Studying Behaviour Analysis in Aotearoa
There are several pathways to becoming an Aotearoa Registered Psychologist specialising in behaviour analysis. If you are lucky, you may have learned about psychology or behavioural principles in high school. However, many of us are first exposed to behaviour analysis during undergraduate university studies.
You can study behaviour analysis through one of the specific postgraduate programmes that we link at the bottom of this page. To enter these programmes, you generally need to have completed several Psychology papers across your undergraduate degree, including papers that focus on behavioural principles. Papers that focus on the principles may include studying research related to the experimental analysis of behaviour (e.g., animal focused), translational research (e.g., non-clinical applications) or applied behaviour analysis. Depending on what stage you are at, it is useful to seek out information regarding the postgraduate programme you are interested in, to ask about their specific requirements, and then plan the papers you might need to take.
In addition to your studies, many postgraduate psychology programmes are competitive and place value on work experience with individuals who typically receive behavioural services. For example, you may seek out experience working with tamariki/children, rangatahi/youth or pakeke/adults with disabilities. This may be volunteering, or part-time work but should be in a direct care role such as a support worker or teacher aide.
Below we provide links to the programmes that offer the specific course sequence/training in behaviour analysis. Each programme is typically two to three years of postgraduate study, including coursework, a Masters thesis research project, and a year of practicum hours.