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Why should I join GANZ?
GANZ is a founding and accredited member association of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA). The emerging profession of counselling and psychotherapy has encouraged the formation of professional associations. These associations assist their members to navigate the complex developments related to registration, accountability and recognition. Membership of GANZ ensures that your interests are represented by members of the GANZ Council in all the key decision making forums. As a benefit of membership you have a voice in the wider counselling and psychotherapy community.
The field of counselling and psychotherapy is changing such that to practice as a counsellor and/or psychotherapist will be increasingly linked to being listed on the PACFA Register and the Australian Register of Counsellors and Psychotherapist (ARCAP). It is only possible to be listed on these registers if you are a member of a member association – and this is where being a member of GANZ is relevant. New Zealand has its own registration arrangements that can be viewed on the NZ section of the website.
What supporting documentation do I need to send with my Application Form?
Applicants for Membership (every category except Student Membership) are required to include a COPY of their graduation certificate from a GANZ accredited course. This is a requirement that trips up many people – make sure you are not one of them!
Who do I need to propose me for membership?
Student members need only be proposed by one person, the Director of Training (DOT) of the course in which you are enrolled. All other applicants for all other categories of membership, including applications for upgrading your membership category, require two proposers who are Clinical Members of GANZ – one of whom is to be the DOT of your training program. Where this creates an insurmountable difficulty due to living in an isolated community, an email advice from one of the proposers is acceptable.
How long does it take for my application to be approved?
Where applications are approved by the GANZ Office (i.e. all NEW applications for associate, student, graduate and member categories, and UPGRADES between these categories of membership) you can expect to hear an outcome within a month (i.e. best practice from two to four weeks).
Where applications are approved by the Membership Committee and the GANZ Council (i.e. all NEW Clinical Membership applications and UPGRADES to Clinical Membership from other membership categories) the ratification process will occur on a monthly basis – at the end of each month. Depending on when your application is lodged will determine when you are notified of the outcome (i.e. best practice from three to six weeks). If you submit your application in the last two weeks of any month it will most likely not be considered by Council until the following month. This will depend on the workload of the Membership Committee. Of course every effort will be made by the Australian and New Zealand GANZ Offices, the Membership Committee and the GANZ Council to approve your application as quickly as possible.
How do I change membership categories?
All you need to do is download the Membership Form from this website, indicate you are applying to change your membership category by specifying which category of membership you are applying for, attach the necessary documentation and send it to the GANZ Office in your country.
What happens if my application is incomplete?
If your application is incomplete it will be delayed; and it will either be returned to you for completion or you will receive a letter specifying what further information is required. To avoid this unnecessary delay read the guidelines for filling in the application form in the how to apply section of the website.
What is the student application process?
All applications for Student Membership will be approved by the GANZ Office Manager if you meet the necessary criteria and have provided the required information including being proposed by ONE of your Directors of Training (DOT). Once your application has been approved you will receive a letter confirming that your application has been approved and advising you of your membership number. You will also receive information about where to locate the GANZ Code of Ethics.
Student Members of GANZ are not eligible to remain as a Student Member once you have graduated from your training program. This means once you have graduated, and if you have not completed the necessary client hours and supervision to become a Member of GANZ, you can apply to become a Graduate Member of GANZ. Please note that once you have graduated from your training program you are not eligible for a GANZ Student rate to the GANZ Conference – even if you have not updated your membership category.
What is the cost, length and payment process for membership?
The fees for membership can be found on this website (see categories and fees effective for 2010 renewals) and are:
Fellow Member of GANZ: No membership fee is charged to Fellow Members
Clinical Member of GANZ: AUS Members AUS$275; NZ Members NZ$220
Member of GANZ: AUS Members AUS$250; NZ Members NZ$200
Graduate Member of GANZ: AUS Members AUS$TBC; NZ Members NZ$TBC
Associate Member of GANZ: AUS Members AUS$125; NZ Members NZ$125
Student Member of GANZ: AUS Members AUS$80; NZ Members NZ$80
Fees may rise occasionally but every effort is made to keep the fee increases to a minimum and only when absolutely necessary. The differences you will notice in the fees for Members in Australia and New Zealand are related to the payment of a PACFA fee for Australian members only. New Zealand members are therefore not charged this component of the fee.
