fPc | The Foundation for Psychotherapy and Counselling |
The WPF Family of Organisations
The WPF family brings together over 50 organisations set up with a common purpose. A few grew from the same roots, others were established by WPF graduates and became affiliated with the WPF group and some were assessed as sharing the equivalent purpose and welcomed into the family.
The first to be established was the Highgate Counselling Centre, set up by Bill Kyle in 1960. https://highgatecounselling.org.uk/
Next, in 1969, came the Westminster Pastoral Foundation, from which the WPF group took its title. In July 2008 the name changed to WPF Therapy Ltd. The organisation closed in July 2023.
In 1978 the staff and graduates of the Westminster Pastoral Foundation established the Institute of Pastoral Education and Counselling to be the professional home for WPF graduates. Becoming the Institute of Psychotherapy and Counselling (WPF) in 1988 and then the Foundation for Psychotherapy and Counselling in 1998. www.thefpc.org.uk
In 1988, WPF launched a new project, Counselling in Companies, as the commercial subsidiary of the charity. It was spun out of WPF in 2006 and now trades as a separate company, known simply as CiC. https://www.cicwellbeing.com/
The most recent of the organisations from the same roots is WPF Counselling North, established in 1991. Becoming Leeds Counselling (WPF) in 1999 and then Northpoint Wellbeing in 2013. https://northpoint.org.uk/
In the 1970's and 1980's a major focus for WPF was the establishment of an affiliate network. By 1990 there were about 50 organisations in the network. The network became so dominant that it was referred to as simply WPF, with the Westminster Pastoral Foundation being known as WPF Kensington or WPF London. The WPF network was disbanded in 2012. Some retained their connections with each other, forming the National Counselling Network https://www.nationalcounsellingnetwork.org/
The organisations in the WPF network were: