Statutes of the Polish Association for Integrative Psychotherapy

Chapter I 
General resolutions

 § 1

1. The association bears the name „The Polish Association for Integrative Psychotherapy”, and will be further referred to as „The Association”
2. The name and the logo of the Association are legally registered
3. The Association unites people who state their will to join it and are interested in development of integrative psychotherapy

 § 2

1. The Polish Association for Integrative Psychotherapy has legal personality
2. The association functions on the basis of the legal act from 7th April 1989 “Law on associations” and the resolutions of this statutes
3. The Association operates within the borders of Poland, and its head office is situated in Warsaw. However to realize its aims appropriately the Association can act also beyond the borders of Poland.
4. The Association „The Polish Association for Integrative Psychotherapy” can use the short form of its name „PTPI”

§ 3

1. The Association can be a member of Polish and international organizations which have the same or similar aims and tasks or can cooperate with such organisations
2. The Association cooperates with government, non-government and local institutions and organisations in all issues concerning psychotherapy and mental health.

§ 4

The Association has the right to possess and use its logo, distinctions and stamps, according to the current regulations in this field.

 § 5

The Association can bring into existence its branches, sections and divisions

§ 6

The Association basis its actions on non-profit work of all its members. To run its affair it can however employ workers

Chapter II 
Aims and means of actions

§ 7

The Association aims to:

1. widespread the knowledge on psychotherapy among its members
2. integrate current trends in psychotherapy
3. support initiatives and community service of its members
4. stimulate professional and economic activity of its members
5. enable and facilitate access to achievements of current knowledge in the field of psychotherapy among its members
6. support activity in the field of psychotherapy, support its development, especially 
   a) create principles of ethical code and promote them in the community of psychotherapists 
   b) create exemplars and standards in psychotherapy 
   c) protect interests and professional status of psychotherapists 
   d) represent interests of psychotherapists before Polish and foreign state organs, economic organisations and communities
7. develop and mould scientific activity among the members of the Association
8. develop national and international scientific cooperation and contact
9. help members of the Association to acquire textbooks, source materials and other means of supporting training in the field of psychotherapy

§ 8

The Association realizes its aims through:

1. care of obeying the code of ethics by members of the Association
2. organization of discussion meetings, lectures, conferences and seminars
3. organization of national and international scientific meetings
4. cooperation with institutions carrying our researches in the areas compatible with the aims of the Association.
5. carrying out scientific researches and supporting projects of other institutions which have similar interests
6. carrying out actions which aim to discover people possessing special professional talents and supporting their professional development
7. giving awards for outstanding achievements in the areas connected with the aims of the Association
8. founding and running libraries, collections of data carriers and data bases which content will be associated with the statute aims of the Association
9. awarding certificates and psychotherapeutic licenses of The Polish Association for Brief Psychotherapy and other certificates and licenses associated with the actions of the Association
10. creating, reviewing and popularization of training materials in the field of integrative psychotherapy
11. running publishing, and information promoting activities
12. promoting, making available and widespreading the use of modern media and technologies in the area of psychotherapy
13. carrying out scientific and research actions and providing organizational support to them
14. cooperation with organizations which have similar character, both in Poland and abroad
15. organising recreational and holiday activities
16. building interpersonal contacts based on friendship and solidarity and promoting forms of friendly cooperation and social contacts
17. creating space for realisation of one’s own interests, ideas and projects
18. influencing systemic changes in order to achieve aims in the area of psychotherapy
19. voicing in public issues, associated with the aims of the Association
20. cooperation with local and state authorities, private sector, mass media and other organizations in order to realize statute aims of the Association
21. other actions supporting achievement of statute aims of the Association

 

§ 9

The Association can be a member of international organizations which have similar profile of its activities, with meeting obligations coming from international agreements, of which Poland is the party.

Chapter III 
Members, their rights and obligations

 § 10

There are the following Members of the Association:

1. associate members,
2. candidate members,
3. ordinary members,
4. supportive members,
5. honorary members. 

