Psychotherapists trained in an EU or EEA Member State
In order to be allowed to use the title of psychotherapist in Finland, you must register this protected occupational title with Valvira. On application, Valvira grants the right to use the occupational title of psychotherapist to professionals trained either in Finland or abroad. Other people who have sufficient education, experience and professional skills can also be employed in a profession that has a protected occupational title. However, you must not use a protected occupational title unless you have been granted the right to do so by Valvira.
In order to qualify for the title of psychotherapist in Finland, you must have:
- appropriate background training
- background work experience
- psychotherapist training.
Your training is evaluated as a whole, meaning that your background training and work experience prior to your actual psychotherapist training are also considered. For evaluation purposes, we will request a statement concerning your training from an educational institution / university in Finland that trains psychotherapists. Based on the statement received, Valvira will specify the supplementary training that you will need to complete, if any.
Applying for the right to practise
Fill in the application form (pdf). Enter the occupational title you are applying for, your personal details and your contact details. Your personal details must include at least your name and date of birth.
Send the application and appendices to Valvira as e-mail attachments or by mail. The processing period is calculated from the time when Valvira has received all the required documents. If you submit all the relevant documents with your application, the application process will be quicker. Please do not send your application or attachments by both e-mail and post, because this will slow down the processing of your application.
Send your completed application and appendices by e-mail to: [email protected].
Please note that e-mail is not recommended for sending confidential information. You can send a secure e-mail via the Valvira secure message service. Further information on how to deliver material to Valvira by e-mail can be found on our website.
The processing of an application in Valvira is subject to a fee. A fee is also charged for a withdrawn application. By submitting an application, you agree to the fees. Please check the prices at end of the instructions, under “Fees”.
OR send your completed application and appendices by mail to:
National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira)
PO Box 43
FI-00521 Helsinki
Please attach the following documents to your application:
- Passport or ID card issued in an EU/EEA Member State (proof of your identity and nationality). Please read the instructions on our website if you do not have a Finnish personal identity number.
- Your degree certificate (diploma) for your background training, with appendices (e.g. diploma supplement, academic transcript).
- Freeform consent stating that Valvira has your permission to submit your application documents to a Finnish educational institution for an expert opinion if necessary.
The appendices listed below in points 4 and 8–10 are not necessarily mandatory, but they are recommended, because they may be required for obtaining an expert opinion. In order to evaluate an application, information regarding the completed education is needed. This information needs to be comprehensive enough to allow determining the possible differences between the completed education and the education required in Finland. - A more detailed description of the courses and training periods listed in the academic transcript (learning outcomes, contents and number of hours; and operating environments and duties in the case of training periods) concerning your background training. For the purposes of the statement to be returned by the university consulted, you must indicate when you completed the applicable background training and when you began your actual psychotherapist training.
If the educational institution supplies a general study programme to provide this information, the institution must separately confirm that you have completed the units required. The educational institution may deliver the report directly to Valvira by e-mail. - Certificate of at least 30 credits in studies in psychology or psychiatry, if such studies were not included in your background training.
- Employment certificates for your background work experience. Employment certificates must have been issued by your employer, and they must state at least your job title, your job duties and the duration of your employment.
- Degree certificate for your psychotherapist training, with appendix (e.g. diploma supplement, academic transcript).
- A more detailed description of the courses and training periods listed in the academic transcript for your actual psychotherapist training (learning outcomes, contents and number of hours; and operating environments and duties in the case of training periods) concerning your psychotherapist training. For the purposes of the statement to be returned by the university consulted, you must indicate when you completed the applicable background training and when you began your actual psychotherapist training.
Please supply certificates of supervised clinical psychotherapy work included in your actual psychotherapist training (number of hours, dates) and of your personal psychotherapy (including the psychotherapy orientation in addition to the above details).
If the educational institution supplies a general study programme to provide this information, the institution must separately confirm that you have completed the units required. The educational institution may deliver the report directly to Valvira by e-mail. - Employment certificates for work in the profession following completion of your training. Employment certificates must have been issued by your employer, and they must state at least your job title, your job duties and the duration of your employment.
