University students and professors weigh in on newly proposed ‘assistant psychology’ role

The Government's new qualification proposal to address psychologist shortages in Aotearoa has sparked varied reactions from psychology students and teachers.

Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at AUT, Liesje Donkin, welcomes the new role but is concerned about its impact on diversity and equity within the workforce.

Students won't need to study as long for the new qualification of assistant psychologist, announced by Minister of Mental Health Matt Doocey, compared to that required to be a registered psychologist.

Donkin’s concern is that the proposal might favour students with social equity advantages who can study longer to become registered psychologists, potentially leaving socially and financially disadvantaged students to take the shorter qualification of assistant psychologists.

“If someone comes from a background where they are more financially disadvantaged or experience greater social inequities, and you have to do either a seven-year course or a three or four-year course, the three or four-year course might appeal because of the timeframe until you can start earning money.”

Donkin believes that the workforce needs to recruit with greater diversity in mind and needs more people from different backgrounds to be registered psychologists.

“Whilst the ability to be working and earning money early is great, my concern is that do we end up with people who are more socially and financially disadvantaged taking the assistant role route because it gets you out there faster earning money rather than go on to be registered psychologists?”

Assistant psychologists provide low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy and conduct psychometric tests, allowing clinical psychologists to focus on more complex cases.

Becoming an assistant psychologist requires less study time compared to the six years needed to become a registered clinical psychologist in Aotearoa.

The government is developing a new registration process for this role, already established in the UK, US, and Canada.

Psychology students, under pressure to gain acceptance into clinical psychology, have mixed reactions.

Auckland University Psychology Student Association spokesperson, Anastasia Bryleva, believes existing workforce numbers need bolstering first.

“Ideally it would be nice to have more clinical psychologists before introducing these new roles,” Bryleva says.

Auckland University psychology student Ruby Sexton agrees, emphasizing the need for more clinical psychologists.

“There are so many students who could be clinical psychologists but there’s not enough resources to get into courses we want to do,” Sexton says.

However, Auckland University psychology student Matthew Kay, who intends to enter clinical psychology, disagrees.

“If they have to choose between one, I think it’s more important if we get more boots on the ground,” Kay says.

“Having a more accessible means of qualification is appealing to psychology students, especially given the pressure and competition that comes with trying to get into clinical with how limited those spaces are.”

Currently, Te Whatu Ora needs to train over 350 clinical psychologists annually to meet demand, but only 50 clinical internship placements are available each year, causing a significant shortfall and long waiting lists in both public and private sectors.

The associate psychologist role proposal comes after NZ Doctor reported that the Ministry of Health is meant to cut its budget by $78 million over 2024 and 2025.

Whether the role of associate psychologists appears in Aotearoa’s future or not remains to be seen.

Listen here: AUT Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Liesje Donkin addresses key considerations to factor before implementing the associate psychologist role in universities across Aotearoa.