If you get your master’s degree in psychology, you are a psychologist. This degree can be a first step towards a career in mental health care. However, it does not mean that you are a psychotherapist. If you have a degree in clinical, neuro- or developmental psychology, you can contribute to diagnostics and treatment of mental health care patients in a clinical setting. Yet, your responsibilities are fairly limited and you can only work under the supervision of psychiatrists, GZ-psychologists, clinical psychologists or psychotherapists (all of which are professions that are protected by law).
A master’s degree in psychology testifies of your academic abilities: you have acquired theoretical knowledge of human behavior and have learned to think as a scientist, with firm analytical skills and methodological knowledge. However, a master’s degree does not include training as a therapist. For a serious career in the Dutch mental health care system (but also in many other European countries), you need several years of clinical post-master training as
GZ-psychologist
(GZ is short for gezondheidszorg, which means health care). This is regulated by the Dutch law on health care professions. Access to the GZ-training is limited and selective, and requires excellent knowledge of Dutch.
Please also note that many psychologists pursue careers outside the clinical setting, for example as trainer, coach or advisor. As psychologist, you are an expert on human behavior and thus can work in a large variety of settings, both in the public sector and in business. In almost all cases however, you will need some form of additional (practical) training.
Given the limited access to the GZ-training for students who do not speak Dutch, detailed information about the training is only provided in that language. In case of questions about the programme, please do not hesitate to contact your academic advisor, Ms. Laura Ballato.
See also the menu item "Psychologists abroad".
Click here for an English version of the graph.
