British Psychological Society

The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. Founded on 24 October 1901 at University College, London (UCL) as The Psychological Society, the organisation initially admitted only recognised teachers in the field of psychology. Its current name of The British Psychological Society was taken in 1906 to avoid confusion with another group named The Psychological Society. Under the guidance of Charles Myers, membership was opened up to members of the medical profession in 1919. In 1941 the society was incorporated.

Its current President, for 2017-18, is Nicola Gale, an organisational psychologist employed at City University in London. The Society holds its Annual Conference, usually in May, in a different town or city each year. In recent years it has been held in Dublin (2008), Brighton (2009), Stratford-upon-Avon (2010), Glasgow (2011), London (2012), Harrogate (2013), Birmingham (2014), Liverpool (2015) and Nottingham (2016). In 2017 the conference was held once more in Brighton.

The BPS is also a Registered Charity and, along with advantages, this also imposes certain constraints on what the Society can and cannot do. For example, it cannot campaign on issues which are seen as party political. The BPS is not the statutory regulation body for Practitioner Psychologists in the UK which is the Health and Care Professions Council.

In 2012 the BPS had 49,678 members and subscribers, in all fields of psychology, 18,342 of whom were Chartered Members. The Society no longer publishes details of its membership size which is thought to be in decline following statutory registration of psychologists by the UK Health and Social Care Professions Council in 2009.

Chartership

Following the receipt of a royal charter in 1965, the society became the keeper of the Register of Chartered Psychologists. The register was the means by which the Society could regulate the professional practice of psychology. Regulation included the awarding of practising certificates and the conduct of disciplinary proceedings. The register ceased to be when statutory regulation of psychologists began on 1 July 2009. The profession is now regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.

A member of the British Psychological Society (MBPS) who has achieved chartered status has the right to the letters "C.Psychol." after his or her name. The BPS is also licensed by the Science Council[1] to award Chartered Scientist[2] status. The highest designation the Society can bestow is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society (FBPsS), showing a significant contribution to and understanding of the discipline.

Mission

The Society aims to raise standards of training and practice in psychology, raise public awareness of psychology, and increase the influence of psychology practice in society. Specifically it has a number of key aims, as described below.

Journals

"British Journal of Psychology" redirects here; it has been suggested that it be split into its own page.

The BPS publishes 11 journals:

Founders

The following were the ten founder members who first met on 24 October 1901 at University College London:[3]

Presidents

The following have been Presidents of the Society[4]

Honorary Members and Fellows

Honorary members

The following were Honorary Members of the Society:[5]

In 1946 all surviving Honorary Members were made Honorary Fellows.

Honorary Fellows

The following have been or are still Honorary Fellows of the Society:[6]

The Research Digest

Since 2003 the BPS has published reports on new psychology research in the form of a free fortnightly email, and since 2005, also in the form of an online blog - both are referred to as the BPS Research Digest. As of 2014, the BPS states that the email has over 32,000 subscribers and the Digest blog attracts hundreds of thousands of page views a month. In 2010 the Research Digest blog won "best psychology blog" in the inaugural Research Blogging Awards. The Research Digest has been written and edited by psychologist Christian Jarrett since its inception

Member networks: Sections, Divisions and Branches

The British Psychological Society currently has ten Divisions and thirteen sections. Divisions and Sections differ in that the former are open to practitioners in a certain field of psychology, so professional and qualified psychologists only will be entitled to full membership of a Division, whereas the latter are interest groups comprising members of the BPS who are interested in a particular academic aspect of psychology.

The Divisions include

The Division of Clinical Psychology is the largest Division within the BPS - it is subdivided into twelve Faculties

The Sections include

The term "Division" in the American Psychological Association does not have the same meaning as it does in the British Psychological Society, coming closer to what the British Psychological Society refers to as "Sections". Branches are for members in the same geographical region.

Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Section

The Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Section (CEP) is a Section of the British Psychological Society for those interested in the psychology of consciousness and experience. Initiated in 1994 by Jane Henry, Max Velmans, John Pickering, Elizabeth Valentine and Richard Stevens, the Section promoted and supported the reincorporation of consciousness studies into mainstream psychology.[7] Official approval for CEP was announced in 1997 during the BPS Annual Conference. The Section’s mission is ‘to advance our understanding of consciousness,[8] to bring scientific research on consciousness closer to other traditions of inquiry into the nature of mind, and to explore how this research can be used to improve the quality of life’.[9] As of 2010 Susan Stuart is the Section Chair. Every year in September the Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Section holds its annual conference,[10] usually in Oxford.

The Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Section is one of thirteen Sections of the BPS.[11] This Section is for anyone interested in broad-based, rigorous academic exploration of consciousness and experience. The Section is an interest group comprising members of the BPS and also unaffiliated members. In the modern era the Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Section was the first, and remains the only, Section of a nationally representative body of professional psychologists devoted to the study of consciousness.[12]

Psychology of Sexualities Section

The Psychology of Sexualities Section (PoS) is a Section of the British Psychological Society for psychologists whose work is relevant to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) issues.[13] The Section is open to all BPS members including both practitioner and academic psychologists. The Section was established in 1998, as the Lesbian & Gay Psychology Section, after nearly a decade of campaigning and three rejected proposals (two for a Psychology of Lesbianism Section and one for a Lesbian & Gay Psychology Section).[14] Founding members of the Section include Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson. In 2009, the Section changed its name to the Psychology of Sexualities Section in recognition that the work and interests of its members also applied to bisexuality, queer identities and heterosexualities.[15] Although trans issues could more accurately be described as belonging to a psychology of gender, trans issues are typically included under the umbrella of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) psychology[16] and is therefore aligned with the Section’s remit.

The Section works with equivalent sections of other psychological organisations through the International Psychology Network for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Issues (IPsyNET).[17] Members of the Section have played an important role in drafting the BPS Guidelines and literature review for psychologists working therapeutically with sexual and gender minority clients;[18] Section members were also instrumental in drafting the Society’s Position Statement on Therapies attempting to Change Sexual Orientation;[19] a UK Consensus Statement on Conversion Therapy;[20] and a Memorandum on Conversion Therapy in the UK.[21] The Section publishes Psychology of Sexualities Review (previously the Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review),[22] organises events and training and awards prizes for achievement in the field.

Statutory regulation

Following a number of scandals arising in the 1990s in the psychotherapy field, the UK government announced its intention to widen statutory regulation, to include inter alia psychologists. The BPS was in favour of statutory regulation, but opposed the proposed regulator, the Health Professions Council (HPC), preferring the idea of a new Psychological Professions Council which would map quite closely onto its own responsibilities. The government resisted this, however, and in June 2009, under the Health Care and Associated Professions (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order, regulation of most of the psychology professions passed to the HCPC, the renamed Health and Care Professions Council.

Society offices

The Society's main office is currently in Leicester in the United Kingdom. Before the transfer of registration and associated functions to the HPC, there were over 100 staff members at the Leicester office. There are also smaller regional offices in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow and London. The archives are deposited at the Wellcome Library in the Euston Road, London.[23]

The British Psychological Society's logo is an image of the Greek mythical figure Psyche, personification of the soul, holding a Victorian oil lamp. The use of her image is a reference to the origins of the word psychology. The lamp symbolises learning and is also a reference to the story of Psyche. Eros was in love with Psyche and would visit her at night, but had forbidden her from finding out his identity. She was persuaded by her jealous sisters to discover his identity by holding a lamp to his face as he slept. Psyche accidentally burnt him with oil from the lamp, and he awoke and flew away.[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Science Council
  2. ↑ Chartered Scientist
  3. ↑ "Founder Members of the BPS". Hopc.bps.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  4. ↑ "Presidents of the BPS". Hopc.bps.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  5. ↑ "Honorary Members of the BPS". Hopc.bps.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  6. ↑ "Honorary Fellows of the BPS 1946-1969". Hopc.bps.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  7. ↑ "The British Psychological Society Annual Review 2009". Issuu.com. 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  8. ↑ Velmans, M. (2009) Understanding Consciousness (2nd Ed). London: Routledge/Psychology Press
  9. ↑ "Consciousness and Experiential Section". BPS. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  10. ↑ http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/17_11-12Conference%20Report_FINAL.pdf
  11. ↑ "BPS". BPS. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  12. ↑ "Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Section" at bps.org.uk
  13. ↑ "The Psychology of Sexualities Section | BPS". www.bps.org.uk. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  14. ↑ Wilkinson, S (1999). "The struggle to found the lesbian and gay psychology section". Lesbian & Gay Psychology Section Newsletter.
  15. ↑ das Nair, R (2009). "Editorial - The times they are a-changin'". Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review. 10 (1): 2.
  16. ↑ Clarke, V.; Ellis, SJ.; Peel, E. & Riggs, DW (2010). Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Queer psychology: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521700184.
  17. ↑ "The International Psychology Network for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Issues (IPsyNet)". http://www.apa.org. Retrieved 2015-12-02. External link in |website= (help)
  18. ↑ British Psychological Society (2012). "Guidelines and literature review for psychologists working therapeutically with sexual and gender minority clients" (PDF). BPS.
  19. ↑ British Psychological Society (2012). "Position Statement: Therapies Attempting to Change Sexual Orientation" (PDF). BPS.
  20. ↑ UK Council for Psychotherapy; et al. (2014). "Conversion therapy: Consensus statement" (PDF). BPS website.
  21. ↑ "Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy in the UK" (PDF). BPS website. 2015.
  22. ↑ "BPS Shop | Psychology of Sexualities Review - Publication by Series - Publications". shop.bps.org.uk. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  23. ↑ "British Psychological Society Archive". Catalogue. Wellcome Library. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  24. ↑ Steinberg, H. (2001). A brief history of the Society logo. The Psychologist, 14, 236–237. Download article via "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
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