Education and training in clinical psychology and psychological psychotherapy in switzerland

Abstract

Switzerland offers Education in Clinical Psychology in the German and French language and training in Psychotherapy in German, French and Italian. Both education and training are structured along centralized guidelines and recognized at a federal level. After finishing one’s studies, becoming a Psychological Psychotherapist requires between two and six years of postgraduate training and a financial investment of tens of thousands of Swiss Francs. Historically, it is quite common for Swiss psychotherapy trainings to incorporate a mix or combination of several psychotherapy schools such as cognitive behavioral, psychodynamic, systemic and humanistic. Foreign degrees obtained in EU countries are generally recognized, and the fulfillment of criteria is evaluated on an individual basis. Graduates find a diverse job market with opportunities to work in clinics and psychotherapeutical practices, but the absence of direct reimbursement via mandatory health insurance plans for psychological psychotherapists (not psychiatrists) lead many to work on patients’ private payments or as a psychiatrist’s employee. The ordering model, a potential new regulation allowing for the direct reimbursement of psychological psychotherapists’ work, is planned to be decided upon throughout 2020.