New Horizons for counselling research: training the trainers in research

The University of Leicester, in partnership with BACP, secure an ESRC Researcher Development Initiative grant

It has long been recognised that counselling and psychotherapy trainers need support in delivering research methods and skills training for their students. BACP’s recommendations for core competencies and the evolving core curriculum include an emphasis on research as part of practice and training. At the same time, BACP has been developing a strategy to help build a national infrastructure for counselling and psychotherapy research. As part of this strategy, we have bid for – and won – funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

The application to the ESRC’s Researcher Development Initiative programme was made jointly by the BACP and the University of Leicester and involves training the trainers to develop and enhance research capacity in counselling and psychotherapy. The project aims to provide high-quality national and regional training and development activities for researchers and research trainers in counselling and psychotherapy.

The project has four specific objectives:

1. To address the research skills and expertise shortage by training the trainers to incorporate research into the counselling and psychotherapy curriculum and deliver research methods training and research supervision
2. To make research methods training (including ESRC resources) more accessible to counsellors and psychotherapists at all stages of their research careers by providing relevant information via the BACP website and printed material
3. To inform researchers about the research requirements of a core curriculum that will be essential for regulation, and promote the development of new skills for planning and delivering the curriculum
4. To produce tools and packages for trainers to support their teaching of research methods.

The objectives will be achieved through various strategies:

• A five-day summer school in July 2008 to train the trainers in research methods
• Five one-day regional workshops in different locations that will focus on the research aspects of the core curriculum
• A research methods training manual and DVD produced and distributed by BACP
• A website to inform researchers and trainers about opportunities for enhancing research capacity through training networks, activities and workshops.

ESRC Researcher Development Initiative Project 2008 ESRC Researcher Development Initiative Project 2008.pdf Size: 1.65Mb Click the link above to begin downloading

As this enterprise is funded by the ESRC, with contributions from BACP, training events and other material costs will be kept to a minimum. There should be direct and indirect benefits resulting from the project. The trainers who engage with the project will be more confident and hence better able to support their students. The students, in turn, should produce better quality research that will benefit the profession as a whole.

Look out for further updates on the workshops and summer school on these pages, in the BACP news bulletin (which you can sign up to on the BACP website) and in therapy today. If you are a trainer, email events@bacp.co.uk and entitle your email 'ESRC'; to register your interest.