Statutory Regulation of Practitioner Psychologists

A DECADE-LONG campaign by the British Psychological Society to have statutory regulation for practitioner psychologists comes to fruition.

From this month the Health Professions Council (HPC) takes over the regulation of the majority of practitioner psychologists.

Protected titles that only a statutory regulated psychologist can use are:

Clinical Psychologist

Counselling Psychologist

Educational Psychologist

Forensic Psychologist

Health Psychologist

Occupational Psychologist

Sport and Exercise Psychologist.

Two additional titles have been protected - Registered Psychologist and Practitioner Psychologist - which all psychologists on the Register will be able to use.

Sue Gardner, President of The British Psychological Society said: 'We're delighted that the Society's many years of campaigning for statutory regulation have finally come to a conclusion. The road has been very long and bumpy. However, there remain aspects of the regulation processes which we believe will not deliver the full protection of the public as we had hoped.

'Our concerns include the fact that not all existing Chartered Psychologists, who up until now have been regulated by the Society, will automatically be able to register with the HPC. We're also concerned that the protected titles do not include the simple title psychologist. This could lead to a two-tier system and confusion for the public'.

Sue Gardner continued: 'however, we're committed to work with the HPC to help make their role as the new regulator a success. We want to help the public understand the differences between those qualified psychologists that are covered by the HPC and those that are not.

'We are pleased that the HPC listened to our advice about the education entry levels. They will use the same entry-level threshold as the Society, which we have benchmarked at Doctorate level. This recognises promises made by the Government to the Society that standards would not drop as a result of the transition from voluntary to statutory regulation'.

The British Psychological Society will continue to promote the advancement and understanding of the science and application of psychology, as well as standards for its members. These are responsibilities granted through the Society's Royal Charter. The Society will continue to offer Chartered Membership to those psychologists who meet our high standards of education and training.