Led by Dr Elizabeth Freire, researchers from the Universities of Aberdeen, Strathclyde and Glasgow have been awarded £175 thousand pounds from the Chief Scientist Office in Scotland to conduct a pilot Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) on the efficacy of person centred counselling versus self-help Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for subthreshold and mild depression. The trial will begin in August 2012 for a period of 15 months.

This is a feasibility study for an RCT comparing short-term (6 months) outcomes of counselling and low-intensity CBT for the treatment of persistent subthreshold and mild depression. Patients will be randomised to either eight weekly sessions of person-centred counselling or eight weeks of cognitive-behavioural self-help resources with telephone support. This study will provide estimates for recruitment, adherence, and retention rates.

If this study demonstrates that recruitment and retention rates at six months are satisfactory, and if results are consistent with there being some potential benefit for treatment participants, the researchers will apply for funding for a definitive trial from NHS HTA including 18-month follow-up.

Dr Freire was awarded £5000 Seedcorn funding from BACP in 2010 to develop the Person-Centred & Experiential Psychotherapy Scale (PCEPS). The development of this scale has contributed to the success of the funding bid for the new RCT and will be used to measure therapist adherence. The Seedcorn funded project is also to be presented at this year's BACP Research Conference on 11 and 12 May, in Edinburgh.2012

2012 Seedcorn winner: Impact of online counselling for young people

Aaron Sefi, from Xenzone Alliance, has been awarded £5000 Seedcorn funding from BACP to undertake a pilot study, utilising a range of outcome measures and interview data to discern and correlate the impact of online counselling for young people. There are relatively few studies examining the range of therapeutic outcomes of online counselling for young people.  Due to the nature of the medium, online counselling allows for a drop-in and sporadic use of support, combined with an anonymity and potential disinhibition which might skew the results of a psychometric, when comparing to face-to-face equivalents.  This project, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Manchester, aims to evaluate a user-friendly adaptation of a goal-based outcome measure (GbOM) in online services (and explore its potential use in face-to-face).  Also critically examined will be how this GbOM can be used alongside routine outcome measures such as YP-CORE.

Evaluation of Counselling for Depression training

BACP Research department have been working with researchers and trainers from Metanoia, Keele and York St John universities to undertake an evaluation of the first phase of Counselling for Depression (CfD) training which was rolled out last year. Counselling for Depression (CfD) is a person-centred/experiential, NICE recommended psychological therapy and is now available as a treatment choice within IAPT services. This evaluation uses a survey, alongside in depth interviews, to investigate the experiences of 60 counsellors who have undertaken the training. Questions will be asked relating to the counsellors sense of self as a practitioner pre-training, their expectations of the CfD training, experience of following a competence framework, and the impact of the training on their practice.

Evaluation of Relates online school counselling service

BACP have been commissioned by Relate to evaluate the effectiveness of their online school-based counselling service ‘iRelate'. The project will involve analysing outcomes from routine outcome measures using YP CORE used every session with young people accessing services across four centres, alongside a satisfaction questionnaire.