Te whānui o te tikanga mahi 

Scopes of Practice  

The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (HPCA Act) requires the Board to define a psychotherapist’s area of mahi/work (known as a scope of practice). Every psychotherapist is assigned a scope of practice.

The Board has published 3 scopes of practice: 

  • Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice

  • Psychotherapist Scope of Practice

  • Psychotherapist Scope of Practice with Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Specialism.

Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice - 5 year time limit

Acceptance into the Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice must be for the purpose of achieving registration in either the:

  • Psychotherapist Scope of Practice or

  • enrolled Psychotherapist Scope of Practice with Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Specialism.

Practitioners can only remain in the Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice for a maximum period of 5 years, save for exceptional circumstances as determined by the Board.  

The 5-year timeframe will begin from the date of registration and continue uninterrupted.

Click here to view the Board's Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice timeframe extension request.

Changing from the Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice 

To move from the Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice to the Psychotherapist Scope of Practice or the Psychotherapist Scope of Practice with Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Specialism please click the link in the 'Requests' section within the MyPBANZ portal.  

Information required:

  • Change to scope of practice - supervisor form
  • The Board requires that weekly supervision is undertaken by newly qualified psychotherapists with less than 900 hours of clinical practice experience, regardless of caseload, as the supervision has a function of solidifying the training process. 
  • Online declaration confirming 120 hours of personal psychotherapy has been undergone.

The forthcoming end of the Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice

The Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice has been available to some of the training providers to enable those during training but yet to complete their qualification to practice (under supervision).  Anyone currently enrolled in one of these programmes will still have the provision to apply for registration in the Interim Psychotherapist Scope of Practice. However, from January 2025 onwards (following a decision made by the Board in August 2023), any new enrolments will be subject to a new regulation: new students will not be able to seek registration in the Interim Scope of Practice. For student enrolling from January 2025 onwards, they can only achieve registration a) by enrolling in an accredited programme, and b) with registration only able to be applied for on completion of the qualification.

Conditions placed on a scope of practice

The HPCA Act allows the Board to include conditions on a psychotherapist scope of practice.  Examples follow:

Competence to practise in the Aotearoa context: This condition requires a psychotherapist, within 12 months, to provide the Board with evidence that they are competent in the following areas: Te Tiriti o Waitangi and relevance to psychotherapy practice in bicultural Aotearoa. Cultural and social dynamics and safety specifically relevant to bicultural Aotearoa. Understanding of the Aotearoa health sector and Aotearoa law relevant to psychotherapy practice.

Supervision arrangements as stipulated by the Board: This condition requires a psychotherapist to have supervision as stipulated by the Board – for example, a psychotherapist returning to mahi/work after a period of not practising.

Condition removal

Psychotherapists who have completed condition requirements can request that the condition be changed or removed. For more information please click here.