Each year you will receive a Tax Invoice during May specifying the fees you are required to pay for the following year. You will need to photocopy the Tax Invoice for your personal records as it will serve as your receipt of payment. There are a number of ways to pay your fees and these are specifies on the Membership Application Form and the Renewal of Membership Form. Your membership will be current from the time of your payment until the end of June each year.
What happens if I do not renew my membership on time?
Your membership fees are like any other bill – late payment will incur penalties. Your fees are due upon receipt of the Tax Invoice in May. A reminder will be sent in late July. When you receive you Tax Invoice for renewing your membership it will indicate a final date for payment – September 30. Unfortunately if you do not pay your membership fees by this date your membership and benefits will be cancelled. If you wish to renew after this date it will incur a $50 processing fee.
A major cost to the organisation is following up on outstanding membership fees. We hope you will appreciate that if members take responsibility for paying their fees on time it reduces administration costs and makes it easier for the Council to establish the budget.
What happens if I have not completed my Professional Development (PD) or supervision hours?
Ongoing membership for Member, Clinical and Fellow categories is dependent upon meeting the PD and supervision requirements (see details PD and Supervision). Reporting on Professional Development activities will be required every second year. This means that by July 2010, you will be required to complete 20 hours of PD activities since July 2008. The reporting date after this will be with renewals of membership in 2012. If for some reason you do not complete the required hours you are able to present a case for ongoing membership that will considered by the Membership Committee.
How do I specify my membership category on my advertising materials?
You are encouraged to signify your membership of GANZ and your particular category of membership on any printed or advertising material you use to promote your professional practice. The usual protocol is that such membership details are noted after your academic qualifications. The GANZ protocol for abbreviations of membership categories is as follows:
Fellow Member of GANZ: FMGANZ
Clinical Member of GANZ: CMGANZ
Member of GANZ: MGANZ
Graduate Member of GANZ: GMGANZ
Student and Associate Members are not to specify their category of membership as a professional identity.
Why do we have a graduate member category?
Recent changes to the minimum training standards for counselling and psychotherapy by PACFA and GANZ have emphasised the need for experience in client work and supervision in addition to the training program requirements. The new minimum standard requires students to complete 200 hours of client work and 50 hours of supervision in their chosen approach. These hours of practice and supervision are in addition to any practice and supervision that occurs within the training program.
This means that graduating students who previously were immediately eligible to become a Member of GANZ may still have outstanding hours of client work and supervision to complete. The creation of the new Graduate Member of GANZ membership category is a significant development aimed at supporting the transition of graduates from Student Member to Member of GANZ.
While the 200 hours of client work and 50 hours of supervision can be completed concurrently in Year 3 and 4 of a GANZ approved course the GANZ minimum standard to graduate is only 40 hours of client work and 10 hours of supervision (many centres require more than this). Please not that client hours and hours of supervision can only be counted from the commencement of Year 3 in the training program. This is because client hours are for practice in the Gestalt approach and it is deemed that integrating sufficient learning to practice requires the learning of year 1 and year 2 of a training program. From 2010, while graduates complete the outstanding hours of client work and supervision they can upgrade their Student Membership to the Graduate Member category. This change is only applicable to students who complete their Gestalt training in 2010.
What happens if I forget my membership number?
If you forget your membership number send an email to the GANZ Office Manager and a reminder of your number will be forwarded to you.
Do I need professional indemnity insurance to be a member of GANZ?
You do not need to have indemnity insurance to be a Member of GANZ but it is strongly advised for your own and your client’s protection. Holding indemnity insurance is increasingly seen as an ethical position. While practitioners of Gestalt do not intend to cause harm to clients our human capacity to make mistakes is ever present. Taking a proactive step can provide peace of mind to you and ensure that if something in your practice does bring about a complaint or a claim against you then you are in a position to both defend yourself and adequately compensate your client. One of the benefits of membership of GANZ is reduced fees for indemnity insurance with insurance providers.
Who can I contact for help?
If you need assistance with applying for membership make sure you first read all the information provided. If your question is not able to be answered by the printed material on the website your first point of contact is the GANZ Office Manager in either New Zealand or Australia (see contacts on the website). If necessary the Office Manager will either pass on your question or put you in touch with the Chair of Membership.