Information for Provisional and Full Applicants

Eligibility Requirements

At NZCCA our aim is to be a faith-filled, loving community of professional counsellors who have chosen to follow Christ and identify as Christian (i.e. who know, love and serve Jesus).

The minimum requirements to be eligible to apply for membership are listed below. Meeting these requirements does not necessarily mean membership will be granted, as we review the application in its entirety.

 Provisional Membership

• Identify as Christian i.e. someone who knows, loves and serves Jesus
• Completed, or be in their final year of a suitable Bachelor’s of Counselling Degree (NZQA Level 7 equivalent) ) – see below ‘Qualifications’.  Please read the information on our Application FAQs webpage if you have a P.G. Dip. qualification.
• To be seeing your supervisor for at least six months prior to applying at a ratio of 1 supervision session per 20 client hours, or monthly, whichever comes first
• Be seeing a supervisor who meets our criteria as outlined on our Supervision Requirements webpage
• Have a minimum of 200 client hours – which includes the hours done during study
• A list of continuous professional development (CPD) covering a period of at least 12 months prior to applying that meets our minimum of 40 hours per year. Refer to our CPD Requirements webpage.
• Agree to and abide by:
  • NZCCA Rules of the Association
  • NZCCA Code of Ethics and Practice
  • ‘Who We Are’ Statement

Full Membership

The same minimum requirements as outlined in the Provisional Membership requirements with the following amendments:

• Have a minimum of 400 client hours (includes the hours done during study).  However, you must have 200 hours post graduation i.e. if you graduated with 230 client hours, you will need to have 430 client hours total before you can apply for full membership.
• To be seeing your supervisor for at least six months prior to applying at a minimum ratio of 1 supervision session per 40 client hours, or monthly, whichever comes first

Qualifications

Your training/qualifications must include:

• Counselling micro-skills
• Knowledge of a range of theoretical models with competency in at least one model
• Understanding and knowledge of a variety of counselling issues and situations
• Understanding of the principles of a Code of Ethics and the concept of client safety
• Knowledge around the value of supervision
• Self-awareness and personal development including undertaking some personal counselling during the course as required
• Practical work with other students to practice skills and models
• Supervised practice as per course requirements
• Completed Bi-Cultural/Treaty of Waitangi training in a course that offers at least 30 hours of training/experience. A Marae visit should be included; an overnight stay is preferred but not essential. Membership cannot be considered until this training has been undertaken.
• Undertaken at least 200 supervised client hours (Provisional Membership) or 400 supervised client hours (Full Membership)
• Had at least monthly supervision for the past six months with a New Zealand supervisor who is trained as a clinical counsellor as well as having supervision training. They must also be a member of a professional counselling or psychotherapy organisation (e.g. NZCCA, NZAC or NZAP), or a member of another professional body acceptable to the NZCCA Executive.

International Qualifications

Qualifications gained outside of New Zealand will need to be converted to their NZ equivalent.  Before you apply for membership you need to have your counselling-related qualification(s) evaluated by the NZ Qualifications Authority (NZQA) to determine their NZ equivalency.

https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/international-qualifications/ 

https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/international-qualifications/international-qualifications-assessment/) 

Applying for Provisional or Full Membership

Click here for the PDF 'Provisional Membership Application Guide'

Click here to go to the Provisional Pre-Approval Pathway for Students webpage 

Click here for the PDF 'Full Membership Application Guide'

To apply for Provisional or Full Membership you will need to have a login for the NZCCA website to be able to view the application forms.  You can sign up to our website by following the sign-up process (see the instructions on how to sign up are at the beginning of the video below).

Once you are logged in you will be able to view the various application forms under the Membership/Application Forms menu.

Click on the Provisional Membership Application or Full Membership Application form (as applicable).

Click here to view the video that will guide you through the login and Provisional Application form.  (The Full Membership Application form is similar but there are some differences e.g. in various requirements. We strongly suggest you view this video to help you navigate the online application process.

We are aware, in comparison with other associations, the NZCCA provisional application is comprehensive and detailed. The reason for this is we are committed to ensuring all our members meet the minimum standards for practice as soon as they are working with the public. By establishing this standard we can then confidently promote our members to agencies and potential clients. Because of this assurance being met at provisional, upgrading to full membership with NZCCA is much less extensive than other associations.

Students - You will note the questions in the provisional application will be well covered by your recently completed study, so the ideal time to begin the provisional application is during your final year of study.

Further Help?

We strongly suggest you also read the following webpages as these answer most of the questions from our applicants.

• Application FAQs
• CPD Requirements
• Supervision Requirements
• Supervision FAQs
• Help? webpage (you must be logged in to see this page)

Need to Contact Us?

Please email our Membership Coordinator, Hannah Acheson, should you have any Membership related questions hacheson@nzcca.org.nz (only reachable via email).

Alternatively, please contact our Association Coordinator, Craig Sergeant, if you have an Association related query info@nzcca.org.nz