Please submit your application for PSI membership online via the website. You can view details regarding different membership types, criteria and documents required for each application type on the website here.
Accreditation refers to the process undertaken by PSI to ensure that psychology courses in Ireland are of the highest standards for training and practice in professional psychology. You can check if your qualification is accredited by the PSI on our website here.
If your qualification is from overseas and you wish to work as a psychologist in the Public Health Service, you must apply for Validation through the Department of Health Validation Unit. You can contact the Validation Unit directly at Validation_unit@health.gov.ie
You can search for a Chartered psychologist here. All those listed on the directory are Chartered members of the PSI.
The first step is completion of a PSI accredited undergraduate or conversion degree in Psychology with grade 2:2 or above. Or completion of an overseas course that is equivalent to an Irish accredited honours degree. Please click here for PSI accredited undergraduate courses.
Please click here to view recorded webinar regarding pathways into undergraduate psychology in Ireland.
The PSI podcast: 2020 Podcast Series: Part 2, Ep,5- How to become a psychologist, along with other PSI podcasts can be found here.
The Psychological Society of Ireland offers to advertise on our website and in our magazine, The Irish Psychologist. For more information, please see here.
With regards to assessments in the Public Health Service, the HSE have their own eligibility criteria for their psychologists. Please see here for more information. Private services and private psychologists may have their own self-assessment of capacity to carry on these assessments. The PSI is not involved in developing eligibility criteria for services and therefore may not be in a position to comment on their appropriateness.
For those seeking an Autism assessment, the PSI recommends looking for a professional who is a Chartered Psychologist (Chartered member) with PSI to ensure you are confident in his/her experience, expertise, qualifications and competencies. All Chartered members of the PSI have had their qualifications and experience reviewed by the PSI as part of the PSI Chartered membership application process and can use the designation ‘Chartered Psychologist of the Psychological Society of Ireland’.
The PSI does not make any determination as to Chartered members’ competence for particular types of work, only that they are competent to work as a psychologist (Chartered members) or within a specific sub-discipline of psychology (Chartered members who are full members of one of the PSI Divisions). However, according to the PSI Code of Ethics, all members must practice within their scope of competence.
For those seeking an Autism assessment, the PSI recommends looking for a professional who is a Chartered Psychologist (Chartered member) with PSI to ensure you are confident in his/her experience, expertise, qualifications and competencies. All Chartered members of the PSI have had their qualifications and experience reviewed by the PSI as part of the PSI Chartered membership application process and can use the designation ‘Chartered Psychologist of the Psychological Society of Ireland’. You can search for a PSI Chartered psychologist on our website here.
The PSI does not make any determination as to Chartered members’ competence for particular types of work, only that they are competent to work as a psychologist (Chartered members) or within a specific sub-discipline of psychology (Chartered members who are full members of one of the PSI Divisions). However, according to the PSI Code of Ethics, all members must practice within their scope of competence.
For those seeking an Autism assessment, the PSI recommends looking for a professional who is a Chartered Psychologist (Chartered member) with PSI. Whilst the PSI does not make any determination as to Chartered members’ competence for particular types of work, Chartered members have been determined by PSI to be competent to work as Psychologists, and must follow the PSI Code of Ethics, including practising within their competence. You can search for a PSI Chartered psychologist on our website here.
Psychological assessments for Autism should be comprehensive and person-centred. Assessments take time to carry out, for both young people and adults, exploring a person's developmental history, strengths, needs, social interaction style, and presenting behavioural and/or sensory issues.
When making a first appointment with a psychologist it is advisable to discuss practical issues at the outset. These include questions about their training and experience, the kind of services they can provide, their charges, whether these are recognised by health insurance companies and the amount and length of sessions.
Some of this information may be available on an individual clinic or practitioner’s website, or from their clinical policy forms. If in doubt, we would advise that you seek out this information from the provider directly, prior to making an appointment. It is also important to note that individual health insurance companies vary significantly in the types of assessments that they cover. We advise reaching out to your insurance company in advance of accepting an appointment. If your health insurance company does not cover a particular type of assessment or a particular provider, this is not necessarily a reflection on the provider, but may be related to the type of insurance you have or indeed what types of assessment an insurance company deems necessary.
If you are looking for an assessment of Autism to access support services, in this case, we would advise requesting information from the particular support service regarding assessments they accept, for example whether they accept assessments by a particular provider or particular qualified person. For example, DARE outline appropriate professionals for DARE assessments for Autism and ADHD. You can find this information here.
Our guidelines on Professional Practice Guidelines for the Assessment, Formulation, and Diagnosis of Autism in Children and Adolescents outline best practice
You can find information and support on the AsIAm website here.