Offaly psychologists urge public to check credentials of professionals when seeking help

Tullamore Tribune, Midland Tribune and Offaly Live columnists, the clinical psychologists Imelda Ferguson and Dr Julie O'Flaherty, have urged the public to always check the credentials of practitioners when seeking help.

The advice comes in the wake of an RTE programme which exposed how 'qualifications' can be purchased online and those in receipt of the 'fake' degrees have been able to practise as psychologists in Ireland.

Imelda Ferguson and Julie O'Flaherty, Tullamore-based chartered clinical psychologists with the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) write the fortnightly Positive Psychology Mind Your Self Midlands column for the Midland Tribune and Tullamore Tribune newspapers and the Offaly Live (Express) website.

Ms Ferguson obtained her primary degree in psychology at Trinity College Dublin and then pursued post graduate clinical psychology training at UCD.

Julie O'Flaherty studied psychology at UCD and completed her clinical training through the University of Surrey.

Both psychologists previously worked for the HSE before entering private practice.

Ms Ferguson commented: “When we need help in a particular area of difficulty, it is important to be able to access the right help from those who are appropriately professionally trained and experienced in the relevant area.”

Dr O'Flaherty said: “The integrity of the professional community of psychologists is vital for us to be able to deliver the assistance people need and for our clients to have trust in us.”

In a statement released in the aftermath of the RTE broadcast, the PSI said there is currently no system of statutory registration for psychologists in Ireland where the term psychologist is a protected title.

While the PSI is the professional body for psychology and psychologists, the society is not a statutory regulator. CORU is Ireland’s multi-profession health regulatory body which has the statutory power to regulate a wide range of professions. CORU has yet to regulate the profession of psychology.

The PSI said patient and service users must have confidence that the professional providing a service to them is appropriately qualified to do so, fully competent, and of good standing.

The PSI called on Government and the Department of Health to expedite the enactment of the statutory register for psychologists without any further delay.

It said that as the professional body for psychologists, the PSI is eager and willing to support CORU in any way in enacting the long awaited statutory registration system for psychologists.

PSI president Dr Anne Kehoe stated: “The key priority needs to be the protection of all those who access professional psychological services and the wider public. Everyone needs to be assured that the psychological services they are accessing are provided to the highest standard and by an appropriately qualified person.”

Dr Kehoe added: “Statutory registration of the title ‘psychologist’ offers the regulation of the use of this title by only those with the appropriate qualifications. The PSI is fully committed and willing to offer any support possible to CORU in moving to statutory registration for the profession of psychology.”

The PSI has written to its members saying that the RTE programme's content around a particular unqualified individual purporting to be psychologist, and having had membership of the PSI, “is likely to have been unsettling for many”.

The PSI said it acted when a complaint was made and did everything in its power to stop the individual carrying out work unless qualified to do so.

In their regular columns, Ms Ferguson and Dr O'Flaherty direct readers to the 'Find a Psychologist' section of the PSI website (www.psychologicalsociety.ie) and that advice was echoed by the PSI.

READ their most recent column here:

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/tullamore-tribune/1060867/positive-psychology-getting-older-is-inevitable-but-a-better-attitude-smooths-the-path-to-the-senior-years.html

The two Tullamore-based clinical psychologists also noted a statement from Forsa, a trade union representing health and social care professionals, including psychologists.

Forsa commended the families who spoke out about the current problems arising from underinvestment in the State’s disability services.

The union stressed that there is currently no system of statutory registration for psychologists in Ireland where the term ‘psychologist’ is a protected title.

The current situation is open to exploitative practices, Forsa said, and the RTE broadcast had illustrated that.

The union said the eventual registration of the title will play an invaluable role in protecting vulnerable members of the public from unqualified individuals practising as psychologists.

Forsa acknowledged what it called “the complexity of the process” to protect the title of psychologist.

The union continues to engage regularly on the issue of statutory regulation with CORU on behalf of its psychologist members but based on its most recent engagement, the union said it remains “extremely concerned” that it may be 2030 before any register opens for psychologists.

Even the most optimistic projections suggest the register is still up to five years away, the union said.

Concerns were raised when RTÉ Investigates revealed that a psychologist, Caroline Goldsmith had presented a PhD from the State University of Sheffield in America to private clients who she assessed for autism.

Ms Goldsmith later issued a statement to RTE apologising for claiming to have a PhD from an online university which issues fake qualifications.

She said: “This was a personal error of significant proportion, which I deeply regret.”

Imelda Ferguson and Julie O'Flaherty are chartered clinical psychologists, both based in private practice in Tullamore. Through Mind Your Self Midlands, they run courses on positive psychology and mindfulness throughout the year. They can be contacted through the Psychological Society of Ireland website www.psychologicalsociety.ie (Find A Psychologist section) or on their Facebook page, Mind Your Self Midlands.

They have also provided a short list of agencies and organisations which may be useful for those seeking help.

For addiction, there is Addiction Counsellors of Ireland (tel 01 7979187, email info

@addictioncounsellors.ie); Hope House Residential Addiction Treatment Centre (tel 094 9256888, www.hopehouse.ie); Alcoholics Anonymous (AA, tel 01 4538998, Al-Ateen/Al-Anon tel 01 8732699).

For counselling and general psychotherapy – PSI (tel 01 4720105, psychologicalsociety.ie); Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP, tel 012303536, www.iacp.ie); Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy (IAHIP, tel 01 284165).

For counselling for adults who were abused in childhood, contact the National Counselling Service (NCS, The Arches, Midlands, tel 057 9327140); Connect (connectcounselling.ie, tel 1800 477477).

For people who are in suicidal distress, engaging in self-harm or bereaved by suicide: Pieta Midlands 090 6424111, www.pieta.ie