Campaign for a Royal College of Psychologists

[hettie]

What a lovely, optimistic message to wake up to this morning

I know, I know I’m not exactly miss optimism today… I have stuff going on in my service and within another one of roles that is sapping my optimistic outlook! Apologies if I was a downer on your morning.

I do think there is a bit of a problem with the motivation for change… The BPS doesn’t feel like it has the ‘burning platform’ moment just yet. Why would the trustees move from their ‘steady as she goes’ position, I’m not convinced they are up close and uncomfortable with the threats posed to psychological professions?

[Borrowed Cone]

What a lovely, optimistic message to wake up to this morning

I know, I know I’m not exactly miss optimism today… I have stuff going on in my service and within another one of roles that is sapping my optimistic outlook! Apologies if I was a downer on your morning.

I do think there is a bit of a problem with the motivation for change… The BPS doesn’t feel like it has the ‘burning platform’ moment just yet. Why would the trustees move from their ‘steady as she goes’ position, I’m not convinced they are up close and uncomfortable with the threats posed to psychological professions?

This is probably because it very much views itself as a "learned society" as opposed to a true professional body. Many practising psychologists feel that they simply do not have a professional body looking after THEIR interests and the interests of their clients/patients.

[miriam]

As I just said on twitter to JHH, this lightbulb really doesn't want to change. However, as a body that needs to represent the interests of its members, it will have to

[BlueCat]

How many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb that REALLY doesn't want to change?

[miriam]

How many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb that REALLY doesn't want to change?

That is what we are about to find out! The fact that JHH has been elected, and that the RC campaign got so many signatures on their petition suggests they have a groundswell of support, but whether it is enough to move the behemoth of the BPS into the modern professional body that we need to serve our interests as psychologists waits to be seen!

[miriam]

So now is our chance to have a say. The BPS are putting the whole society structure up for consultation: https://response.questback.com/britishp ... y/mnr2015/

If you want a Royal College, or if you don't, now is the time to say!

[hettie]

Am disseminating this amongst my networks and I urge everyone else to do so….

[eponymous85]

Trying to unravel the documentation so I can actually cast a vote. Any thoughts from members here? The inner machinations of the BPS are a bit of a mystery to me.

someone objects no matter how neutral or obvious the message seems to be to 90% of people you consult.
...You send out a message requesting views on some important issue to 1000 people and get 1-3 responses, one of which will be to complain about the question.

I'm really sorry to laugh at your frustration Miriam but this had me snorting in my tea this sounds like every meeting of psychologists I have ever been to. What's the matter with us?!

[astra]

Trying to unravel the documentation so I can actually cast a vote. Any thoughts from members here? The inner machinations of the BPS are a bit of a mystery to me.

someone objects no matter how neutral or obvious the message seems to be to 90% of people you consult.
...You send out a message requesting views on some important issue to 1000 people and get 1-3 responses, one of which will be to complain about the question.

I'm really sorry to laugh at your frustration Miriam but this had me snorting in my tea this sounds like every meeting of psychologists I have ever been to. What's the matter with us?!

Sums up the department I work in! I take refuge in my private work, where I have my own little empire - well a room at least!

[miriam]

Private work has its own politics, Astra, the grass isn't so much greener you just have more of a choice to walk in the direction you fancy to see new grass and maybe some weeds that are quite pretty...

The choices are:

1) go back to the original BPS structure, so stay much as it is now with little silos and no coherent way for members to influence policy, with all the best stuff happening in levels of the BPS that don't even exist in the diagrams of the structure (the faculties and networks).
2) make an academic part and a practitioner part for the BPS, and make everyone join the former and HCPC registered people join the latter, with each having a process for members to determine policy
3) make a single 'college' structure, where academics and practitioners are clustered according to their interests and client groups, and everyone gets a say in the whole (making the good bits of having thriving networks more effective by making them not be at the bottom of a branching structure that has cut members into so many subgroups that the same interests have to be replicated in faculties and networks within each practitioner division)

I'm in favour of as much change as possible, so I'm voting for option number 3. Nothing is perfect; I'm anxious about blurring the line so that all practitioner psychologists are considered interchangeable, as I think the training for each category, their stance and the client groups and models about which they have knowledge differ, but I like the idea of chopping out the bureaucracy and having single channels to speak with a unified voice about issues (even if we have to accept that sometimes the majority vote will be for a position we don't like as an individual or professional subgroup). If that much change doesn't work then the BPS might as well implode and be done with it.

[BlueCat]

Does anyone know where this has got up to? I've had some material around an Association of Clinical Psychologists and am getting really confused......

[Spatch]

I too have had some correspondance with the Association of CP, which isn't the same as the Royal College idea. I think the latter got sidelined, but am happy to be corrected. Generally support the idea of the association though.

[Alexander]

The Association of Clinical Psychologists - UK is, from what I can gather, a splinter group of senior BPS clinicians and academics keen to establish a specific professional body for clinical psychologists. The ACP includes the former heads of all of the national BPS branches, the former co-chair of the Group of Trainers in Clinilcal Psychology and the former CPF Editor. They are the same group that recently sent an online survey to all clinical psychologists (qualified and pre-qualified) asking what functions the profession wishes a prospective professional body to perform. The survey received an amazing 2500 respondants. If interested, you can still complete it here. From what I could gather, the ACP has taken up most of the functions they asked about in the survey, with the possible exception of those associated with a trade union. The ACP has a Google Group, which they will use to distribute information, alongside email newsletters. You can find it here.

I contacted one of the members of the ACP committee in response to their recent email and newsletter. I wanted to clarify their position on the formation of a Royal College. The response was that the individual in question supported RC status but that several members of the committee found the idea "distasteful" due to republican beliefs. I wrote that while I was sympathetic to those beliefs I did not agree that personal political beliefs should influence a decision about how best to represent our profession to the press, public and stakeholders. In my opinion, RC status would be an essential part of raising CP's profile with these groups - another being more active engagement supported by a funded press/media arm of the organisation. I also suggested the committee should ask their prospective members (i.e. you and I) to vote on the matter, a suggestion that seemed to go down well with this individual.

I am interested in starting a wider debate on the issue. I don't know how many CPs would support Royal College status but I very much think it is a conversation worth having within the profession. There are several Facebook groups which I am hoping to use to spark a debate. I would be interested to hear from anyone here on their views regarding the matter.

[BenJMan]

There was overwhelming support for applying for RC status when this began, in fact it is how much of the interest was generated. I am pleased that the break away is finally happening, but I am incredibly annoyed that a group of people at the top of this have made a decision amongst themselves to not begin the process by apply for RC status. The message they gave in the PR they have been sending out is that they are not doing it now because it is an added complication, but that they will explore this in future.

If it is true that it has been avoided because of the views of a select group of people rather than the collective opinion, I will be sorely dissapointed and unconvinced that this group can be any different to it's predecessor.

[hettie]

I am disappointed that the royal college idea got stymied. In particular because this could have provided an opportunity for practitioner psychologists from other churches to join forces (United we stand and all that). I'm also raising an eyebrow at their early communication about rationale and values...equality, diversity, being able to advocate for an alternative to the medical model, including clients views etc. Sounds right out of the Counselling Psychology playbook to me....