Information for Psychologists

The Association of Child Psychologists in Private Practice has been established by two founder members, Denise Thornton and Terri Hall with the intention of drawing together committed practitioners who have a vision for the future of Child Psychology. We believe that Child Psychologists working in private practice need a forum for discussion, the opportunity to speak with a collective voice and the chance to help shape the future of our profession. This Association seeks to act as an open and objective information channel for the public and engender transparent professional practice.

Invited members involved in the establishment of the Association include Ruth Birnbaum, Jonathan Reed and Jennifer Stockley. Peter Rankin was also a very valued member until his recent resignation necessitated by his duties in setting up the paediatric neuropsychology course at the Institute for Child Health/UCL.

The inaugural conference of AChiPPP was in October 2006. Members who attended had the benefit of hearing Theo Paphitis, among other noted speakers, give his thoughts on setting up in private practice. Since that first conference many more members have joined.

Training Days on working as an expert witness have followed. So far there have been two separate training days on Education Law covering preparation of reports and Tribunal attendance and two on Family Law. The Family Law days like the Education Law days covered all aspects that require the involvement of the expert witness including report writing and practising courtroom skills. In response to requests from members one of the Training Days was held in Sheffield as an alternative to London.

Our most recent Training Day was in the field of neuropsychology focusing particularly on executive functioning in children.

At the local level, members are now organising local support groups with opportunities for peer contact and supervision. As stated above one of the original aims that Denise and Terri had in setting up AChiPPP was to offer child psychologists in private practice access to peer support and opportunities for CPD specifically geared to the needs of child psychologists in private practice. It's great to see that this is now happening. Members can use the website to find out the contact details for other psychologists local to them. Simply type in own postcode and a list of AChiPPP psychologists local to that post code will then be shown.

You can also make direct email contact or come through the main AChiPPP email address or use the telephone contacts shown on the home page. Margaret Kuzmin deals with AChiPPP's admin support. She is available via the enquiry form and on her private phone 01483 830411.

Please bring your ideas, views and experiences to share with others via email or direct contact. If you have a meeting let other members know by giving details to Margaret (tel 01483 830411) who can circulate or do so directly by the AChiPPP list serv .

The HPC and VAT

With the move to registration by the HPC (Health Professions Council) many members have been querying what the situation will be regarding payment of VAT. This is, in fact, relatively straightforward and an excellent description of the process is given by AChiPPP member Jacqueline Siner on her website: http://www.jsapsychology.co.uk/new/july/2009/vat-psychologists. Jacqueline's seven minute podcast will answer many of the questions.

HPC and Titles

Many AChiPPP members, like other psychologists, are likely to be currently wrestling with the titles they will be allowed to use following HPC registration. Some of you may be following the information given on the BPS website and the debates in the Independent Practitioners listserve. There is still some conflicting information around, although the kernel seems to be that all psychologists registered with the HPC can call themselves either a Registered Psychologist or a Practitioner Psychologist. The term Chartered Psychologist will remain, but adjectival titles are more of a query. While Chartered Psychologist will be an acceptable title, Chartered Educational Psychologist or Chartered Clinical Psychologist will not be. There is still some dust to settle on this – conflicting advice was recently given by two senior members of the BPS. In the meantime, no changes are being made to the AChiPPP website. We recognise that once there is absolutely 100% clarity, we will then need to make necessary changes.