Our work and priorities

COSRT is the professional body for practitioners specialising in Psychosexual and Relationship therapies. Since 1976 we have been at the forefront of developing and supporting these important and high impact modalities in the UK and beyond. Today, almost 50 years later our central purpose remains ensuring that the public benefit from the best therapy possible.

To maximise benefits for the public, our work is based on three central pillars that translates into a range of practical activities:

• Setting and maintaining professional standards for therapists.
• Providing and overseeing training for therapists.
• Promoting and supporting research to improve knowledge.

A regulatory function

When we set and maintain standards we are carrying out a regulatory function. That means we protect the public through practical actions such as holding public registers of qualified professionals; ensure therapists operate within ethical and professional frameworks; and we carry out complaints when there are concerns over a practitioner’s conduct.

An enabling function

To maximise public protection we also carry out a complementary enabling function. That means we constantly support therapists to develop their skills and knowledge; push for better training; provide information to the public and drive forward international research into Psychosexual and Relationship Therapies – all so that standards are better understood and upheld.

Strategic priorities from 2024

In Summer 2024 the COSRT Board completed the long-term development of a new strategy for COSRT. That strategy outlines the future direction of the organisation, based on a series of challenges and opportunities facing the sector and organisation. Constantly working, evolving and adapting to meet the needs of the public and professionals underpins a series of overarching priorities that will inform our practical work in the coming years. The five main priorities are:

• Improving awareness of therapies – so that that Psychosexual and Relationship Therapies are better understood by the public and those responsible for delivering services.
• Increasing the impact of evidence – so that all stakeholders have better access to relevant, high-quality evidence on what services work, why they work and why they are needed.
• Spreading professional standards – so that hat is only acceptable for practitioners to deliver specialist therapies with the proper training and accreditation.
• Improving professional training – so access to and the quality of Psychosexual and Relationship Therapy training is increased for the benefit of all.
• Reinforcing COSRT’s position – so that we build our visibility and understanding to maximise impact and reach.