Society, July 2007

EuroPsy is here 

THE 'EuroPsy' Certificate – a European standard for psychologists at the level of entry to professional practice, equivalent to our Chartered Psychologist status – is now being trialled in six countries, including the UK.
The EuroPsy is the fruit of a six-year project funded by the European Union under its Leonardo da Vinci programme, to develop a European benchmark in psychology. It was accepted in 2005 as the European 'standard' by the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations (EFPA), which represents an estimated 200,000 individual psychologists in its 32 national member associations.
EuroPsy requires six years of education and training, including at least five years' full-time study at recognised university level plus one year of supervised practice, or its equivalent. Applicants must also demonstrate a commitment in writing to the ethical code for psychologists in the country of practice and to the European MetaCode of Ethics for Psychologists. The EuroPsy is valid for seven years, after which time revalidation is required. Full details are available via www.efpa.eu.
This project provides an opportunity to develop the standard of psychology education across Europe. It supports the Society's own efforts to maintain the quality of our own qualifications, since we are currently seeking statutory regulation which retains the standard of chartered status (six years of academic and professional education and training). It is also timely as we face potential threats to the quality of education and training from any statutory regulator, and the English Department of Health's 'New Ways of Working' initiative, and pressures from the Bologna commitment to training professionals for the labour market in three years.
The initiative also fits well with current developments in EU legislation. The acceptance of a new European Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications in 2005 means a major change in the way that different national psychology qualifications are evaluated across Europe. Directive 2005/36/EC aims to facilitate mobility of psychology professionals and students, and to ensure that there is a system in place at European and national levels to minimise obstacles to mobility. Member States have until June 2007 to implement the Directive in their national legislation.
A pilot EuroPsy certification and registration is being carried out in six countries – Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the UK – with the first certificates to be awarded in Finland this year. Within the Society it is likely that there will be fast track recognition for EuroPsy for some chartered psychologists (with immediately comparable education and training), while others will need to apply through grandparenting procedures. The Society already has well-established procedures for evaluating qualifications and the equivalence of those obtained in other countries, and EuroPsy procedures will build on these. The pilot in UK is being coordinated by a steering group working to the Admissions Committee.
The Board of Trustees has recently reiterated that the Society defines a 'psychologist' as an individual with at least six years of education and training to a doctoral level of competency. The EuroPsy maps well onto our model of professional training and will be a key benchmark for the public and employers.

Ingrid Lunt, Peter Banister and Elizabeth Campbell
EuroPsy Steering Group

New ways of working

A CONFERENCE for the New Ways of Working for Applied Psychologists will take place on Friday 20 July 2007 at the Walkers Stadium, Leicester. Places are still available (apply to [email protected]). The conference will launch the reports from six of the seven New Ways of Working project groups. Participants will be circulated with the first final versions of the reports, which touch on many aspects of the roles of all the applied psychologists:
l    New Roles – Analysis and recommendations for the development of new roles at pre-qualification level and for complementary educational frameworks to be developed.
l    Training Models – A review of existing training models and recommendations for the future concerning possible unification and differentiation of existing training routes.
l    Career Pathways – A guide to qualified career pathways and examples of innovative practice in psychology that can be shared and spread to other parts of the UK.
l    Teamworking – A guide to working psychologically in teams including the analysis of the issues of team size, psychologist's identity, accountability, responsibility and what makes for effective teamworking.
l    Leadership – A review and guide to organising, managing and leading psychological services including a clear set of guiding principles to be taken into account when developing these services.
l    Improving Access to Psychological Therapies – The launch of a good practice guide with clear recommendations about the roles applied psychologists can play in improving the population's access to psychological therapies.

The conference will be opened by Society President Pam Maras and will be followed by presentations from Roslyn Hope, Director of Workforce (NIMHE/CSIP, Chair), Bill Davidson (NIMHE User Involvement Lead), and Tony Lavender (BPS, Chair). There will be five workshops where the aim is to think through how the major recommendations from the work can be implemented.
Full versions of the documents and the overarching report will be published on the Society's and New Ways of Working websites.