Introduction

It is important for the professional standing of infertility counselling and public reassurance that all those who use the title of ‘infertility counsellor’ have established their competence to do so. This should clearly have gone beyond generic counselling to the specialist skills and knowledge required to work effectively within assisted conception; just as other colleagues in the multi-disciplinary team in medicine, nursing and embryology have their own specialist organisations and training. After a considerable period of development, consultation and pilot, the scheme is now being fully implemented. The pilot phase has already produced 14 accredited members, 9 SAMBICA and 5 AMBICA. Progress has been slow as we have tried to keep step with proposals for generic registration of counsellors nationally as well as developments in our own field. This scheme is closely modelled on that of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy [BACP]. We are very grateful for the generous support of BACP at early points in our work. It will ensure that infertility counsellors are properly accredited for the specialist work in which they are engaged. All practising infertility counsellors will eventually be required by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to be accredited under such a scheme. The Department of Health intends to regulate counselling by making it a protected title by 2010 under the Health Professions Council [HPC] [alongside such professions as physiotherapy, art psychotherapy and occupational therapy. After this time only those registered as such will be able to call themselves ‘counsellor’ or ‘psychotherapist’. Hope they will deal with the two terms is still unknown however. This scheme builds on other counselling accreditations whilst ensuring the maintenance and encouragement of the highest standards in this specialist area, including a professional development route which acknowledges seniority and special expertise. It complements generic counselling accreditation and the Infertility Counselling Award.

The pilot which ran Spring 2008 and the presentation at the annual BICA study day 2008 were both very well received. Lessons were learned and it was agreed that the accreditation scheme would be opened to all BICA members using email and the website followed by the next published Journal. If you are already a member of BICA and a practising infertility counsellor, this is your invitation to apply to become accredited. The BICA accreditation scheme will enable us to lead the way in ensuring high quality, accredited standards of professional counselling practice, fully accountable to clients and other stakeholders in assisted conception services. This is the first accreditation scheme for infertility counselling in the world and one of the first specialist counselling schemes in the UK. The title ‘counselling’ is used in line with the terms of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act and Code of Practice 1 and BICA’s practice guidance. 2
All BICA members are now being invited to apply for accreditation by the route appropriate to their situation.

Levels of Membership & Accreditation

It will be increasingly important for clients and colleagues in the multidisciplinary team and the regulatory body, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, to know exactly what level of knowledge and experience in this specialist field counsellors have. In order to achieve this level of transparency and protection for our clients, BICA has defined 4 categories of membership:
Associate Member
Associate members are those who support BICA’s aims and objectives through research, membership of a cognate profession or being a client etc.
Ordinary Member of BICA
Ordinary Members are those who are:
either counsellors who meet HFEA Code of Practice 1.9 staffing requirements, but are not yet eligible for accreditation as they have yet to meet the full specialist criteria; however they are required to do so within 2 years of gaining membership:
or students in training to become counsellors.
Accredited Member of BICA [AMBICA]
This category of membership is the minimum expected from practising infertility counsellors, and is open to those who meet several criteria; these include supervision, stated levels of infertility practice, indemnity insurance, assessed profile of practice, assessment of practice and required CPD [continued professional development]. Practice will be accredited -
either by a grandparent route acknowledging experience over a period of years [until 12/2010]
or in conjunction with accreditation by another counselling body, plus training and experience in specialised infertility counselling.
Senior Accredited Member of BICA [SAMBICA]
A senior accredited member of BICA is one who is an accredited member of BICA who also -
either holds the Infertility Counselling Award
or submits a portfolio of evidence of infertility counselling practice at a senior, experienced level, which demonstrates a theoretically informed understanding of infertility counselling.
Full details of these levels of accreditation are contained in the Handbook which all applicants for accreditation must read carefully before completing the application forms.

BICA Titles

The titles here are formal titles; use of these titles by those not being entitled to do so would lead to disciplinary action by BICA. Certificates are supplied as evidence of accreditation.
National Accreditation Board

A multidisciplinary NAB has been appointed by the BICA Executive Committee which incorporates an accreditation committee to guide and manage this process. Its membership comprises infertility counsellors, an embryologist, an assisted conception service user, a donor conception representative, and a clinician. For reasons of economy it is expected that this will largely conduct business through email. An independent adjudications chair has been appointed to manage the process of appeals and complaints if required.

Re-accreditation

Members who are accredited with BICA will be required to apply for re-accreditation every three years; the first re-accreditation will be due at the next membership renewal date three years after accreditation i.e. the maximum interval might be any period up to, but not as long as, four years. Where Members are no longer undertaking infertility counselling practice to the required extent, they will be permitted to become re-accredited provided they maintain the requisite level of CPD activity for one re-accreditation period only.

Mentorship

BICA attaches great importance to the role of mentorship in professional development. Those Members seeking accreditation for the first time will be required to seek a professional mentor to facilitate their entry into the specialty, gaining the knowledge and understanding which will enable them to transfer their generic skills of counselling to this area of practice. By the same token, it will also be important that those wishing to be recognised as having senior standing in the profession, applying to become SAMBICA, should demonstrate their ability and willingness to hand on their expertise to those more recently joining infertility counselling, having less experience.

Applying for Membership and Accreditation

Application packs are available via the website and email. Electronic application will be a necessary part of the process to minimise administrative costs and delays. All applicants for membership and accreditation should download the full details in the Handbook and the forms they need to complete from the BICA website www.bica.net/membership or contact me at jim.monach@virgin.net. We look forward to receiving applications from all practising members. Don’t forget that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority will expect clinic counsellors to be accredited or working towards accreditation by late 2009 and the grandparent route is only available until December 2010.

Costs

At present Membership for individuals [Associate and Ordinary] as well as Accredited Membership all cost the same, £45 p.a. A one-off fee of £95 is charged for assessment of all applications for Accreditation. Fees will be reviewed in March 2009.

Download the forms from here

1 HFEA Code of Practice 8th ed. 2009
[G.18.4.1] Treatment centres should ensure that at least one member of staff is appointed to fulfil the role of counsellor for service users. This person should:
(a) be accredited under a recognised infertility counselling accreditation scheme; or
(b) hold either a recognised counselling, clinical psychology, counselling psychology or psychotherapy qualification to diploma of higher education level or above; and
(c) be able to provide evidence of working towards accreditation through a recognised infertility counselling accreditation scheme.
2 ‘BICA Guidelines for Good Practice in Infertility Counselling’ Annex F [BICA, Version 2, Sheffield, 2007; ISBN 1– 901406-35-0; and on the BICA website www.bica.net ]

Dr Jim Monach, Membership Secretary