Psychologists abroad

For students from abroad, it is important to realize that the 'BIG' law (law on health care professions), which - among other things - regulates the training for health care psychologists in the Netherlands, applies to the Dutch health care system only. Abroad, the rules can be different, varying in each country. Up to now, there is no common European law with respect to the rights and duties of professionsals in psychological health care.

Students who study psychology in the Netherlands, but intend to work abroad, should start to collect information on the local health care regulations as early in their career as possible. There are a number of fundamental questions that you should try to find answers to, especially if you plan to work in a clinical setting:

• What are the legal rights and duties of a psychologist?
• When can you call yourself a psychologist? (is the term protected by law?)
• What types of post-master trainings are there? (e.g., training as a therapist)
• What kind of work/responsibilities do they qualify you for?
• What type of training do you need in order qualify for re-imbursement by health-care insurances?
• How do you get access to the training?
• How much does it cost (!) and who pays for it?
• What are your chances to get into a funded training programme?
• What degree and which specific courses do you need in order to qualify for such a programme? (e.g., is there an equivalent of our GZ-checklist?)
• How does a Dutch degree count, compared to the local degree?

Given the large differences between countries, we cannot answer these questions ourselves. A general advice is to gather information from professional associations for psychologists. They often have a lot of information on their websites that you can start with. Below, we provide a list of links that we will seek to expand.

 

Germany:

· Berufsverband deutscher Psychologinnen und Psychologen

· Psychologie.de: Studium und Weiterbildungsbmöglichkeiten

· Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie: Berufliche Möglichkeiten

· Psychotherapeutengesetz (Gesetzestext)

· Psychotherapeutengesetz (Wikipedia)

 

UK:

· Wikipedia: Training and licensing of clinical psychologists

· Clinpsy.org.uk

· The British Psychological Society

· Health Professions Council