Handbook of Psychology

Education and Training in the United Kingdom 15

in 2001. This quali“cation is essential to all those wishing to
work professionally in the health psychology “eld. On com-
pletion, candidates are eligible for full membership of the
Division of Health Psychology permitting the member to use
the title •Chartered Health PsychologistŽ and to have his or
her name listed in the Society•s Register. The training system
is based on the health service provider model of Table 1.1. No
programs using the community action model have yet been
accredited by the BPS Health Psychology Division. In the
United Kingdom, community action programs are more
likely to be located in departments of geography or in health
promotion units than in departments of psychology (e.g.,
Cave & Curtis, 2001; Lethbridge, 2001). To date, with one or
two notable exceptions (e.g., Bennett & Murphy, 1997), there
has been relatively little interest in the community approach
within British health psychology.
Education and training of health psychologists in the
United Kingdom is in three stages: (a) undergraduate,
(b) postgraduate stage 1 (MSc), (c) postgraduate stage 2
(MPhil, PhD, PsychD, or DPsych). To enroll as a candidate
for the stage 1 postgraduate quali“cation in Health Psychol-
ogy, the applicant must:

1.Be a graduate member of the British Psychological Soci-
ety and hold the Graduate Basis for Registration; and

2.Either hold, or be enrolled in, a postgraduate research de-
gree relevant to health psychology and include an empiri-
cal research project, or

3.Be a chartered psychologist seeking lateral transfer from
another area of psychology.

The postgraduate stage 1 is often completed as a BPS-
accredited MSc degree in health psychology in any one of
about 20 institutions. Otherwise candidates may take an
examination set by the Board of Examiners in Health Psy-
chology (BEHP). This examination comprises four written
papers, a research project, and an oral examination on the
research project. The topics covered in the written examina-
tion papers are:

Health-related behavior: Cognitions and individual

differences.

Psychosocial processes in illness and health care delivery.

Research and development in health psychology.

Context and related areas.

The research dissertation must be a piece of supervised,
self-selected original health-related research in accordance

with the BPS ethical guidelines, and should not exceed

14,000 words.

Following successful completion of the stage 1 quali“ca-

tion, candidates may proceed to stage 2. To enroll as a candi-

date for the stage 2 quali“cation, the applicant must:

1.Be a graduate member of the BPS and hold Graduate

Basis for Registration.

2.Hold either the stage 1 quali“cation in health psychology,

or a postgraduate BPS accredited quali“cation in health

psychology, or have a statement of permission to proceed

to the stage 2 Quali“cation from the BEHP.

3.The stage 1 quali“cation involves the attainment of a

health psychology knowledge base and postgraduate re-

search skills. The stage 2 quali“cation builds on stage 1

by assessing professional level capability in research,

consultancy, teaching, and training and also generic pro-

fessional competence in relation to psychological prac-

tice. From September 2004, applicants for Chartered

Health Psychology status who began their training after

September 1, 2001, will have to demonstrate competence

in 21 units„19 core units and two optional units. The 19

required units are divided into 73 speci“c components in

four domains.

Professional Competence

Health psychologists should be able to maintain personal and

professional standards in their practice and act ethically. Core

competencies include:

1.Implement and maintain systems for legal, ethical, and

professional standards in applied psychology„security

and control of information; compliance with legal, ethical,

and professional practices; procedures to ensure compe-

tence in psychological practice and research.

2.Contribute to the continuing development of self as a

professional applied psychologist„process of self-

development; knowledge and feedback to inform practice;

access to competent consultation and advice; professional

development; best practice as standard.

3.Provide psychological advice and guidance to others„

assess opportunity, need, and context for giving psycho-

logical advice; provide psychological advice; evaluate

advice given.

4.Provide feedback to clients„evaluate feedback require-

ments; preparation and structure; methods of communica-

tion; presentation of feedback.