There has been concern that there are some psychotherapists who may not be competent in "the assessment, formulation, diagnosis and treatment of mental problems". It is important to remember that in any scope of practice psychotherapists are only allowed to "practice within their area and level of expertise". Scopes of practice cover a range of functions and any particular psychotherapist is unlikely to be competent in all of them but will be competent in some.

Psychotherapist Scope of Practice with Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Specialism. The Psychotherapist Scope of Practice with Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Specialism is designed to direct the public to a trained child and adolescent psychotherapist. Child and adolescent psychotherapy competencies are included within the Psychotherapy Scope of Practice. This specialism recognises the specialised training and competencies relating to working with children and adolescents in this scope for the benefit of the public. And psychotherapists registered in this scope are also only allowed to "practice within their area and level of expertise".

Registration is a one off exercise, yet is an involved process. It will take you approximately 30-45 minutes to complete the online portion of registration. Compiling your supporting documentation will depend on how readily you have the information to hand.

Q. What will happen until then?
To enable practitioners to register the Board has accepted some qualifications for grandparenting. These qualifications can be viewed in the policy section of the website. All other qualifications will be assessed to see if they are comparable.

Q. If my qualification is not assessed as comparable how will I register with the Board?

There are various ways for a psychotherapist who does not have a qualification acceptable for grandparenting to qualify for registration.
If you want to work in the Psychotherapist Scope of Practice you will need -

You would be entitled to be registered under the "Psychotherapist Scope of Practice" (during the grandparenting phase) if you can provide;
Evidence of current full membership and a current practising certificate from:
The New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists
OR
Have satisfactorily completed a final assessment accredited or set by the Board

If you want to work in the Psychotherapist Scope of Practice with Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Specialism you will need -

You would be entitled to be registered under the "Psychotherapist Scope of Practice with Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Specialism" (during the grandparenting phase) if you can provide;
Evidence of current full membership and a current practising certificate from:
The New Zealand Association of Child & Adolescent Psychotherapists
OR
Have satisfactorily completed a final assessment accredited or set by the Board

You may be eligible to work in the Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice in which case you will need -

You would be entitled to be registered under the "Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice" (during the grandparenting phase) if you can provide;
Evidence of current Graduate Membership and a current practising certificate from:
The NZ Association of Child & Adolescent Psychotherapists
OR
Evidence of current Provisional Membership and a current practising certificate from:
The NZ Association of Psychotherapists
OR
Have satisfactorily completed an initial assessments accredited or set by the Board

NOTE: Board approved assessments will be carried out by organisations approved by the Board which have requirements for training, clinical supervision, personal therapy and reference checks (including a final assessment and/or face to face interview). These organisations will be assessed on a case by case basis to ensure the organisation meets with Board policy.

Q. Does the Board intend to work with the Associations?
Yes, the Board does intend to work with Associations in the protection of the New Zealand public. It is early days for the Board and for the regulation of psychotherapy as a profession, as such the Board hopes that the profession, tangata whenua, stakeholders and other interested parties will permit the Board time to follow through with its intentions.

Q. How is the Board working with the Associations?
The Board has asked Associations (ANZSJA, NZACAP and NZAP) to assist the Board by permitting the Board to register psychotherapists approved through the processes and systems of assessment currently setup by these Associations to review psychotherapist training and competence at this stage, and to consider assessing non association members on behalf of the Board.

The Board has already received a positive reply to this latter request.

Where possible, within the confines of the HPCAA the Board will continue to work with the Associations rather than re-invent the wheel, for example in relation to ethics and competencies.

Yes, you will need a certificate of good standing if you are or have been registered with a compulsory Board/Council either in New Zealand or another Country.

Section 15(2) if the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act states that an authority may, for the purpose of subsection (1) (b), treat any overseas qualification as a prescribed qualification if, in the opinion of the authority, that qualification is equivalent to, or as satisfactory as, a prescribed qualification.

Q. What type of things does my APC cover?
The Board has developed a modest budget on the information it has with a guesstimate of the number of people that may register. The APC fee is used each year to cover a number of things, some examples are listed below: