Communications by on on behalf of the Board during 2023 regarding the existing scopes of practice which we say are incorrect (summarised at What the Board is saying now) have already had or are having a number of adverse consequences, including these:
- they have generated confusion, stress, distress, and anger among a large number of psychologists;
- there is evidence they have caused at least one government agency employer not to grant work based on what the Board or its Secretariat has said;
- they have made life difficult for providers of psychologists to such employers;
- they have made psychologists fear for their jobs and livelihoods;
- they have called into question the value of a particular postgraduate diploma;
- they have prompted psychologists to question what they were told when taking certain postgraduate studies at universities;
- they have created certain risks for government agencies who contract the services of psychologists; and
- they are perpetuating false perceptions that employers can only employ ‘clinical psychologists’ for certain roles, thereby limiting the applicant pool for employers and potentially prejudicing the availability of psychologists for those in need of mental health services.
And now the Board has approached its consultation on scopes of practice on the same basis that has given rise to these very consequences.
The assertion by the Board that many psychologists have extended their practice beyond their scope of practice is highly concerning because, if it were true, it would mean those psychologists would be acting unlawfully. We say it is not true, but employers, clients, and members of the public reading a paper from a regulatory authority may believe it to be true, especially when it takes time to unravel what the Board has been saying and is saying now in its consultation paper. A statutory body exercising considerable public power should not be doing this.
Causing organisations to limit or second-guess the kinds of psychologists they contract with for certain kinds of work, fuelling false perceptions about who should be employed for particular roles, and openly asserting that many psychologists are acting unlawfully does nothing to foster a unified profession or sustain trust and confidence in it on the part of everyday New Zealanders who need psychological support. And all of this is happening at a time when New Zealand continues to be in the midst of a mental health crisis, with people in distress struggling to find psychologists with availability to help them.