Who may apply?
We invite applications from people who either live or work in Cambridge and its surrounding geographical area, a radius of approximately 20 miles. The applicant may already be seeing a psychotherapist or contemplating finding one ( which we can help with). In both cases the psychotherapist must be approved in the following way: Registered with either United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (CPJAC) or the British Psychoanalytic Council or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (having completed a BACP accredited training in psychodynamic counselling).
As a general rule we do not give grants to those who are training in psychotherapy as we aim to help ordinary patients who are not professionally engaged, and trainees can get support elsewhere locally, for example from the B. B. Zeitlyn Psychotherapy Training Fund.
How to apply?
If you are seeking psychotherapy, you must first find a therapist. We can help with this. You will need to discuss the possibility of an application to the Trust with your therapist. This applies equally to those who are in the course of their psychotherapy. Grants are not given where the therapist does not support the application. Before an application can be considered the therapist must register with the Trust, if he or she is not already registered.
The usual procedure is that the applicant applies to the Trust by letter, and the applicant asks their therapist to provide a short letter supporting the application. Once the application and the supporting letter have been received and providing these fulfil the conditions above, a representative from the Management Committee will invite him or her to interview with regard to their financial situation and to their expected expenses for their therapy.It is not the role of the interviewer to enquire into the confidential details of the therapy. This form should be used to supply financial details for the interview. Assessment Form (to be filled in by Applicant)We also include a Diversity Questionnaire which we would be grateful if you can complete and hand in at the interview ( the contents of which are collated and retained anonymously). CPAT Diversity Questionnaire (rev. 1222) If you are unable to print off either of these forms please send us a message via our Contacts Us page and we will post the forms to you.
On completion of the financial assessment, the application is discussed by the Management Committee at its next meeting, and a decision is made as to whether (and how much) help can be given.Where the applicant’s therapist is also a CPAT Trustee, the Trustee makes a declaration to this effect to the Trust and is not present at the Trustees’ meeting where the grant application is discussed and takes no part in the decision;-making process. Please note that the Committee meets monthly with the exception of August. The process of considering an application from initial enquiry to a decision is thus, on average, two months ( longer if it is over August).
Where the Trust provides a grant to support the therapy, we expect the therapist to support it by reducing his or her fee, and the person who receives the therapy to also pay something towards its cost, wherever possible. All applications are considered on their own merit ; however our funding position restricts the maximum we can give, currently,in an individual grant to,generally , one year’s support at approximately £1,125. On occasion , it may not be possible to make a grant due to lack of funds.
Grants are made unconditionally. However, as a small charity, it is much appreciated when those who have received grants later find themselves able to repay all or part, as this additional income can make a significant contribution to our ability to help others with the costs of their psychotherapy.
CPAT endeavours to deal with all applications promptly, efficiently and fairly. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the application process, please refer to our CPAT Complaints Policy on how this might be resolved.