IN ENGLISH
President ot the Associaton,
Mr Tuomo Tikkanen

Mr Tuomo Tikkanen
Personnel of the Finnish Psychological Association
How does the Finnish Psychological Association operate?
Undergraduate studies in psychology
Postgraduate studies in psychology
Status of psychologists
Employment opportunities for psychologists
Salaries of psychologists
Welcome to the homepage of
the Finnish Psychological Association! Here you can find information on
the association, as well as information on the training of
psychologists and working as a psychologist in Finland.
Office of the Finnish Psychological Association
Bulevardi 30 B 3, 00120 Helsinki
Telephone: +358-9-61 22 91 22
Fax: +358-9-61 22 91 61
The Finnish Psychological Association
The
Finnish Psychological Association is an organization for Finnish
psychologists. There are approximately 5 300 licensed psychologists in
Finland. About 90 per cent of them are members of The Association. In
addition, there are hundreds of students of psychology who are members
as well. The total number of members in the Association is currently
5600.
The Finnish Psychological Association is an advocate for
the professional, financial and social benefits for psychologists. Its
goal is also to inform society about psychology and to increase the use
of psychology as a science.
Personnel of the Finnish Psychological Association
The office of the Association is located in the city centre of Helsinki, with a staff of eight full-time employees.
For
more information on the way in which the Association operates and the
status of Finnish psychologists, you can contact any of the following
people.
E-mail addresses:
firstname.surname@psyli.fi
Chairman
Tuomo Tikkanen
Telephone: +358-9-61 22 91 66
Mobile +358-400-459 742
Secretary General
Riitta Saikkonen-Heinonen
Telephone: +358-9-61 22 91 77
Chief psychologist
Vesa Nevalainen
Telephone: +358-9-61 22 91 79
Editor of the Journal "Psykologi"
Riitta Elf
Telephone: +358-9-61 22 91 55
How does the Finnish Psychological Association operate?
Even though the Association is quite small, it operates productively in a variety of ways.
-
The Association tries to influence authorities, such as the Finnish
Parliament and Ministries, in order to advance the status of and
employment opportunities for psychologists.
- The Association
works to improve the salaries of psychologists. It is an active member
of "Akava", the Central Organization of Academic Associations.
-
The Association promotes co-operation between psychologists by, for
example, organizing supplementary training and different kinds of
events.
- The Association does everything in its power to help
maintain a high level of professional ethics within psychology. The
Association has approved the Nordic regulations on professional ethics.
It has a Professional Ethics Board, and it also operates a telephone
helpline on professional ethics.
- Eight times a year the
Association publishes the journal "Psykologi", which is the
professional journal of psychologists. In addition, the Association
produces various professional publications yearly.
The Association owns a publishing company that sells and develops psychological tests and organizes training activities.
-
The Association participates in international cooperation between
psychologists, both in the Nordic Countries and within Europe. The
Chairman of The Finnish Psychological Association has also acted as
President of EFPA in 1999-2007.
Undergraduate studies in psychology
There is a separate Decree on Degrees concerning the training of psychologists. The Decree was updated in 1996.
A Master's Degree in psychology, which requires 330 EuroCredits, is needed to become a licenced psychologist.
The studies include an obligatory practical training period of about 5 months.
Earning the Master's Degree in psychology usually takes 5 to 6 years.
The
candidates can apply to universities to study psychology after passing
the student exam and graduating from high school. Entrance exams are
mandatory, and getting admitted is very difficult, because psychology
is a popular field of study.
Listed below are the six Finnish universities offering training in psychology:
- University of Helsinki
- University of Jyväskylä
- University of Joensuu
- University of Tampere
- University of Turku
- Åbo Akademi (training in Swedish)
The
departments of psychology at these universities work together as the
Network University of Psychology called "the Psykonet". The Network
cooperates both on the undergraduate and the postgraduate levels. It is
unique, because there are no other university networks in Finland.
Postgraduate studies in psychology
After earning the Master's Degree, it is possible for a psychologist to study for a Doctorate in psychology, or for the less extensive scientific Licentiate's Degree.It is also possible to earn a professional Licentiate's Degree in five different fields of application, which means taking part in specialization training at one of the universities. More information can be found in English about the specialization training on the Psykonet homepage.
It is also possible for psychologists to receive supplementary training outside of the universities. For example, they can study to become psychotherapists.
Approximately 60 per cent of all psychologists have taken either postgraduate studies at the universities or supplementary training elsewhere.
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Status of psychologists
In Finland it is compulsory to earn the Master's Degree in psychology before working as a psychologist. After earning the degree, the psychologist must apply for and receive the permit to work as a licensed psychologist from the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health , which is subordinate to the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.The National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health oversees the psychological practice in Finland. If there are any problems, the Centre can impose sanctions on psychologists. In more serious cases, a psychologist can be denied the right to practice the profession.
Foreign psychologists can apply for licenses to practice the profession from the Centre. The license can only be granted, if the psychologist's training meets the Finnish training requirements.
For more information, please visit the homepage of National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health VALVIRA
See also The Act on Health Care Professionals (a PDF-file attached below)
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Employment opportunities for psychologists
Approximately
200 new psychologists graduate in Finland every year. Currently 1,5 per
cent of all Finnish psychologists are unemployed. Most of them are
young psychologists who have just graduated. They often have to work at
several substitute positions before getting permanent jobs. In 2008,
the percentages of psychologists working in different sectors are as
follows:
Municipalities 55%
State 18%
Privately employed 18%
Private practitioners and entrepreneurs 9%
Most
psychologists work in health care, social welfare, schools and career
counselling. Most private practitioners are psychotherapists or
neuropsychologists.
Salaries of psychologists
On the state and municipal levels the average monthly salary is approximately 3000 €, while in the private sector it is approximately 3700 €. On average, psychologists working as private practitioners or entrepreneurs receive over 4500 € per month.
Act on health care professionals (pdf) (65.2 KB)
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