Obtaining an Area of Practice Endorsement in clinical psychology from the Psychology Board of Australia provides some exciting professional opportunities. Area of Practice Endorsements are formally assessed, and establish that you are an advanced-level practitioner with highly developed skills in your area of practice. Correspondingly, these endorsements are highly regarded by health and allied health practitioners, and may enable higher earning power, and higher levels of rebate from Medicare for your clients.

How does the Clinical Psychology Registrar Program Work?

Clinical psychology registrars are generally registered as psychologists with AHPRA, and as such can practice in any role that a psychologist may practice in, including private practice. A person wishing to pursue a registrar program must apply to AHPRA for approval of the program.

The requirements are different depending on which postgraduate degree you completed. In each case, the registrar program assumes that you are working full time (35 hours per week) 44 weeks per year. Once a registrar program has been approved, the registrar has up to 5 years to complete it. The requirements for face-to-face client contact are a minimum of 176 hours per year.

Specific requirements are as follows:

Masters Degrees

You may begin once:

• you have completed all the requirements of your Masters degree
• you have obtained general registration as a psychologist

Your registrar program will consist of:

• 2 years (3080 hours of psychological practice, 80 hours of supervision)

Doctoral Degrees

You may begin once:

• you have completed all the coursework and placements of your doctoral degree
• sufficient progress has been made on your thesis (determined by your training institution)
• you have obtained general registration as a psychologist

Your registrar program will consist of:

• 1 year (1,540 hours of psychological practice, 40 hours of supervision)

Combined Masters and PhD Degrees

You may begin once:

• you have completed all the coursework and placements of your masters degree
• sufficient progress has been made on your thesis (determined by your training institution)
• you have obtained general registration as a psychologist

Your registrar program will consist of:

• 1.5 years (2310 hours of psychological practice, 60 hours of supervision)

During your registrar program, you will maintain:

1. Psychological Practice – involves seeing clients for assessment and treatment of psychological concerns, report and letter writing, liaising with other professionals, training others in psychological concepts, and other activities that form part of the practice of psychology.
2. Supervision – involves attending meetings with a supervisor like me who is approved by the Psychology Board of Australia (http://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/Registration/Supervision/Search.aspx) to develop the core competencies of a practicing psychologist.
3. Professional Development – involves structured learning activities that develop the candidate's psychological knowledge, including reading, discussion and reflection, online and face-to-face workshops, all focused on psychological practice or models.

Complete details on the requirements of the registrar program can be found here:
http://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/Endorsement/Registrar-program.aspx

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss arrangements for supervision for your clinical psychology registrar program.