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A physiotherapist asked why physiotherapy regulation lags psychology on lived experience
In short
At Think Autism Sydney in 2025, a physiotherapist with lived experience asked a panel of mental health practitioners how to win at the regulatory level what psychology was already writing into its standards.
Read it instead, 5 minutesThe transcript
The story
A physiotherapist in the audience put the question that the panel had circled around. Speaking at the end of the neurodivergent health practitioners panel at Think Autism Sydney in May 2025, the physiotherapist said mental health practitioners had what they called a beautiful awareness, and that it was becoming part of their regulatory frameworks. Physiotherapy, they said, was not there. As a clinician with lived experience doing body work with neurodivergent nervous systems, they wanted to know how to bring the same change into their own profession.
The contrast the physiotherapist drew had been raised on the panel itself. Earlier in the session, a speaker who described their own perspective as a psychologist’s spoke of one of the amazing things happening in that profession. The registration board, the speaker said, was recognising and officially writing into psychologists’ competencies the importance of recognising and working with diversity. The board was also recognising the importance and value of lived experience for practitioners. Putting her question on the power of lived experience in the work they do, Dr Naomi Malone, the psychologist leading the conversation, said that “often it’s been seen as something that’s not great.” Practitioners were supposed to put aside who they were, she said, when she could not show up with another person without showing up as herself.
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Sources the story draws on
- Professional competencies for psychologists released (opens in a new tab), Psychology Board of Australia
- Professional competencies for psychologists (opens in a new tab), Psychology Board of Australia
- PsyBA competency updates: now is the time to enhance your neurodiversity-affirming practice (opens in a new tab), Australian Psychological Society
- Psychologists to maintain high standards under new requirements (opens in a new tab), Psychology Board of Australia
- Updated physiotherapy practice thresholds released (opens in a new tab), Physiotherapy Board of Australia
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