Is Boris’s gay conversion therapy ban enough?

Gay conversion therapy has been heading for a ban for a few years now, with Boris Johnson repeatedly pledging to stop the ‘absolutely abhorrent’ practice. The government is working on the details of such a ban, which is not without its problems, particularly when it comes to therapy for transgender people. But it would be the first time the government has got at all involved in the world of therapy and counselling, which is not currently subject to statutory regulation.

Ministers’ current position is that government regulation of the sector would not be ‘proportionate or effective’. It may well be that the current network of organisations with which counsellors and psychotherapists can register provides sufficient oversight and that the government shouldn’t get involved beyond the gay conversion ban. That doesn’t, however, mean there isn’t a problem with the provision of therapy in this country that goes far wider than the treatment of same-sex attraction as a mental problem to allegedly be ‘cured’.

We all know about the long waiting lists for NHS talking therapies. But what is less well-known is that the current landscape for private therapy – often the only thing available, even for those with very little money – is incredibly difficult to navigate. There is no clarity on whether therapists registered with the organisations that oversee the sector – the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, the UK Council for Psychotherapy and the Health and Care Professions Council – are any good. The BACP requires members to have completed an accredited course or pass the organisation’s own Certificate of Proficiency. They then commit to terms and conditions which include having a supervisor, insurance, continued professional development and so on, in place. The BACP audits a selection of its members each month to check this. It has a Find a Therapist directory, but, once again, would-be clients don’t always know what sort of therapy might work best for them. It’s also difficult to measure success in therapy, given how complex some people’s problems are. So there’s no rating system on the database. There’s no performance review, and in many cases the specific type of therapy on offer has a limited evidence base. It is often not clear what sort of therapy would suit each patient, and people are often left to choose a type of therapy and then find a practitioner without any guidance at all.

The limited evidence base is a problem throughout mental health treatment, but at least when it comes to medication, that is prescribed in a controlled setting by a doctor who is subject to a great deal of regulatory oversight. Counselling can cause decades of damage to someone if it is poorly-executed or if it is the wrong type of therapy for a certain diagnosis.

Government involvement may well not make this situation any better: after all, there are enough problems with the NHS’s provision of mental health services. But as people become more comfortable with the idea of having a talking therapy for a mental health problem or to help them through a traumatic time, surely the current system of therapy could grow a little easier for vulnerable people to navigate?