Accreditation Programme for Psychological Therapies Services
The APPTS was developed through a partnership between the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Centre for Quality Improvement and the BPS.
The Accreditation Programme for Psychological Therapies Services (APPTS) supports learning and improvement for psychological services that deliver sustainable, high-quality, safe and compassionate care.
The programme accredits psychological therapy and talking therapy services, offers best practice guidance for practitioners and runs events that raise awareness of amazing examples of psychological practice.
We currently have 29 members, which have all been accredited by the programme as having met and exceeded our standards. You can read more about these on the 'Standards' tab.
You can take a look at the full list of current members and find out how your service can receive accreditation from the programme.
The current APPTS Committee is:
- Katy James
- Tracey Paxton
- Amanda K Smith
- Melanie Shepherd
- Maggie Rosario
- Vikram Luthra
- Shania Lorenz
- Susan Mountain
- Jane Muston
- Megan Bean
- Jem Jethwa
- Josh Coelho
- Alex Eneli
Co-production in psychological therapies
The Accreditation Programme for Psychological Therapies Services (APPTS) will be running its Special Interest Day on 9 May 2025.
The Accreditation Programme for Psychological Therapies Services standards are used to review all services that are part of our network. The accreditation standards have undergone stakeholder evaluation and revision, and are now in their third edition (Farquharson, Cohen-Tovee, Palmer, Hodge & Hildreth (2017).
The fourth edition of the APPTS standards is currently undergoing consultation and revision and will be made available soon.
The standards cover:
- How the accreditation programme for Psychological Therapies Services standards have been developed
- How accreditation is decided and awarded
- The full criteria that a service needs to meet to receive accreditation. This includes reviewing the safety of a service, how effective it is, the level of card offered, leadership, and how responsive it is to people's needs.
- The additional standards that need to be met by Talking Therapies
If you're interested in finding out more about joining the accreditation programme you can contact the team at [email protected]
Before you apply, we recommend having a look at the joining FAQs which cover the cost of accreditation, what's required and the different accreditation options.
When you're ready to start your application, you can fill in the application form and someone will be in touch with more details.