This briefing note is designed to inform you about the Board and what it does. It outlines the Board's involvement in the education and training of arts therapists and in ensuring good standards of competence and conduct. State registration sets the standard for the profession by acting as a kitemark for the protection of the general public, as a standard of professional behaviour, as a mark of a profession which is part of the wider medical family and as the criterion for employment in the National Health Service.