Research at UKCP
Research is central to the future of the psychotherapy profession. Through our work we aim is to raise the profile of the profession, utilising the expertise of our membership.
UKCP’s strategic aims
- Ensuring research supports the UKCP’s policy objectives to increase access to psychotherapy.
- Improving education about research and promote its importance within the UKCP membership.
- Developing an effective system for collating clinical data from our membership.
- Combining existing and new research to improve the evidence base for psychotherapy, as well as promote its importance for wellbeing and mental health.
- Collaborating with psychotherapy researchers to define and address the needs for future research.
How we will work towards achieving these aims
- Among the UKCP members are many influential researchers. We are working to strengthen connections with our research-active members to support impactful and widespread dissemination of their work, as well as to assist us in our drive to inform policy.
- Collaboration is essential the UKCP’s research strategy to develop innovative, high-impact research. We are working to enhance connections across the board with universities, the NHS and charitable organisations.
- We will be collaborating both internally and externally to promote the importance of research within training programmes and across the profession as a whole.
Current research projects
University of Sheffield
UKCP has provided funding to Professor Michael Barkham and his team at the University of Sheffield to conduct in-depth analyses of longitudinal IAPT datasets. This research will contribute to the evidence base for psychotherapy in treating depression in adults.
NHS pathways project
UKCP is conducting a three-year-long research project tracking students in the NHS pathways pilot. We aim to understand students’ experiences providing therapy in the NHS and how their training translates to working in this environment. We are in year two of the project.
Special issue EJPC
We're collaborating with the European Journal of Psychotherapy (EJPC) on a special issue entitled “Decolonising psychotherapy and empires of the mind: Opportunities and debates.” A call for papers was issued to UKCP members and the selected articles have been sent for peer review. More information can be found on our webpage.
Get involved – connect and collaborate
We are always looking for new ways to support our members with research and to connect with non-UKCP academics and practitioners. We are actively seeking to hear more about existing research and to discuss collaborations across all modalities. Our current areas of focus include:
- New ways of assessing psychotherapy and evaluating its effectiveness
- Collaborating on, and supporting, studies of effectiveness across therapeutic modalities and client populations
- Innovative research, investigating the therapeutic process
- Practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
If you would like to get involved or discuss active research projects or proposals, please email the research team.
Research working group
As a relatively small organisation with limited resources, we have been working hard to think of ways to improve research for the organisation and the membership. To help us accomplish this, we have put together a board level Research Working Group. Members of the group include Prof Divine Charura (DCounPsych), Dr Sofie Bager-Charleson, Prof Vicky Karkou, and Dr Gella Richards.
The group will be focusing on how to better support the membership with research, whilst also addressing external research strategy.
This will include:
- Improving education and guidance about conducting psychotherapy research.
- Assessing how we may be able to support therapists to gain ethical approval to conduct research.
- Enhancing networking and collaboration opportunities.
- Promoting research funding opportunities.
Research noticeboard
Are you a UKCP member involved in a research project?
Our noticeboard aims to help psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors:
- recruit participants for a study
- notify members of ongoing research projects
- identify collaborators.
If you’re a UKCP member interested in circulating information about research to other members, please fill out this form and our research team will be in touch. Requests to post on the noticeboard will be reviewed on the 20th of every month. Those accepted will be posted on the 25th of every month for a duration of four weeks.
Please note: requests may not be accepted for a variety of reasons, including the volume of requests or the research topic.
We (Keith Oulton and Dr Donna Gaywood) have come together from two different disciplines, education and psychotherapy. We have noticed that in both professional and personal contexts it has become increasingly difficult to talk about some issues because of ongoing polarisation. We have created a model to support those conversations and are looking to bring professionals from the fields together either in person or online to see if this model helps.
Contact keith.oulton@pm.me for more information.
Purpose of the study:
This doctoral research at York St John University explores how counsellors and psychotherapists perceive, interpret and use routine outcome measures (ROMs) in everyday practice. It examines ROMs' clinical utility, ethical and cultural considerations, how different therapeutic modalities shape engagement with outcome measurement, and how practitioners see the future of ROMs, including the influence of technology and AI.
Who can take part:
Qualified or trainee counsellors, psychotherapists, psychoanalysts and psychological therapies practitioners of any modality, working in any setting (NHS, private practice, third sector, education or elsewhere). Whether you use ROMs routinely, occasionally or not at all, your perspective is equally welcome.
What participation involves:
A confidential online survey (approximately 15–20 minutes) and, if you wish, an optional individual interview (approximately 45–60 minutes) exploring your experiences in more depth. Participation is voluntary, and you may withdraw your data up to 31 October 2026, after which all data will be anonymised. The study has ethical approval from York St John University (ref. ETH2526-0191) and is supervised by Prof Divine Charura, Prof Lynne Gabriel and Dr Charlie Duncan.
Find out more:
Take the survey here or contact the researcher, Lei Sorvisto, at lei.sorvisto@yorksj.ac.uk for the participant information sheet or any questions.
This study explores how remote personal talking therapy (online or by phone) shapes trainees' experience of transference and development within psychoanalytic, or psychoanalytically informed, training; an increasingly common but little-understood aspect of training since the pandemic.
The project is led by Professor Calum Neill (Edinburgh Napier University) and Dr Amanda Diserholt (Canterbury Christ Church University), with research assistance from Ariadna García Llorente, Michael Hornsey and Dr Tammy Dempster.
To take part, you should be 18 or over, fluent in English and living in the UK, currently enrolled in a psychoanalytically informed training programme, and have undergone significant personal talking therapy (including online or by phone) in the past three years – meaning experience substantial enough to reflect on in depth, not necessarily your main mode of therapy. Participants should have no personal or professional relationship with any of the researchers named above.
Participation involves a single confidential, one-to-one Zoom interview (approximately 60–90 minutes) about your experience of remote personal therapy and its influence on your development as a trainee. Data will be anonymised and treated with strict confidentiality.
To find out if you're eligible, take part, or read the full participant information sheet, please visit the study form or contact virtualcouch@canterbury.ac.uk.
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