Joining the college

Membership types

You can join the NZCCP under one of three membership options: student, associate or full. The College also has two higher levels of membership, Fellowship and Life Member, which are awarded to members who have made a significant contribution to the profession.

Student

Free for any student enrolled in a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology or a Doctor of Clinical Psychology at a NZ university.

Associate

Associate membership is half price and available for newly qualified or experienced Clinical Psychologists. To qualify for this membership type you must:

Have a New Zealand Post-graduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology or a Doctor of Clinical Psychology, or overseas equivalent.
Have NZ Registration as a Psychologist in the Clinical Vocational Scope of Practice.
Undertake a one year period of clinical practice closely supervised by a NZ registered Clinical Psychologist who belongs to a professional body, has their own supervision in place and has experience of or a commitment to training in supervision. The supervision must be on individual (one-on-one) basis.

If you want to apply for this membership, you must provide the following:

A copy of your Degrees or Diplomas, or other proof of qualifications.
A current Annual Practising Certificate showing NZ Registration as a psychologist in the Clinical Vocational Scope of Practice.
Current and previous relevant employment details (C.V.).
Two references for membership by NZ Registered psychologists who have known the applicant for more than six months (download reference form here).
A signed declaration of the absence of professional complaints (included in the application form)supervision contract.

Note: the rate will remain half price for two years, after which it increases to the full member price (irrespective of advancement to full membership).

Full member

Full members of the NZCCP must satisfy all the criteria to become an Associate Member and have a satisfactory NZCCP supervision report from an NZCCP approved supervisor (as described above) based on 12 months of clinical practice within the last three years. This report must be based on at least 20 contact sessions.

The intention of this one-year period of post-graduate supervision is to encourage and monitor the continuing development of skills in applying psychological principles, theory and knowledge to the client presenting for assistance with emotional, psychological, and behavioural difficulties. For overseas applicants the intention of the supervised year is for the purpose of assisting the applicant to generalise existing skills to the NZ setting. The overseas applicants must demonstrate that they have been supervised by a NZ registered clinical psychologist for 12 months in the last 3 year period.

Where an applicant for Member or Associate Member has undertaken supervision after qualifying as a clinical psychologist, but before applying for membership, the BOMPS may recognise all or part of this supervision as contributing to the supervision requirements if they are within the last three years.

Membership benefits

Access to free confidential counselling service
Access to free online psychology database
Free access to ProQuest’s Health Research Premium Collection Central
Seminars and courses at a reduced cost
Access to excellent indemnity insurance
MNZCCP letters after your name
Access to advice about ethical and work-related queries
Reduced rate for new Associates
Referral nationwide through out Private Practice list
Receive all NZCCP publications free of charge
Award and grants:
1. NZCCP Emerging Leaders Development Grant - $6,000
2. NZCCP Research/Study Award - $8,000
3. NZCCP Travel Grant - $1,400
4. President’s Award - $2,000

Professional indemnity insurance

Members of the College can purchase membership of the Medical Protection Society (MPS), which provides access to legal advice and representation in the event of a hearing. Student members of the NZCCP are entitled to be covered by the MPS scheme at no cost. Learn more. To apply, please send the completed application form to office@nzccp.co.nz.

Full or associate members - Medical Protection Society (MPS) application form.
‍Student Members - Medical Protection Society (MPS) application form.

Apply

Overseas applicants
We recognise that applicants who have recently arrived in New Zealand or completed their studies outside of New Zealand may have trouble satisfying some of the outlined criteria. The NZCCP membership application requires 2 references from NZ psychologists who have known the applicant for 6 months or more. This requirement is flexible for people who have recently arrived from overseas and may not know any NZ psychologists. If this is you and you have any queries about this please email us at office@nzccp.co.nz. Equivalent qualifications earned outside of NZ is determined on a case by case basis. Being registered in the clinical scope with the NZ Psychologists Board is necessary, but not sufficient for admission to NZCCP (the NZ Psychologist Board criteria are competency based, NZCCP criteria are qualification based).

Application process
To complete a membership application, you will need to create an account or login. Make sure you have gathered the appropriate supporting documents, then fill out the online application form from your account. Once you have submitted, your application will be reviewed by the board and either approved or denied. If it is approved, you will be prompted to pay the associated fee and your membership status will be updated.

Apply now