How to become a sport psychologist ?
This a frequently asked question for people wanting to enter into this line of work. In the U.K, the title ‘sport psychologist’ is protected and regulated which means that anyone using this title will have to be registered on the Health Professions Council (HPC) list of practitioners. The register is there to provide standards of proficiency for safe and effective practice in the industry. Therefore, you are subject to a fine if you advertise that you provide sport and/ or exercise psychology services but are not on the HPC register. There is an exception with regards to further or higher education and so being a lecturer/ senior lecturer in Sport & exercise Psychology permits using the title without registration.
So how do you become registered as a Sport Psychologist?
This has significantly changed in recent years and becoming registered Sport psychologist is a time consuming and incredibly demanding task. So be sure that this is the route you want to take before following this path.
To become a Sport Psychologist the Degree Programme will need consideration:
You will need to have completed a degree that qualifies you for graduate basis for chartered membership (GBC). Most psychology degrees carry this but not all so it is important that you are aware that the degree you enrol on qualifies you for this. If you follow a straight forward Sport Science degree it is highly unlikely that you will qualify. So consider a joint honours as an option to get a flavour of both divisions of sport science and psychology as disciplines.
Entering onto a post graduate programme to become a Sport Psychologist:
The British Psychological Society (BPS) currently run the desired path for HPC recognition. The process is divided into two distinct parts.
Stage one– requires a master’s accredited course: Follow link below to find out more about these courses
Stage two– requires a process of supervision over a 2 year period. During this time you will be guided through the working practises of a chartered psychologist in the field. This is usually a fee paying service: Follow the link below to find out more about this path