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InPsych 2012 | Vol 34

April | Issue 2

InPsych 2012 | Vol 34

Education and research

Psychology Board to introduce strict training requirements for supervisors in 2013

Mandatory training requirements will be introduced by the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) for all supervisors of trainee psychologists from June 2013. The requirements for supervisors, which are currently in a transition phase, will result in a stringent national process for training and accrediting supervisors which will apply to all existing and future supervisors. (Please note that the requirements do not apply to supervisors who provide supervision of research projects or those who provide supervision in the context of continuing professional development.) The introduction of these changes will have a significant impact on supervisors of provisional psychologists in the two pathways to registration (workplace internship and postgraduate training) as well as those providing supervision towards area of practice endorsement, and therefore has considerable implications for the training of the psychology workforce.

The current and pending requirements for supervisors that have been stipulated by the PsyBA in various fact sheets, standards and consultation papers are outlined in the boxed information. APS advocacy in relation to this important matter is presented on the following page.

CURRENT AND PENDING PsyBA REQUIREMENTS FOR SUPERVISORS

Psychology Board of Australia-approved supervisor status

The PsyBA has established a framework and standards across Australia which requires psychologists to be Board-approved if they are providing supervision to:

  • Provisional psychologists undertaking a 4+2 internship program or a 5+1 internship program
  • Postgraduate students undertaking placements as part of an APAC-accredited professional psychology training program (transition arrangements currently apply – see below)
  • Psychologists undertaking a registrar program leading to endorsement in an approved area of practice.

Supervisors must be approved to provide the particular type of supervison. Supervisors can be either principal supervisors who take primary responsibility for the trainee and provide the majority of supervision, or secondary supervisors, who fulfil a component of the supervision under approved arrangements.

Transition arrangements to 30 June 2013
There is a transition period for Board-approved supervisors until 30 June 2013, after which time the full requirements for Board-approved supervisor status have to be met.

  • Psychologists who were previously approved as a supervisor by a State or Territory registration board and held that status on 30 June 2010 (or 17 October in Western Australia) automatically transitioned onto the PsyBA list of approved supervisors. The list of these currently Board-approved supervisors is available in an online supervisors’ register on the PsyBA website (www.psychologyboard.gov.au/Registration/Supervision/Search.aspx).
  • Psychologists who were not previously approved but seek to become a Board-approved supervisor can apply to the PsyBA but must meet recency of practice and supervisor professional development requirements. Once approved these supervisors’ names will appear on the online supervisors’ register.
  • Psychologists who provide supervision to postgraduate students on placements can continue to provide supervision without PsyBA approval until the end of the transition period.

At the end of the transition period (i.e., after 30 June 2013), all supervisors must reapply (or apply in the case of supervisors of postgraduate students) for PsyBA approval and meet all of the new training requirements for Board-approved supervisor status (further information below).

Registration requirements of Board-approved supervisors

All supervisors must hold current general registration without any conditions. If a supervisor’s registration lapses, is suspended, cancelled or surrendered, is changed to non-practising, or becomes subject to conditions, then approved supervisor status ceases and must be reapplied for when the relevant circumstances change.

Principal supervisors must have held general registration for at least three years, while secondary supervisors must have held registration for at least two years.

Principal supervisors of psychology registrars must have held an endorsement in the same area of practice for at least two years. This is not required for secondary supervisors of registrars but they should have advanced knowledge and experience that is relevant to the area of practice.

Training requirements for Board-approved supervisors

A new training requirement to maintain Board-approved supervisor status will commence from 1 July 2013 at the end of the current transition period. This training requirement will apply to all supervisors requiring PsyBA approval – those supervising provisional psychologists in internship (4+2; 5+1) programs, those supervising postgraduate psychology students on placement, and those supervising registrars training towards area of practice endorsement.

At the end of the transition period (i.e., after 30 June 2013), all existing supervisors will be required to complete a Board-approved supervisor training program and reapply (or apply in the case of supervisors of postgraduate students) for supervisor status before they can be approved to supervise. Supervision provided while a supervisor is no longer approved cannot be counted by the supervisee as time towards supervised practice requirements. Every five years approved supervisors will be required to complete a Board-approved supervision revision course and renew their status.

