Applicants should demonstrate that they have undertaken the required hours of Continuing Professional Development in a variety of ways, including conferences (attending or giving presentations), e-learning CPD modules, formal education (lectures, seminars, courses), in-service training, organising specialist groups, reading books, journals or articles, TV and radio documentaries, podcasts, workshops, writing articles or papers. The source of knowledge (ie author, speaker, trainer etc) should be noted on the form, as well as your learning from the activity.

Use the following format to demonstrate your CPD and learning. An example is given

Face to face, telephone or internet-based counselling, psychotherapy or therapeutic group work, ideally with a range of GSRD clients with diverse identities. For the advanced level we will be looking for a breadth of diversity and depth of thinking in your GSRD clients.

You may also include supervision of other therapist’s work; please make clear in the table where this is the case.

Use the following format to demonstrate your client hours. An example is given.

Accredited therapists need to satisfy the assessors that they can demonstrate competence in three broad areas: knowledge and understanding, skills and abilities; attitudes and values.

Knowledge and understanding of: 

• a recognition that sexual minorities, whilst sharing some things in common have many things that differential them from each other. 
• different psychological and theoretical perspectives on working with sexual and gender minority clients (i.e. different developmental theories, the role of stigma and oppression on the self-structure). 
• the historical context of psychological therapies and their relationship to sexual and gender minorities. 
• the dynamics of oppression (internalised and externalised). 
• an awareness of sexual minority cultures which they know little about, and a willingness to develop their knowledge base as part of their CPD. 

Skills and abilities: 

• the ability to work with hypervigilance in a non-defensive manner and be alert to the clinical implications for the therapeutic relationship. 
• the ability to distinguish to what extent sexuality or gender variance might be relevant to a client's presentation and when it is not. 
• how they have used supervision and CPD as ways to develop themselves as a practitioner with sexual minority clients. 
• that they are able to extend themselves outside of their familiar cultural and social reference points as they engage with clients from diverse communities and backgrounds. 
• that they are able to work from the client's values and beliefs and help clients develop personalised plans, choices and solutions for their lives. 

Attitudes and Values 

• hold non-pathologising attitudes to variant sexual and gender identities. 
• are aware of and committed to managing the particular boundary issues that may emerge when working with sexual minority clients, in an ethical and reflective manner. 
• are committed to anti-discriminatory values. 
• embrace an openness to a range of approaches and solutions to human dilemmas, both conventional and non-conventional. 

Please upload a word document 500-1500 words mindful of meeting the above criteria. If accrediting for the first time this statement should describe the development and philosophy of your practice with GSRD clients and discuss ethical issues and dilemmas and approaches to diversity. It should also indicate how you envisage your practice developing in the future.

Written or mixed-media account of an area of practice or research of specific relevance to GSRD therapy work.

Please upload a Word document of your case study if you are submitting one (Advanced level only)

This can be the supervisor of your generic practice if they are familiar with the range and standard of your work. Please ask them to complete a short form to support your application. Please send them the link to the form together with a copy of your application:

Reaccreditation at the same level only: If your supervisor has not changed, please send them your client therapy hours report before you upload it and ask them to sign agreeing that they recall these clients being discussed in supervision. There is no need for them to complete a new form unless anything material has changed.