Registration closes at 9:00am on 10 February 2027
The Assessment of Core CBT Skills (ACCS; Muse et al., 2017) is a validated clinical competence measure designed to support the assessment and development of high-quality Cognitive Behavioural Therapy practice. Used within supervision, training and professional development, the ACCS provides a structured framework for evaluating therapist’s competence while facilitating meaningful, evidence-informed feedback and reflective learning.
This interactive workshop will introduce participants to the principles underpinning the ACCS and its application within CBT supervision and competency assessment. Participants will explore how structured observation can enhance consistency, objectivity and transparency when evaluating clinical practice, while recognising the importance of professional judgement and clinical context.
Through the use of a recorded CBT session, participants will gain hands-on experience of applying the ACCS, comparing ratings with peers, and considering how qualitative feedback can support therapist development. The workshop will also explore strategies for delivering collaborative, balanced feedback that promotes reflective practice, identifies strengths and learning needs, and supports ongoing professional growth.
Designed for CBT practitioners and supervisors, this workshop is particularly relevant for clinicians who supervise trainees, assess clinical competence or wish to strengthen their confidence in using structured competence measures within supervision and continuing professional development.
Key learning outcomes
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- explain the purpose of the ACCS and its role in competency assessment, supervision and professional development
- apply the ACCS framework to evaluate CBT clinical competence using a recorded therapy session
- increase consistency and confidence in competency ratings through collaborative discussion and calibration with peers
- use qualitative feedback within the ACCS framework to identify therapist strengths and learning needs
- deliver balanced, collaborative feedback that promotes reflective practice and therapist development
- critically reflect on the strengths and limitations of structured competency assessment and consider how the ACCS can be integrated into supervision alongside other sources of evidence
References
- Muse, K., McManus, F., Rakovshik, S., & Thwaites, R. (2017). Development and psychometric evaluation of the Assessment of Core CBT Skills (ACCS): An observation-based tool for assessing cognitive behavioral therapy competence. Psychological assessment, 29(5), 542.
- Muse, K., & McManus, F. (2013). A systematic review of methods for assessing competence in cognitive–behavioural therapy. Clinical psychology review, 33(3), 484-499.
- Roth, A. D., & Pilling, S. (2007). The Competences Required to Deliver Effective Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy.
- Milne, D. L. (2009). Evidence-based clinical supervision: Principles and practice. John Wiley & Sons.
Certificate of attendance
A digital certificate stating the hours of live participation in the workshop will be available to download after the training.
Workshop recording available to attendees
By attending this workshop, I understand I am giving my consent for the workshop to be video recorded and for this video recording to be available to people attending the workshop live and for it to be sold separately, for the amount of time determined by OCTC and outlined in the purchase agreement. My name (if displayed onscreen) and image may form part of the recording. Recordings are the property of OCTC and making copies of these recordings or sharing login details is not permitted. Please do not reveal details which may compromise the anonymity of clients.
The recording will be available to view for 12 months.
Presenter
Amandeep Soomal, Senior Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist
Amandeep Soomal is a Senior Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist specialising in Perinatal Mental Health. Amandeep has worked in primary care talking therapies services and specialist community mental health teams. She is now a Programme Lead on the BABCP Top Up Programme for Clinical Psychologists and EDI Lead and Academic Tutor at OCTC, where she supports the team and students in embedding intersectionality within teaching, supervision and clinical practice, considering power and privilege within therapeutic practice. She has presented her work at BABCP Conferences, at the “Women who Decolonise” event for International Women’s Day at Houses of Parliament and BBC World Service.
Additional Information
Cancellation & changes policy
If you cancel more than 14 days prior to your booked event, we will refund your fee minus a charge of 15% to cover our administration costs. We regret that cancellations 14 days or less before the booked event cannot be refunded or changed/transferred.
If you wish to change/transfer your booking after confirmation we will do our best to accommodate you if you notify us 14 days prior to your booked event, and if there is space to do so. However there will be an administration charge of £15 per change/transfer.
Confidentiality
Workshops often contain clinical material. This is always anonymised as far as possible but delegates are none the less reminded to respect confidentiality.
All that is discussed in your therapy sessions will be treated as confidential, with the following exceptions.
We are required to seek supervision by our professional body (The British Psychological Society or equivalent) as a means of ensuring good practice. We will usually inform your referrer of your progress, but the details that we disclose will be discussed with you. We do have a statutory obligation to break confidentiality under rare circumstances, namely, if we believe that a client is of danger to themselves or to others (under the Mental Health Act, 2001) or if we believe that a child is at actual risk of physical or sexual abuse (The Children Act, Section 47, 1989).
If we felt that it would be helpful to request additional medical, social or legal information, we could only do this with your consent. Similarly, should another medical, social or legal professional request information from us, we would not release this without your consent.
Disclaimer
OCTC makes every effort to ensure that this programme is delivered as advertised. However, should a presenter have to cancel, we will endeavour to find another suitable presenter. We will inform attendees as soon as is reasonably practical and, if requested, will offer a refund. In the rare event that we are unable to substitute a presenter, we may cancel a workshop and refund payments already made by attendees. OCTC will not refund travel and accommodation costs that attendees may incur.
All the workshops in this programme are carried out by highly experienced therapists and trainers. The individual presenter is responsible for the content of the workshop and any views expressed do not necessarily represent those of OCTC.
Although highly informative, none of the open workshops or workshop series confer a formal qualification or assurance of competence in CBT (or a specialist area of CBT) since we are unable to assess attendee competency within the training event. However, credit and award-bearing courses that lead to formal qualifications are offered by OCTC in conjunction with the University of Oxford. More about these courses is available on our website www.octc.uk
Levels of competence
Before booking a place on a workshop, please ensure that it is pitched at the appropriate level of competence for you. The guide to levels is as follows:
Basic
Basic workshops are for people from a variety of backgrounds, who have at least one year’s clinical experience. Cognitive behavioural knowledge is not necessary for attendance at these workshops, though in practice, a number of attendees will have some skills in the area, and are refreshing/updating their knowledge.
Intermediate
Intermediate workshops are directed towards people who already have knowledge of CBT, and experience in using cognitive formulations and treatment methods – for instance, they are able to identify and test automatic thoughts, and design behavioural experiments. Most participants will be using CBT as part of their clinical practice, and may still be acquiring new CBT skills.
Advanced
Advanced courses are directed towards those professionals who use CBT routinely as part of their clinical practice. They have probably undertaken a significant number of training courses and/or workshops, and use a broad range of cognitive behavioural strategies to work with a range of presentations at varying levels of complexity.
Making reservations
Bookings can only be considered confirmed after we have received your online registration or application form and payment (or invoicing details, including an official purchase order document).
The registration closing date for each workshop is shown on the workshop description page. Please note that no applications received after this deadline will be permitted.
If you are booking a workshop place for someone else, you must complete your own details in the billing field, but ENTER THE WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS NAME/ADDRESS in the shipping field. If you wish to order items using a paper order form instead of online, you can view or download an order form in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. Once downloaded, print it out, fill it in, and send off with your payment [cheque made payable to OXFORD HEALTH NHS FOUNDATION TRUST] to the address on the form.
Refreshments
The cost of the workshops includes hot drinks on arrival, mid-morning and mid-afternoon, but not usually lunch unless stated. However, for workshops that do include lunch, if you have any special dietary requirements please let us know at the time of application.
Accessibility requirements
We welcome applications from diverse backgrounds. If you have any particular needs, please contact us
prior to booking.