| New Zealand Psychological Society | |
| Formation: | 1947 |
| Founders: | --> |
| Type: | Professional association |
| Region Served: | New Zealand |
| Product: | --> |
| Method: | --> |
| Field: | Psychology |
| Headquarters: | 90 The Terrace Wellington, New Zealand |
| Leader Title: | President |
| Leader Name: | Tania Anstiss |
| Membership: | 2,000[1] |
| Membership Year: | 2022 |
The New Zealand Psychological Society (NZPsS) is one of the professional associations for psychologists in New Zealand. It is the largest professional body for psychologists in New Zealand,[2] providing for both research psychologists and practicing psychologists.[3]
The society began as a branch of the British Psychological Society in 1947, becoming an independent body in 1967.[4] The society's first annual conference was held in 1968, when the society had approximately 150 members.[5] Originally the society was dominated by academic psychologists, but by the 1960s and 1970s, practicing psychologists, primarily clinical psychologists, became a growing voice within the society.[6] Between 1968 and 1978, the society grew to over 600 members.
In the 1970s, the society spoke out against unsafe driving practices,[7] and submitted in support of changes to the Crimes Amendment Bill in 1974, the first parliamentary attempt at homosexual law reform in New Zealand.[8] In 1978, Ann Ballin became the first woman president of the society.
The society was an integral lobbying force in passing the Psychologists Act 1981, which established psychology as a registered profession in New Zealand.[6] [9] [10]
The society is a constituent organisation of Royal Society Te Apārangi.[11]
Within the society, a number of divisions exist to promote and foster specific fields of psychology. The Clinical Psychology Division was formed in the 1970s,[6] followed by the Counselling Psychology Division in 1985[6] and the Community and Social Psychology Division was established in 1987.[12] As of 2022, there are seven institutes and one special interest group:[13]
The society has a two-tier approach to membership and professional regulation: a general-scope registration, followed by a specialist scope registration, in a field such as clinical psychology or educational psychology.[14]
Members of the society are signatories to the Code of Ethics for Psychologists Working in Aotearoa/New Zealand, which was established in 2002 due to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003.[15] [16] Prior to the establishment of the code, each individual professional association for psychologists in New Zealand had their own code of ethics.[17]
The following have been Presidents of the Society.[18] [19] [20]
| President | Term | |
|---|---|---|
| Hubert Sampson | 1968–1969 | |
| Hugh Priest | 1969–1970 | |
| Alan Crowther | 1970–1971 | |
| Clement Hill | 1972–1973 | |
| T. McKellar | 1973–1974 | |
| Richard Barham | 1974–1975 | |
| Jim Ritchie | 1975–1976 | |
| Michael Malloy | 1976–1977 | |
| Graham Vaughan | 1977–1978 | |
| Ann Ballin | 1978–1979 | |
| John Small | 1979–1980 | |
| Andrew Hornblow | 1980–1981 | |
| George Shouksmith | 1981–1982 | |
| Ross St George | 1982–1983 | |
| Ted Glynn | 1983–1985 | |
| Aloma Colgan | 1985–1986 | |
| Harry Love | 1986–1987 | |
| Geoff White | 1987–1988 | |
| Freda Walker | 1989–1990 | |
| Sharon Driscoll | 1990–1991 | |
| Michael Hills | 1991–1993 | |
| Olive Webb | 1993–1995 | |
| Fred Seymour | 1995–1997 | |
| Judith McDougall | 1997–1999 | |
| Ian Evans | 1999–2000 | |
| Barry Parsonson | 2000–2002 | |
| Cheryl Woolley | 2002–2004 | |
| Keriata Paterson | 2004–2006 | |
| Raymond Nairn | 2006–2008 | |
| Jack Austin | 2008–2010 | |
| Frank O'Connor | 2010–2012 | |
| Peter Coleman | 2012–2014 | |
| Kerry Gibson | 2014–2016 | |
| Quentin Abraham | 2016–2018 | |
| John Fitzgerald | 2018–2020 | |
| Waikaremoana Waitoki | 2020–2022 | |
| Tania Anstiss | 2022–2024 |