What is a Provisional Psychologist?

Provisional psychologists have completed a degree in Psychology and are fully qualified and skilled in providing the services to aid their clients in achieving their therapy goals. 

 

There are many ways that provisionally registered psychologists are just like generally registered psychologists: 

1. They can help support clients to overcome mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, childhood anxieties, and assess and treat a broad range of concerns. 

2. They regularly report to their governing body, AHPRA. 

3. They have studied a minimum of 4 years in tertiary education before undertaking an additional internship of 1-2 years to develop their professional skills. During this internship, they undertake regular rigorous supervision from at least two Board Approved Supervisors who are also highly trained, experienced, registered psychologists. 

 

All provisional psychologists thus receive additional support in skill development, ethical practice, and reflection to guarantee that all clients receive effective and appropriate treatment. 

 

This supervision process is for the skills development of the  provisional psychologist, however it has the added benefit of allowing clients to essentially have not one but two or even three psychologists regularly reviewing their case and streamlining their treatment. 

 

Provisional psychologists have met the registration standards outlined by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and are committed to meeting these standards in future practice. They are also required to do extensive additional professional development in their internship years to learn new ways to support their clients. Once they complete their provisional requirements, they can apply to AHPRA to gain general registration as a Psychologist.

 

Where they differ slightly from a generally registered psychologist: 

 

• Under current legislation, provisionally registered psychologists cannot offer a Medicare rebate, which means that clients do not need a mental health care plan. This affects you in two ways:

  1. We make sure that the fees you pay for a session with a provisional psychologist are lower than for a generally registered psychologist. 

  2. There is no limit to the number of sessions so you may see your provisional psychologist as often as you need to. 

 

Our provisional psychologists have current availability and are eager to help close the gap between clients and the significant wait times that people seeking psychological support experience. 

 

Please call or email us to book an appointment today.