This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong. ====== Preamble ====== ---- Psychology as a profession is practised around the world within the social, cultural, educational, political, and legal context of each country. Increasingly, psychologists study, practise, consult, collaborate, and communicate across international boundaries. Such changes have resulted in many benefits for clients, for societies, and for the profession itself. These benefits include the ability to determine the applicability of psychological knowledge and techniques with diverse populations, the ability to share different approaches and strategies for addressing common problems, and the ability to identify areas of unmet need and to deploy appropriate resources to these areas. However, given the unique cultural and legal contexts in which psychologists practise around the world and the expansion of their activities beyond national boundaries, new issues and challenges have emerged and created the need to develop a coherent international professional identity for psychologists. Professional competences play a critical role in the professional work of psychologists and the quality of services provided by them. The global professional identity of psychologists may be enhanced by identifying a broadly recognized and internationally accepted set of core competences that define appropriate professional practice. Some of these competences may be obvious and are explicitly recognized worldwide, such as the competence for being an ethical psychologist. Others may be less explicit but still equally important. Currently there are many different models for psychology education and training and multiple models for professional regulation in different countries and regions of the world. The timing and amount of focus on discipline-specific studies can vary by many years in different educational systems, as can the academic degree required for entry into the profession. The International Declaration of Core Competences in Professional Psychology identifies a set of internationally recognized and endorsed competences that serve as the foundation for a coherent global professional identity and possibly an international recognition system for equating professional preparation systems, program accreditation, professional credentialing, and regulation of professional competence and conduct. The core competences presented in this Declaration are those expected of all psychologists providing services to clients at the time of entry to the profession. It is recognized and acknowledged that while these core competences serve as the basis for entry to the profession, the practising psychologist is expected to maintain continuing competence as the profession changes and practice evolves. It is also acknowledged that this Declaration describes the core competences related to the professional practice of applied psychologists. Some psychologists work exclusively as scientists and academicians while others work as practitioners with a variety of client populations (including individuals, couples, families, groups, organizations, schools, etc.). This Declaration describes the internationally agreed upon core competences related to the practice of psychology with any of these client populations and is not intended to describe or apply to psychologists engaged in teaching or research. The competences articulated in the Declaration are general and not specific. Different organizations, communities, nations, and regions are recognized and encouraged to adapt these competences to better fit their local context. The expression, demonstration or application of a universally endorsed competence may be quite different in a specific national or cultural context. The development of local or regional translations of these competences into specific education and training requirements is encouraged. Such adaptations of these competences will likely produce variations across cultures, thus capturing the variety of expression and richness of a diverse and international professional community. The significance of the Declaration depends on its recognition and promotion by organizations that have a mission in the practice of psychology at the international, regional, or national level. All such organizations are encouraged to explicitly endorse, adopt, and/or ratify this Declaration, to promote awareness, respect, and understanding thereof, to absorb its principles in their own documents and practices, and to translate, adapt, and expand the scope of the Declaration to their own particular contexts.