The completed supervisor training program required before reapplying for PsyBA approval in 2013 must have been undertaken within the last five years and can be one of three approved types:

  1. A PsyBA-approved training program (not currently available but will be open to enrolment in the future); OR
  2. Training completed between 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2010 that was approved by the relevant State or Territory Registration Board at that time; OR
  3. Training completed between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2013 that currently has interim PsyBA approval. The two interim PsyBA-approved supervision training programs are the Supervisor Training and Accreditation Program (STAP) run by Griffith University and the NSW Psychologists Registration Board’s supervision workshops.

The first option – a PsyBA-approved training program – is not currently available as the guidelines for the supervisor training have not yet been finalised by the PsyBA to enable training programs to be developed. An exposure draft of the guidelines was released by the PsyBA at the end of last year and indicated that the training would entail one course covering all supervision pathways. The training will cover seven competencies, which include knowledge and understanding of the profession as well as the fundamental principles of competency-based supervision. The mandatory supervisor training is proposed to entail three components:

  • 7 hours of preparatory work, passing of self-study modules, and general reading
  • 14 hours of direct face-to-face instruction (e.g., workshop participation)
  • Systematic assessment of competency attainment.

The revision training (to be completed every five years before supervisor status can be renewed) is proposed to be one day in length and includes systematic assessment.

APS advocacy regarding supervisor training

The APS has highlighted a number of significant concerns to the PsyBA regarding the pending mandatory training requirements for supervisors. As for many of the changes introduced by the PsyBA under national registration, the aspiration for high standards for the psychology profession is laudable, but the timelines and onerous nature of requirements bring serious implications for the sustainability of both the current and future psychology workforce. The consequences of the additional administrative and financial burdens of mandatory training may well be to reduce the already limited number of experienced supervisors, with flow-on effects for the training of the psychology workforce which relies on supervised practice as a cornerstone.

The specific concerns about the introduction of the mandatory training requirements for maintenance of approved supervisor status were presented in the APS submission to the
recent PsyBA exposure draft on guidelines for supervisor training and are outlined below.

  • There is no recognition of current supervisors’ prior training, skill development and experience in the process of supervision, which is frequently considerable. There is an existing workforce of skilled supervisors who support the developing psychology workforce and they should not be expected to relearn their supervision knowledge and skills.
  • The proposed supervisor training is onerous in its length of seven hours of preparatory work and 14 hours of face-to-face instruction followed by systematic assessment, and places a significant burden on supervisors. The length of the training and the face-to-face training also brings considerable costs which will be borne by the supervisors.
  • The ‘one-size-fits-all’ design of the course covering all the different supervision pathways (4+2/5+1; postgraduate student; registrar) will require supervisors to undertake training for pathways they may well not be interested in or equipped to provide.
  • The proposed content of the mandatory training obliges supervisors to relearn the skills that are already required to be a registered psychologist in order to attain the necessary competencies in knowledge and understanding of the profession. The training should instead focus solely on the process of supervision and the skills required to deliver supervision.
  • The date for introduction of the mandatory training requirement is only 14 months away and no approved training – apart from the two programs with interim PsyBA approval – is yet available as the guidelines have not been finalised by the PsyBA. Supervisors should be given ample time to attend the training before this becomes a mandatory requirement to maintain supervisor status. The transition period therefore needs to be substantially extended to accommodate this.
  • Only one of the currently available training programs with interim PsyBA approval is available in a number of Australian States (the STAP) and the cost of undertaking this training and the associated required assessment is $1,187. To avoid a commercial monopoly when the PsyBA supervision training guidelines are finally available, the PsyBA should approve multiple training providers to ensure the supervision training is financially accessible to all given the cost burden of the mandatory training.
  • The inclusion of supervisors of postgraduate students on placement in the new mandatory training requirements erodes the autonomy of higher education providers in providing oversight of student supervision on placements. Furthermore, these supervisors should not be financially responsible for undertaking the mandated training, and this is likely to act as a disincentive to organisations and individuals offering supervised placements. Such placement opportunities are already in short supply and are a vital part of the training of the psychology workforce.

The APS will continue to highlight these significant concerns about the impending mandatory training of supervisors to the PsyBA, and hopes that changes to the requirements and the timeframe for their introduction will ensue.

References

Disclaimer: Published in InPsych on April 2012. The APS aims to ensure that information published in InPsych is current and accurate at the time of publication. Changes after publication may affect the accuracy of this information. Readers are responsible for ascertaining the currency and completeness of information they rely on, which is particularly important for government initiatives, legislation or best-practice principles which are open to amendment. The information provided in InPsych does not replace obtaining appropriate professional and/or legal advice.

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