Guidance clarifies use of psychologist expert witnesses in Family Courts to tackle “lack of understanding” of titles and qualifications

The British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Family Justice Council (FJC) have issued guidance on the use of psychologists as expert witnesses in the Family Courts, which seeks to fix a "lack of understanding and awareness" that has seen the use of titles in the Family Court System that have "no specific meaning, nor are they protected or regulated".

Examples of titles with "no specific meaning" that have shown up in the courts include 'psychologist', 'child psychologist', 'consultant psychologist', 'assessment psychologist', 'developmental psychologist' and 'attachment psychologist', the guidance states.

The guidance also outlines the information that a psychologist expert witnesses' curriculum vitae (CV) should include.

The Family Justice Society and The British Psychological Society say that only Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered practitioner psychologists or those chartered by the BPS should be instructed to assess individuals in the court.

HCPC registered practitioners are registered with protected titles which include 'Clinical Psychologist', 'Health Psychologist', 'Counselling Psychologist', 'Educational Psychologist', 'Occupational Psychologist', 'Sport and Exercise Psychologist', and 'Forensic Psychologist'.

While chartered psychologists by the BPS may use descriptive titles to indicate an area of expertise or specialism but these and their areas of specialism on the Directory of Chartered Members are self-determined and not verified by the BPS.

"It is the responsibility of the psychologist expert to be transparent in relation to their qualifications and registration to assist the court in determining their suitability to offer the necessary expert opinion in the case being considered," the guidance states.

Should a court appoint an individual who does not use an HCPC-protected title, it should be aware that this would fall outside of the regulatory framework of the HCPC and should check qualifications and current fitness to practice, it notes.

"While a Chartered Psychologist and non-Chartered Psychologist would fall within the accountability of the BPS, if they are members of the BPS, e.g. code of ethics and conduct, they would not fall within the HCPC regulatory authority.

"Psychologists who are not HCPC registered should make it clear when accepting instruction, as should those who are not Chartered Members of the BPS."

In every case, the court should identify whether a proposed expert is HCPC registered, the guidance continues. "Where the expert is un-registered, it is for the court to indicate in a short judgment why it is, nevertheless, appropriate to instruct them. (Re C ('Parental Alienation') [2023] EWHC 345 (Fam).)."

The guidance emphasises that only HCPC-registered psychologists have the relevant clinical experience and training to conduct psychological assessments of people and make clinical diagnoses and recommendations for treatment or interventions.

Whereas academic psychologists, "who should be chartered, but who are not registered with the HCPC, would not normally have the clinical experience and training in order to complete psychological assessments or make clinical diagnoses".

The guidance adds that psychologists are responsible for ensuring they are sufficiently competent to offer an expert opinion.

It states that indications of competence in respect of the knowledge required by the court, and expertise within a specialised field, may include:

• Qualifications and/or degrees in the areas in question;
• Number of years of relevant post-doctoral/post-qualification experience;
• Academic, professional and scientific publications in relevant areas;
• Demonstrations of professional practice, competence, specialist knowledge and expertise with a bearing upon the issues in the case; and
• Current and applied psychological experience in the area of claimed expertise (e.g. clinical, counselling, educational, forensic, health, occupational, sport and exercise). This may include expertise and experience of risk assessment, treatment, work in the field (e.g. neuropsychology, assessing a patient's memory), and so on. These may differ with each case.

The guidance on relevant information that should be included in a psychologist expert witness's CV, the guidance's says it "will clearly state under which code(s) of conduct they are governed, and any/all regulatory/professional body to which they belong, including their current registration details and the process by which such details can be verified, such as the website address".

"The psychologist's CV will provide relevant and verifiable details of qualifications, experience, other professional memberships, academic publications and post-qualification specialisations including any matters in which they are competent.

"The psychologist will respond to questions on all aspects of their CV to ensure clarification with regard to regulation and professional competence in the relevant matter."

Adam Carey