§ 11

1. An associate member may be a student of Masters Studies in social, humanistic or medical science, who shall declare obeying to the statutes of the Association and to its code of professional ethics, and who has acquired a written recommendation of at least one ordinary member of the Association
2. An associate member has right to : 
   1) participate actively in the actions of the Association, 
   2) participate in conventions, conferences and other meetings organized by the Association according to its regulations passed by the Governing Board, 
   3) take active part in sections and circles of the Association, 
   4) take advantage of the libraries, equipment and publications of the Association, according to the separate regulations passed by the Governing Board, 
   5) wear badges and have an identity card according to the regulations passed by the Governing Board, 
   6) take advantage of the discounts for meetings and publications of the Association, 
   7) represent the Association at Polish and international meetings, with the permission of the Governing Board, 
   8) put forward postulates and proposals to the appropriate authorities and assess their actions, 
   9) voice freely opinions on every forum of the Association

§ 12

1. A candidate member may be a person who has graduated from Masters Studies in social, humanistic or medical science, who shall declare obeying to the statutes of the Association and to its code of professional ethics, and who has acquired a written recommendation of at least two ordinary members of the Association
2. A candidate member, apart from the rights entitled to an associate member, has the right to acquire the certificate of a psychotherapist of The Polish Association for Integrative Psychotherapy

§ 13

1. An ordinary member may be a person who has graduated from Masters Studies in social, humanistic or medical science, who has been a candidate member for at least one year, has acquired a written recommendation of at least three ordinary members of the Association and who shall swear an oath to obey to the statutes of the Association and to its code of professional ethics
2. An ordinary member, apart from the rights entitled to a candidate member, has the right to vote and to be elected
3. The founders of the Association acquire the status of ordinary members automatically at the moment of its founding.
4. During the first year of the Association activity, to acquire the status of an ordinary member it is not necessary to have one year seniority as a candidate member.
5. The content of the oath, mentioned in point 1, is as follows: „ I swear that in my professional actions I shall obey the code of professional ethics of PTPI, bear the responsibility for realization of the aims of the Association, bring help and give support to my colleagues psychotherapists in their professional needs, devote part of my time to community work for the benefit of other people, in my work I shall be guided by honesty, reliability and honour and I shall promote these values in my professional community”

 § 14

1. A  supportive member may by an individual person or a body corporate who is interested in content-related activity of the Association, who shall declare financial support for the Association and shall we accepted on the basis of a written declaration by the Governing Board
2. A  supportive member who is not an individual person, acts by the agency of its representative
3. A  supportive member has the rights of an ordinary member except the right to vote and to be elected. During The General Meeting a supportive member has only advisory voice.

§15

1. Honorary membership is appointed by the Governing Board.
2. Honorary membership may by withdrawn at The General Meeting on the proposal of the Governing Board of the Association
3. An honorary member has all privileges of members of the Association and is free of membership charges.

§ 16

Each member of the Association is obliged to obey the regulations of the Statutes, other regulations based on them and the code of professional ethics of PTPI, reliably do the actions that have been entrusted to them by the Governing Board of the Association, protect the property of the Association as common wealth of its members and pay membership fees regularly.  

§ 17

1. Proposal of admitting new members of the Association is considered by the Governing Board, having verified qualifications of the applicant and submitted recommendations
2. The Governing Board carries out a resolution in order to admit a new member or to deny membership of the Association of a certain status by a majority of votes. To carry out a resolution admitting a new member of a certain status the consent of the President or the Vice-President is essential.

§ 18

Membership of the Association can terminate in case of:

1. withdrawal from the Association
2. termination of the Association  
3. death of an individual member or termination of a body corporate
4. exclusion of a member from the Association.   

§ 19

Withdrawal from the Association is done in a written form and must be submitted to the Governing Board

§ 20

1. A member of the Association who fails to obey the obligations characterized in the Statutes and basic principles of the code of professional ethics may be punished by the Governing Board of the Association with one of the following: 
   1) a rebuke 
   2) a reprimand with a warning 
   3) partial limiting of the member rights for the period of 1 year 
   4) suspension of membership for the period of 1 year 
   5) exclusion from the Association for actions against the interests of the Association
2. A member of the Association punished with one of the penalties mentioned in point 1 has the right to appeal to the Appeal Committee within the period of 1 month from the date of notifying of the penalty
3. The Governing Board shall carry out the resolution about the exclusion also in case of failure to pay the membership fees for the period of one year, and in case of stating by the Governing Board that the information of the qualifications submitted in the application form were false, and the true information would exclude the membership.