for the year in which a vote is taken.  As a condition of membership all members are required to continue in regular supervision for as long as they practice in the counselling field.

Clause 1V    Founder Members
The founder members are those whose names are appended to the official Certificate of Incorporation dated 9th day of November 1995, and Dr Brian McCaffrey, who was co-opted to the Board of N.A.P.C.P. on 3lst January 1996.

Clause V    Accredited Counsellors and Psychotherapists

Full membership and accreditation will be open to those who:

  1. make application to the Secretary of the Board for such membership on the official application form, and
  2. satisfy the criteria as laid down in Clause 1X of this document
  3. are willing to support and abide by the ethical principles for Pastoral Counselling and Psychotherapy set out in the N.A.P.C.P. Code of Ethics.

Only such members as have satisfied Clauses a, b and c above may use the letters M.N.A.P.C.P. or the words Member of the National Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy in any advertisement, C.V., or other communication or published medium.

Clause VI    Associate Members

Associate membership of the N.A.P.C.P. is open to all those in the field of counselling/psychotherapy who:

  1. have completed the required class contact hours in a counselling/psychotherapy programme, but who have not yet completed the supervised practicum requirement.
  2. apply for associate membership on the official application form of the N.A.P.C.P., and
  3. are willing to support and abide by the ethical principles for Pastoral Counselling and Psychotherapy which are set out in the N.A.P.C.P. Code of Ethics.

N.B.  Associate Members may NOT use the title A.M.N.A.P.C.P.

Clause VII    Trainee Membership
Trainee Members are those who are currently participating in a recognised programme of training in counselling or psychotherapy.

Clause VIII    Board Membership
The Board of the N.A.P.C.P., hereafter called the ‘Board’, shall consist of a Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Education Officer and as many members as is agreed at the Annual General meeting, which shall take place in February of each year.  It shall be the responsibility of the Board to uphold the memorandum and Articles of Association, the Code of Ethics and the Constitution in the interest of the members of N.A.P.C.P., their clients and the public at large.

Officers of the Board shall hold office for a period of three years, after which they may be deemed eligible for re-election.

An Ethics Committee shall also be elected at this time to deal with issues of ethical practice.  This Committee shall hold office for a period
of three years, after which they may be deemed eligible for re-election.

Clause IX    Criteria for Fully Accredited Membership
The following are the paths by which a person may gain accreditation for the practice of Counselling from the National Association for Pastoral Counselling and Psychotherapy:

  1. By University Graduation in a recognise counselling\psychotherapy programme.
  2. By a Substantial Course of Training over two years full-time or three years part-time.
  3. By accumulation over ten years of courses that together can be shown to constitute a Substantial Course of Training.  This has been discontinued since January 2002.

A Substantial Course of Training will normally include:

  1. Learning Group Contact Hours: A minimum of 450 learning group contact hours, facilitated by a reputable and qualified tutorial faculty.
  2. 50 hours personal counselling.
  3. 100 supervised client hours.

Supervision
According to N.A.P.C.P. the term supervision refers to the conduct of a process in a formal contractual session in either a personal or group setting and which includes the following: exploring and assessing counsellor practice; facilitating counsellors so that they can develop and improve their professional competence, offer new perspectives, set goals, intervene and evaluate more efficiently and effectively both the personal and professional development of the counsellor.  Client welfare is always the core issue of supervision work.

For accreditation, one third of the hours of formal contractual supervision must be time spent in a one to one setting, and a minimum of one third in group work.   The rest may be spent in either personal or group supervision.
One hour of supervision is required for every ten hours of formal counselling intervention.

Counselling/Psychotherapy
According to the N.A.P.C.P., counselling is defined as a formal contractual counselling session, understood as such by both counsellor and client.  It refers to a way of relating and responding to another person so that the person is helped to explore personal thoughts, feelings and behaviours, to reach a clearer self-understanding, and is helped to find and use his/her strengths so that s/he copes more effectively with hi/her life by making appropriate decisions, or by taking relevant action.  In other words, counselling is a purposeful relationship in which one person helps another to help him/herself.

For accredited membership applicants are required to have completed 450 hours of supervised counselling within three years of graduation from an approved Course of Training.

As a condition of membership all members are required to continue in regular supervision for as long as they practice in the counselling field.

It is taken for granted that applicants will have due regard for, and commitment to their own personal development.

Areas of Study expected to be covered in a recognised Programme of Study/Training include:

  1. An Introduction to Counselling /Psychotherapy.
  2. Theory and Practice of Counselling/Psychotherapy.
  3. Group Counselling/Psychotherapy.
  4. Professional Aspects of Counselling/Psychotherapy.
  5. Skills Development – Practical.
  6. Psychology.
  7. Abnormal Psychology.
  8. Family, Marriage and Child Therapy.
  9. Addiction Studies.
  10. Personal Awareness, Growth and Spiritualitys

Clause X    Criteria for Continued Membership

Compliance with the following conditions is necessary for those who wish to retain membership of the Association:

  1. Fees must be paid annually and in full in January of each year.
  2. Members must uphold, support and conform to the Articles of this Constitution and to the Code of Ethics of the N.A.P.C.P.
  3. Members are required to attend in-service development, training, workshops and/or conferences on a regular basis.
  4. Members must have regular supervision and may be asked by the supervisor to discontinue professional practice when it is deemed necessary for the member to do so in the interest of the member’s client or clients, or in the interest of the member him/herself.

Clause XI    Renewal of Accreditation
Members are required to apply for renewal of membership of the Association every five years.

Clause XII    Indemnity
Members will be required to indemnify themselves and the N.A.P.C.P. against all claims arising out of negligence, malpractice or public liability.

Clause XIII    Breach of Ethics
A member deemed by the Ethics Committee to have breached the Code of Ethics or these Rules and Regulations may be asked to account to the Committee for any improper conduct or breach of the N.A.P.C.P. Code of Ethics.

The Ethics Committee will report to the Board of Directors which may direct the Ethics Committee to instigate a formal investigation in accordance with the Rules and Procedures of the N.A.P.C.P Ethics Committee (see Appendix 1). On completion of such formal investigation, the Ethics Committee will formally report its findings in writing to the Board, and in particular will specify which if any parts of the Code of Ethics and/or Rules and Regulations of the N.A.P.C.P. the member has been found to be in breach of and what if any sanctions the Ethics Committees recommends. The Board of directors shall, within a month of receipt of this communication, send a copy of the report, together with the decision of the board as to which of the recommendations of the Committee it has decided to implement, to the relevant member(s) informing them also of their right to appeal. The Board of Directors has the power to suspend the relevant member’s membership for the duration of an investigation and any subsequent appeal process.

According to the recommendations of the Ethics Committee, the Board has the power to impose one or some of the following sanctions: to write to all or some complainants informing them of the findings and recommendations of the Ethics Committee, to provide any further material that any complainant reasonably requests to pursue a civil action pursuant to their allegation, to suspend the member’s membership, to issue a reprimand, to cancel the member’s membership, to stipulate a period of time within which a reapplication from the expelled member will not be considered (including an indefinite period of time), to publish any reprimand, findings and sanctions in the media (printed, broadcast and electronic), to prepare a file and forward it to any relevant private or public competent authority the Board considers appropriate (bearing in mind the public interest) including the Garda Siochana, other Counselling or Psychotherapy associations, or government bodies. Should the Ethics Committee find a complaint to be not only unfounded but also vexatious and or malicious, the Board shall be entitled to take what steps including some of the above in the interests of restoring the reputation of the member.