Connecting Psychotherapists and the Public with a Modern Digital Platform
The British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) is the UK’s leading professional association and accredited public register for psychoanalytic psychotherapy. It represents and supports thousands of practitioners, while also helping the public find qualified psychotherapists through its national register.
BPC’s previous website had become outdated, difficult to navigate, and was running on an unsupported version of Drupal, creating usability challenges and potential security risks. BrightMinded partnered with BPC to deliver a modern, accessible website and an integrated CRM that better serves members, staff, and the wider public.
Challenge
The BPC website was no longer meeting the needs of its diverse audiences, including members, trainees, and members of the public seeking therapy. Poor information structure and dated design made it difficult for users to find what they needed quickly.
Key challenges included:
- An unsupported Drupal platform posing security and maintenance risks
- A complex site structure that made content hard to find
- Manual, time-consuming admin processes for events, memberships, and renewals
- Limited self-service options for members
- An outdated therapist directory that needed improvement
BPC needed a platform that was easy to use, secure, and flexible enough to grow with the organisation, while maintaining the professionalism expected of a national accrediting body.
Solution
BrightMinded began with user experience research, working closely with BPC staff, board members, and trustees to understand the needs of all stakeholders. Through interviews, workshops, and journey mapping, we developed clear personas and redesigned the site’s information architecture around real user needs.
We then built a brand-new WordPress website and migrated BPC from their legacy Millertech CRM to CiviCRM, fully integrated into the new site. This allowed BPC to:
- Enable members to book and pay for events online
- Allow members to update their own profiles and manage renewals
- Reduce manual admin work for the internal team
- Deliver a clearer, more intuitive user experience across the site
Using CiviCRM’s open-source flexibility, we developed custom extensions to tailor the registration and renewal journeys to BPC’s specific requirements. We also built a location-based search tool, making it significantly easier for the public to find a qualified psychotherapist nearby.
Impact
The new platform has delivered clear benefits for both BPC’s internal team and its members. The website is easier to navigate, simpler to update, and better reflects the organisation’s professional standing.
Since moving to BrightMinded, BPC has seen a nearly 20% increase in membership registrations, alongside reduced manual input for membership officers and improved retention rates. Members regularly comment that the site feels more professional and far easier to use than the previous system.
The internal team now spends less time on administration and more time supporting members and the wider community. With a secure, scalable digital foundation in place, BPC is well positioned to continue evolving its services and improving access to psychotherapy across the UK.
“Thanks for delivering a new website that’s so easy to navigate and update. We’ve received plenty of positive feedback. It better reflects the BPC’s professional reputation, as well as being easier for our audiences to use. BrightMinded were responsive and reliable to work with and provided creative solutions throughout the whole process.”
Richard English, Communications Manager, BPC
