All Psychologists registered under the Health Practitioners Competency Assurance Act (2003), require training to a minimum of a Masters’-level qualification, with a minimum of 1500 hours of supervised practice prior to qualification. All psychologists ascribe to a core set of values and skills, including a commitment to scientific and evidence-based approaches, to collaboration and client-centred care, and an ability to work with complex psychological issues.
Since psychology can be applied across multiple areas of public policy and human behaviour, the specialties of psychologists can vary considerably and a number of defined ‘scopes of practice’ have been defined by the New Zealand Psychology Board.
The image below describes the key skills and a number of the specialities amongst psychologists.
