How do psychologists maintain their professional competencies? : voices from the field : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Abstract

This research explored how five psychologists in Aotearoa New Zealand maintained their professional competencies throughout their careers. Using a qualitative approach, and drawing from social constructionism and phenomenology, the collective case study research design facilitated the exploration of participants’ experiences of maintaining their mandatory competencies required to practice as psychologists, through semi structured interviews. The research found that the participants identified themselves as reflective and evidence-based practitioners, with a strong sense of personal responsibility towards maintaining their competencies. The challenges they faced in maintaining the competencies and the solutions to mitigate the challenges were all centred around the workplace. Based on the findings the key suggestions made include: Aligning policies and procedures in all psychologists’ workplaces with legislation and evidence based practice; aligning continuing competence programmes with performance planning; building leadership and cultural supervision, and making high quality supervision accessible throughout the profession; better access to professional information and new research in the field; adopting a coaching and mentoring approach to professional learning and development; and legitimising the valuable collegial support that psychologists relied upon to maintain their competencies. These suggestions are also well supported by the literature in helping psychologists to practice psychology competently in order to ensure public safety.