psychology- memberships and societies

[tinatsarina]

so I have a BA in childhood and youth studies with the OU I'm completing my second year of a part-time MSc in applied developmental psychology with QUB.

As far as I can tell I'm currently not eligible for any memberships/societies unless I take their accredited courses even though my qualifications include all the necessary components.

Aside from waiting God knows how long to fund and complete a PhD what can I do as a job? Is there something really obvious I'm missing?

Have you had a call with the BPS? They can likely guide you regarding whether you could apply for recognition of your existing qualifications or not. There will need to be specific proportions of stats and research methods training in psychology etc. - does your MSc provide that?

Ah, I do various things with the BPS and this is one if the things that is difficult. Even if you have a PhD, it is not simple to be a member. They protect that quite strongly because they make a lot of money from accrediting courses.

May I ask what you want to get out of the BPS? As I said I volunteer for them but people are leaving in droves as far as I can tell.

A lot of jobs I'm aiming for are asking for membership. I'm looking for child psychology, counselling etc. I'm finding it hard to apply for psychology jobs that don't require membership.

Hmm, counselling can definitely be done without a psychology background but would usually involve a specific counselling qualification that is BACP accredited, for example. What do you mean by child psychology - research in developmental psychology, or something else?

Have you spoken on the phone with the BPS about whether they are able to accredit the modules you've passed already to get you graduate registration status? If so, did they highlight any specific gaps?

I was in this position for a while. I have a PhD joint Psy and another dept but a PhD in itself does not give you BPS accreditation. I have taught courses that give accreditation - but I am not accredited myself. Like you - I also found most psy jobs required a BPS accredited qualification. The only way through I could see - was to do the accredited conversion to psychology masters offered several places, including online but no longer by the OU. I already had 3 degrees and just couldn't face it or afford it - and now I am back in the 'other' dept so don't need it. So - if you really need it - the conversion course would do it.

If you are research active you should be able to join through the chartered route: https://www.bps.org.uk/chartered-membership-cpsychol

If not, then you will have to do a conversion MSc. Every year at my institution I have joint honours students who cover basically the same course but with no research methods or empirical dissertation have to pay for the MSc.

Personally, I think the BPS is not really fit for purpose across several fronts BUT it does make psychology staff lives easier in teaching intensive universities because they will not accredit a course with a ratio greater than 1:25.

It's a hoop which makes the BPS money through accreditation and universities money through conversion masters. There is no interest to change it.

Even with an accredited psychology degree and BPS membership you would need additional training to be a counsellor or child psychologist. A psych BSc or an MSc is a necessary baseline not a professional qualification for becoming a chartered psychologist. Ask your lecturers at QUB for some advice on where to go next. You can train as a counsellor without BPS accreditation anyway.

Have you looked at the PSI in preference to BPS?

Yea apparently the issue seems to be because my BA is a distance course and they wonder if it would cover everything necessary, I'm guessing more clinical side of things

For an undergrad degree you would not expect much clinical content though - certainly not anything that would enable someone to enter practice without a good deal of additional training. Undergrad is very much nuts and bolts - research methods, lots of stats, a good grounding in biological, cognitive, social, developmental and other basics. A detailed research project in the final year with specific tasks including ethics applications etc. Things might vary a bit but its the foundations that are accredited by the BPS in their GBR.

You can't get a counselling job without a counselling qualification. A huge part of it is practical training, not just theory. A minimum of 100 hrs supervised practice, group work and self-development and personal therapy.

I'm doing most of that now in my masters, methods, stats, qualitative, placement etc this year is adversity, psychological methods and dissertation so maybe they'll accept it once I pass

Quite possibly. Might be worth talking to the director of your current course to get a sense of how you can attain graduate basis for registration.