UPDATE 3

7 April 2024

Dear Supporter,

 Welcome to our latest update!  If you have just signed-up to Save Mental Health, thank you for joining our campaign to restore sanity to mental healthcare in the UK.  We welcome your messages and comments. 

A big ‘thank you’ to those of you who contacted The British Psychological Society (BPS) to request an extension to their not-so-public consultation and submitted feedback.  Here is a piece published by Critical Therapy Antidote about the consultation and here is Barry Wall, the EDI Jester, talking about it on his YouTube channel.  Will the BPS publish the results of this consultation?  We certainly hope so and will keep you posted. 

You may recall that in our last update, we talked about young people’s mental health.  A supporter rightly pointed out to us that young people’s mental health has also been negatively affected by lockdowns imposed by the Government during the Covid-19 pandemic.  This was something that the Work & Pensions Secretary Mel Stride neglected to mention in his interview with the Daily Telegraph. We wonder why…

Here are some highlights from the news, suggestions about what to look out for this week, recommendations for useful organisations, interesting reading, and newly published books.  

UKCP stands up to woke

UKCP is a professional body for therapists in the UK that has taken the bold step of removing its signature from the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU sets out a policy that opposes conversion therapy on the grounds of both sexual orientation and gender identity. It has been criticised for making statements that appear to be informed by trans activism rather than science.  The MoU has been signed by more than 25 health, counselling and psychotherapy organisations, You can see the list of organisations that have signed on the BACP website here. 

The MoU is in the hands of the Coalition Against Conversion Therapy, chaired by Dr Igi Moon, a chartered counselling psychologist and fellow of the British Psychological Society.  You can read more about the MoU on the Critical Therapy Antidote website and in excellent  articles by Peter Jenkins of Thoughtful Therapists which can be viewed here,  here and here.

In a recent  statement the UKCP expressed concerns that the MoU is being applied to both adults and children without regard to safeguarding, and that the Coalition Against Conversion Therapy had not responded to its requests to discuss these concerns.

The decision to remove its signature from the MoU is a significant shift in the UKCP’s attitude towards gender identity. It did not support James Esses, who was a member of the UKCP when he was expelled from his psychotherapy training course at the Metanoia Institute. James decided to take the UKCP and Metanoia to court on the basis that they were discriminating against him for his gender critical beliefs.  The first sign that the UKCP was shifting to a different view came when it agreed to a settlement with James Esses and issued a statement recognising gender critical views as lawful.  The UKCP’s recent decision to withdraw its signature from the MoU will surely put pressure on other therapeutic professional bodies, such as the BPS and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), to follow suit.  There is, though, likely to be some resistance which may result in a schism.

‘Grave and psychological risks’ faced by children allowed to ‘socially transition’

The Cass Review on gender identity services for children, is due to be published in full on Wednesday 10thApril. Dr Hilary Cass’s interim review led to the closure of the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service on the basis that it was not safe for children.  The Daily Telegraph reports that in the final review Dr Cass is expected to say that children ‘may experience psychological repercussions as a result of being allowed to change their name and pronouns’ at school.  

Concerns have been raised about the ‘schools to clinic pipeline’ whereby ‘social transitioning’ at school increases the likelihood of demands for medical transitioning. Professor Michael Biggs, a sociologist at the University of Oxford says: ‘We do know from a longitudinal Dutch study that there is compelling evidence that socially transitioning does lock in transgender identity.’  Meanwhile, a recent survey of schools found that some primary school teachers were being told to allow children to change their name and pronoun without telling their families.  The Government has been advised that a ban on social transitioning would be unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.  Look out for the publication of the Cass Review on Wednesday 10thApril.

‘How the American Psychological Association is Harming Society’ by Jon Mills

This powerful account by Professor Jon Mills explains how the APA’s mission to put Critical Social Justice (CSJ) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at the centre of the organisation, will damage society.  He refers to the ‘wokeification’ of the APA and raises concerns that the changes being initiated will ‘dictate how psychology is viewed by the public’, ‘how it is taught in universities’, and ‘how the training of professional psychologists will be socially engineered’ with ‘practices drenched in CSJ propaganda’. 

If you have read the British Psychological Society’s new accreditation standards for clinical psychology doctoral training, this may sound familiar to you.  The BPS is following a similar path to the APA and the problems highlighted in this article by Professor Mills, should ring loud alarm bells here in the UK.  Psychologists are indeed being ‘bred to be activists rather than healers’.  Who would want to seek help from a mental health professional who may harm them rather than help them? 

Jon Mills is a Canadian philosopher, psychoanalyst, and psychologist. He is also an honorary professor in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex.  Here is his latest book End of the World: Civilization and Its Fate.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Free Speech Union

If you haven’t yet done so, we would strongly recommend joining the Free Speech Union, particularly if you live in Scotland.  Since the recent introduction of the Hate Crimes Law in Scotland, concerns about the suppression of free speech in the UK have increased. The FSU has opened a dedicated hotline in response. Police Scotland have already received more than 6000 complaints since the law came into force on April Fools Day.  They are struggling to cope.  Who looks foolish now?

‘The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America’ by Coleman Hughes

Those of us who are concerned about the negative effects of so-called ‘anti-racism’ in the UK should read this book.  The author Coleman Hughes is a young American writer and podcast host who is critical of ‘anti-racists’ such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo.  He warns that the ‘anti-racist’ movement is divisive and creates a new kind of racism. In his book, Hughes argues for a return to the ideals of the American Civil Rights movement and exposes the harmful effects of ‘anti-racism’.  While there are important differences between the US and UK in terms of our histories of race-relations, many of the points Hughes makes are applicable to the UK. 

Coleman Hughes recently defended his arguments in an interview for The View with Whoopi Goldberg.  It’s well worth watching.   Hughes argues that a racially just and colourblind society is possible – a hopeful message for all of us.

‘Mania’ by Lionel Shriver

In her latest book Mania, published on Thursday 11th April, Lionel Shriver asks ‘What if calling someone stupid was illegal?’  She imagines a world in which the ‘Mental Parity Movement’ has taken hold and the worst thing you can call someone is 'stupid'.  In this world, everyone is equally clever, and discrimination based on intelligence is 'the last great civil rights fight'.

Lionel Shriver’s acerbic wit and intelligent writing can always be relied upon to entertain while, at the same time, rattle a few cages. She is, perhaps, best known for her award-winning book We Have to Talk About Kevin, published in 2010 and subsequently made into a film starring Tilda Swinton.  You can see Lionel Shriver in conversation with Toby Young of the Free Speech Union on Monday 15th April in London or online.  Tickets are available here.