¹Discourse Unit, Division of Psychology and Social Change, Manchester Metropolitan University, Elisabeth Gaskell Campus, Manchester, UK

Correspondence: Professor Ian Parker, Discourse Unit, Division of Psychology and Social Change, Manchester Metropolitan University, Elisabeth Gaskell Campus, Hathersage Road, Manchester M13 0JA, UK. E-mail: I.A.Parker@mmu.ac.uk

Abstract

This paper outlines the current state of play in the attempts by the British government to regulate psychotherapy and to define different modalities of psychotherapeutic practice, including psychoanalysis. The response of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) to government attempts to regulate practice through the Health Professions Council is described, and the internal debates among psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists in the UKCP are located in the context of relationships with other professional organizations.