Psychological Pracititoners Finland ry is organising a training course that will lead to the qualification of psychotherapist for all participants in co-operation with the University of Jyväskylä. The purpose of the training is to help alleviate the chronic shortage of psychotherapists with diverse cultural and language backgrounds in Finland, to help promote the working conditions of foreign educated therapists and to provide additional training in psychotherapy for those who prefer to study in English.
This program will commence in 2025, with applications due in January/ February 2025.
Commencing in 2025, Psychological Practitioners Finland ry and the University of Jyväskylä will be running an English language psychotherapy training course for mental health professionals living in Finland
- Participants of the program will graduate as registered psychotherapists in Finland
- The orientation of this course COGNITIVE INTEGRATIVE for adults (people age 17 yrs and over)
- Applications will open on the website of the University of Jyväskylä in January/ February 2025
- Studies are part-time, meaning that you can work full-time while completing the studies over 3 to 4 years
- Location of studies will be mainly in the Helsinki region and only once a year in Jyväskylä
We are very keen to make this training an option for migrants and new arrivals to Finland and we are seeking corporate sponsorship in the form of scholarships for participants.
The costs of psychotherapy training is approximately 5000- 8000€ per year for 3.5 – 4 years per student.
Unusually for Finland, the costs of psychotherapy training in Finland are NOT supported by the state as currently this profession requires training that can only be done by private institutions (therapy schools) in collaboration with universities who supervise the curriculum.
Therefore we are seeking corporate sponsorship for scholarships of 5000€ each per year for 4 years for successful applicants to the course who are representatives of their culture and community and/or have the lived experience of being a migrant. We hope to get sponsorship for 3 to 4 participants in total. Participants can apply for scholarships in 2025 and will be selected in May 2025. The companies can have full control over who is selected from successful applicants for a scholarship (as selected by an application and interview process through the University of Jyväskylä). Successful applicants can agree to participate in a limited number of marketing and promotional events for companies.
International companies in Finland are well placed to provide these sponsorships as they understand the need to support their culturally diverse and international employees and also understand that other sectors of society are not as fast to react to the increasing needs of recent migrants to Finland. Our association has also grown rapidly since formation in 2021 and we see that more international residents arrive every day.
We are passionate about providing psychological and psychotherapeutic services to the culturall and linguistically diverse communities of Finland.
Companies and organisations intersted in sponsoring a participant can contact Annabel Battersby at admin (at) mentalhealth.fi
Mental health professionals from a variety of backgrounds (social work, therapist, doctor, nurse, etc…) are encouraged to apply to this English language course.
Before applying, you must have the following pre-requisites:
- Successfully passing the Finnish or Swedish language exam (YKI test) at the intermediate level in all four areas
- Educational background – those with professional backgrounds as registered health and social welfare professionals in Finland will be considered most highly, but all those with relevant training should consider applying. The top professional backgrounds are:
- a psychologist, doctor, or psychiatrist, or overseas trained psychotherapist
- nurse, social worker, social service professional (sosionomi), occupational therapist
- Experience working in the mental health field for two years is recommended, but consider applying even if you don’t have this
- In Finland, psychotherapy training is typically a co-operation between universities and private traines. Therefore there are costs involved in studying.
- Fees are typically 8000-10,000€ per year- approx €2200 a term tuition, €130 Euros x 2 a month supervision, 80 hrs of own psychotherapy with a VET Psychotherapist over 3.5-4yrs, books, travel,accommodation.
- The total cost of the course is therefore likely to be 25,000 – 30,000€ for the entire 3- 4 years.
- PPF ry is working to get corporate sponsorship for some participants.
Psychological Practitioners Finland ry is working with registered psychotherapy trainers and the University of Jyväskylä to create this training program in English in Finland for the first time ever
The head trainers of this program are:
- Pauliina Juntunen
- Hanne-Leona Luomajoki
- Susann Thylin
- Helena Santasalo
The contact person at the University of Jyväskylä is Juha Holma.
The contact people in Psychological Practitioners Finland ry are Annabel Battersby and Hatty Francis-Ehnholm.
Why apply?
Did you know that there is a severe shortage of registered psychotherapists who are willing to work in English and other languages for KELA subsidised rehabilitative psychotherapy? And did you know that most health services in Finland will only refer a person to short or long term therapy with a psychotherapist registered in Finland (not to psychologists)?
Another reason to apply is that psychotherapists are health professionals in Finland and therefore do NOT have to pay the VAT fee for their psychotherapeutic services.
Why can’t I just transfer my psychotherapy qualification from overseas?
In the experience of our association’s members it has so far been nearly impossible for foreign trained psychotherapists to get registered with overseas qualifications. While many of our members have applied to VALVIRA for recognition, only a handful have been successful. This is party because psychotherapy training in Finland is quite different to elsewhere and typically requires the following components:
- That the person is already a health professional (psychologist, doctor, nurse, etc….) with another qualification.
- That they have worked in mental health for two years already.
- That they do their own personal psychotherapy (up to 80 hours) just before or during the training.
- And for foreign trained applicants, that they have passed the YKI exam in Finnish or Swedish at the intermediate level.