British Psychological Society - Subsystems: Sections, Divisions and Branches

Subsystems: Sections, Divisions and Branches

The British Psychological Society currently has ten divisions and thirteen sections. Divisions and sections differ in that the former are open to practitioners in a certain field of psychology, so professional and qualified psychologists only will be entitled to full membership of a division, whereas the latter are interest groups comprising members of the British Psychological Society who are interested in a particular aspect of psychology.

The Divisions include the Division of Teachers and Researchers in Psychology, the Division of Health Psychology, the Division of Forensic Psychology, the Division of Child and Educational Psychology, the Scottish Division of Educational Psychology, the Division of Occupational Psychology, the Division of Counselling Psychology, the Division of Clinical Psychology and the Division of Neuropsychology. The Division of Clinical Psychology is the largest Division within the BPS - it is sub-divided into Faculties - the largest of these is the Faculty for Children, Young People and Their Families.

The sections include the Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Section, the Cognitive Psychology Section, the Developmental Psychology Section, the Psychology of Education Section, the History and Philosophy Section, the Psychology of Sexualities Section, the Psychobiology Section, the Psychotherapy Section, the Qualitative Methods Section, the Psychology of Women Section, the Social Psychology Section and the Transpersonal Psychology Section.

The term "division" in the American Psychological Association does not have the same meaning as it does in the British Psychological Society, coming closer to what the British Psychological Society refers to as "sections". Branches are for members in the same geographical region.