'There are as many certified charlatans and exploiters as there are uncertified' (Carl Rogers, quoted on p.113)

Every so often a book is published in a profession which rocks it to its foundations. Mowbray's Case may well turn out to be such a book, and in this reviewer's opinion it will have thoroughly merited such a status. Its publication is very timely, appearing as it does when the UKCP's Register is very much up and running, and plans for the BAC's Register of Counsellors are at an advanced stage.

Mowbray is motivated by a profound unease with trends towards 'bureaucratic professionalisation' currently pre-occupying our field, and in this meticulously documented monograph, he sets out a formidable battery of arguments that not only thoroughly undermine the case for (statutory) registration, but actually suggest how such a process may well actually do positive harm to the field. Thus, Mowbray is highly critical of the stultifying effects that registration is having on practice, with fearful trainees increasingly feeling forced to pursue courses which are 'officially certified' lest they find themselves excluded from the professionalising bandwagon - and in the process, of course, playing right into the hands of vested training interests (particularly the UKCP), which for Mowbray is 'essentially an exclusive club for psychotherapy trainers' (p.57). Thus, training is effectively becoming 'frozen' in the hands of established, self-selected training members - a monopolisation of training practice which effectively excludes new training organisations from entering the market.

In terms of service quality, Mowbray bemoans trends towards 'defensive psychotherapy', due to 'conformity of practice based... on practitioner self-protection' (p.150-1). And as if all this weren't enough, it has been demonstrated quite conclusively that licensing is actually harmful - e.g. in terms of restricting the supply of practitioners, inflating the cost of services, stifling innovation and discriminating against minorities by raising market entry requirements (p.86).

Mowbray's disturbing arguments will surely strike a deep chord of recogniton with many practitioners who have been experiencing growing levels of uneasiness at the direction of recent developments. He argues passionately that the formidable challenges involved in monitoring competence should lead us to pursue creative solutions which are consistent with, rather than antithetical to, the deepest held values of our field: for 'Where there is a genuine need for structures, we should develop structures that foster our values rather than betray them' (quoting Juliana Brown and himself, p.225).

It is only now that this book has been written that a full, free and open debate on the merits of professionalisation can begin in earnest; and anyone who is implicated in or affected by this process must surely read this book - for this is a debate, the outcome of which will determine the very nature and trajectory that the fields of counselling and psychotherapy will take in future years.

Richard House