PSYCH 730 : Professional Psychology Practice in New Zealand

Science

2025 Semester One (1253) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Aims to equip students with knowledge and skills required for registration as a psychologist with the New Zealand Psychologists Board. Topics include the structure and functions of the Psychologists Board/Health and Disability Commissioner, cultural competency (obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and cultural safe practice), professional ethics (Code of Ethics for Psychologists Working in Aotearoa/New Zealand) and related legislation.

Course Overview

Topics included are those which provide the foundation for safe and ethical practice as a psychologist in Aotearoa/New Zealand.  
 
The course includes a description of the functions of the Psychologists Board and related professional bodies, close consideration of the Code of Ethics for Psychologists Working in Aotearoa/New Zealand and related legislation, and the practice of ethical decision making. In addition, consideration will be given to issues concerned with professional behaviour and maintenance of boundaries with colleagues and clients. Issues of well-being and self-care will be presented as an essential part of professional practice. This includes the practice of supervision. The ethics related to the involvement of whaiora/experts by experience in services will also be considered.
 
Cultural competence in professional practice includes consideration of psychologists’ obligations for practice that arises from the Treaty of Waitangi, and skills for safe practice when working with Māori. Awareness of your own culture and values and how these may influence psychological practice will be developed. Sensitivity in working with members of other cultures from one’s own will be explored. 
 
Completion of a staff-approved Treaty Workshop is expected for completion of this course.   

Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 2: Sustainability
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism
Graduate Profile: Master of Science

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Describe the relevance and roles of professional bodies to psychological practice in Aotearoa/New Zealand. (Capability 1, 3 and 8)
  2. Apply the principles of Psychologists’ code of ethics and relevant law to psychological practice. (Capability 1, 3 and 8)
  3. Demonstrate awareness of how one’s own culture/values may influence psychological practice with clients and develop strategies to mitigate this. (Capability 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8)
  4. Understand and describe the implications of the Treaty of Waitangi for psychological practice in Aotearoa/New Zealand. (Capability 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8)
  5. Demonstrate an introductory level of competency in Mātauranga Māori knowledge including a basic understanding of the dynamics of whanaungatanga that include mana, tapu and noa, tika, pono, manaakitanga and aroha. (Capability 1, 3, 4 and 6)
  6. Demonstrate a basic competency in the practice of pepeha, karakia and waiata. (Capability 1, 3, 6, 7 and 8)
  7. Prepare an effective and realistic personalised plan for stress management and professional well-being. (Capability 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7)
  8. Describe appropriate standards of and rationale for maintaining appropriate professional boundaries in relationships with clients and colleagues (Capability 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8)
  9. Be able to participate appropriately in professional supervision in terms of observing basic ethical guidelines, developing a supervision agreement, and utilising the experiential learning model. (Capability 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Assignments 70% Individual Coursework
Final Exam 30% Individual Examination
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Assignments
Final Exam

Special Requirements

  • Students must complete all assignments (3) and the final exam. 
  • 90% attendance at seminars required.

Tuākana

This course is supported by the Tuākana in Science Programme, which facilitates the success and wellbeing of our Māori and Pacific students. The foundation of the Tuākana Programme is the Tuākana-Teina principle an integral relationship in which older or more expert Tuākana (traditionally brother, sister or cousin) guides a younger or less expert Teina (traditionally younger sibling or cousin). This is a reciprocal relationship which fosters safe learning and teaching environments. Read more here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/science/study-with-us/maori-and-pacific-at-the-faculty/tuakana-programme.html

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15-point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15-point course that they are enrolled in. For this course, you can expect a total of 24 hours of lectures, 63hours of reading and thinking about the content and 63 hours of work on assignments and/or exam preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

  • Attendance is required at scheduled activities to complete the course.
  • Lectures will not be available as recordings. 
  • The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Relevant documents (e.g. Code of Ethics, Code of Rights, Self Care Utilization Questionnaire) will be available on Canvas.

Student Feedback

During the course Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the staff responsible for the course and staff-student consultative committees.

At the end of the course students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback.

Your feedback helps to improve the course and its delivery for all students.

Continue with a variety of assessment methods, not limited to essay format (e.g. video recordings). Maintain the contribution of experts by experience to discussions of whaiora involvement.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Copyright

The content and delivery of content in this course are protected by copyright. Material belonging to others may have been used in this course and copied by and solely for the educational purposes of the University under license.

You may copy the course content for the purposes of private study or research, but you may not upload onto any third party site, make a further copy or sell, alter or further reproduce or distribute any part of the course content to another person.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.

The delivery mode may change depending on COVID restrictions. Any changes will be communicated through Canvas.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.