IN ENGLISH

President ot the Associaton,
Mr Tuomo Tikkanen

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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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