Health Professionals Council (HPC) Register Psychologists from 1st July 2009
From today the HPC are registering psychologists and are the only body that has the power to do so in the UK. Below is information direct from the HPC website which should shed light on who is now regulated, which titles are now protected, who is not regulated and who the professional body for psychologists are.
For further information please see:
http://www.hpc-uk.org/aboutregistration/aspirantgroups/psychologists/
Who is now regulated?
The profession of psychology is divided into seven areas or ‘domains’ of practice. The domains regulated are:
- Clinical psychologists
- Counselling psychologists
- Educational psychologists
- Forensic psychologists
- Health psychologists
- Occupational psychologists
- Sport and Exercise psychologists
Which titles are protected?
The following titles are generic titles to be used by any HPC registered psychologist::
- Registered psychologist
- Practitioner psychologist
The following are domain specific titles used by individual HPC registered psychologists:
- Clinical psychologist
- Counselling psychologist
- Educational psychologist
- Forensic psychologist
- Health psychologist
- Occupational psychologist
- Sport and exercise psychologist
The title ‘psychologist’ is not protected on its own.
Who is not regulated?
The following groups are not regulated at the moment:
- Psychotherapists and Counsellors will not be regulated with practitioner psychologists. However, there is currently a Professional Liaison Group (PLG) looking at their regulation and we anticipate that these groups might be regulated in 2011.
- Psychologists and teachers who work purely in academic, research and experimental psychology and do not offer psychological services to the public. People who teach wholly or mainly on undergraduate courses who call themselves ‘psychologists’.
It is proposed that these groups of psychologists will not legally need to become registered. However there is an expectation that those who are wholly or mainly engaged with teaching on postgraduate courses will need to register as they, and their students, will be working in applied settings with members of the public.
- Neuropsychology is a post-Chartered Status specialism and will not be separately regulated. However, most neuropsychologists will already be Chartered Psychologists with the BPS, most usually – but not exclusively - as clinical psychologists or educational psychologists.
Who is the professional body for psychologists?
There are a small number of organisations who currently represent practitioner psychologists. The biggest of these is the British Psychological Society (BPS). They hold the largest voluntary register of qualified psychologists and are involved in approving, and delivering, education and training to become a practitioner psychologist. Someone who has met all of the Society’s standards for entry to the voluntary register is granted the title, ‘Chartered Psychologist'.
The BPS is divided into ‘divisions’ which represent each of the areas of psychology practice listed above. The names of the divisions are:
- Division of Clinical Psychology
- Division of Counselling Psychology
- Division of Educational and Child Psychology
- Scottish Division of Educational Psychology
- Division of Forensic Psychology
- Division of Health Psychology
- Division of Occupational Psychology
- Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology
In addition, the Division of Neuropsychology (DoN) represents the practice area of neuropsychology, which is a post-Chartered Status specialism. Practitioner members of the DoN will also be qualified in one of the areas of psychology practice listed above.
Standards of proficiency
The HPC Council and its Education and Training Committee (ETC) agreed the standards of proficiency on Wednesday 20 May 2009.
The information is taken from the HPC website
James Beale C.Psychol
Practitioner Psychologist
07985414942
Total Performance Consulting - Sport Psychologists