- A certificate of any supplementary professional training and continuing education.
- A certificate verifying that your right to practise the profession in question has not been restricted or revoked (e.g. Certificate of Current Professional Status). This certificate must be no more than three months old when received by Valvira. You must submit such a certificate from every country where you have been legalised to practise your profession.
Valvira may also be able to verify the information directly with the competent authority in the relevant EU or EEA Member State, and you do not need to submit these documents. This verification may delay the processing of your application. If Valvira is unable to verify the information with the competent authority, then you must submit the relevant certificate yourself. - Translations into Finnish, Swedish or English of the documents listed in points 2–11.
The translations must have been produced by an authorised translator in Finland or in another EU/EEA Member State. Authorised translators in Finland can be found through the online service of the National Agency for Education. If the translator is not an official or authorised translator in an EU/EEA Member State, the translation may nevertheless be acceptable if the translator’s status is confirmed by Apostille or Grand Legalisation. - Certificate of sufficient language proficiency in Finnish or Swedish.
Further information on language proficiency requirements is available on our website. If you do not submit a certificate of language proficiency, Valvira can only recognise your professional qualifications. In order to be eligible for this, you must be a citizen of an EU or EEA Member State or a person of comparable status, and you must have completed your training in an EU or EEA Member State. Recognition of professional qualifications does not automatically entitle you to practise your profession or to use a protected occupational title in Finland. Further information on the recognition of professional qualifications.
Valvira may request further clarifications if necessary. The application documents will remain in Valvira, and it is not possible to get them back after a decision has been made. If you request for documents to be returned to you while the application process is ongoing, the processing of your application will be significantly slowed down.
Psychotherapist training in Finland is continuing education that is only available to persons who have already completed an appropriate degree or qualification. The following are examples of such an appropriate degree or qualification:
- an applicable master’s-level degree at a university, or an applicable qualification in health and social services at a university of applied sciences; the degree must include, or you must have otherwise completed, 30 credits of studies in psychology or psychiatry
- a post-secondary nursing qualification plus a specialisation in psychiatry if the qualification did not include studies in psychiatry
- any other training comparable to point 1 or 2 above, completed abroad.
Please note that the training regime for psychotherapists may differ from one country to another. For example, what is described above as background training and psychotherapist training may be contained in a single degree or qualification.
After completing your background training, you must have had at least two years of work experience in mental health services or similar duties before you may apply for psychotherapist training. Please note that, as a rule, volunteer work in mental health services is not acceptable as such work experience.
In Finland, psychotherapist training is continuing education completed at a university. Persons applying for this training must satisfy the background training and background work experience requirements. The scope of the training is at least 60 credits, divided between theoretical studies, supervised clinical psychotherapy with clients, personal psychotherapy and final written project work. This competence is proved by a proficiency test. Applicants who trained abroad are also required to have completed similar training modules, including the student’s personal psychotherapy and supervised clinical psychotherapy. When applying, it is in your interest to submit details of your supervised clinical psychotherapy work and personal psychotherapy (background training of the instructors, psychotherapy orientation, number of hours and dates).
In the case of training completed abroad, Valvira will compare that training to the requirements for background training, background work experience and psychotherapist training. Training as a psychotherapist involves supplementing and improving students’ existing professional competence, and for this reason Valvira basically requires that applicants must have the required background training and background work experience. The comparison shall take into account all of the diplomas, certificates of supplementary training and continuing education and other documentation of formal qualifications, as well as the relevant work experience. Valvira compares the qualifications of these certificates and experience with the knowledge and qualifications required in Finland. For comparison purposes, and for the information of the university consulted for a statement, Valvira must have detailed content descriptions of all the units included in the studies you have completed. It is also important to submit details of your supervised clinical psychotherapy work and personal psychotherapy (background training of the instructors, psychotherapy orientation, number of hours and dates).
If any documents are missing from your application that Valvira requires, Valvira will request them from you within 30 days of receiving your application. The processing period is calculated from the time when Valvira has received all the required documents. The processing period for applications is four months, as specified in the Act on Health Care Professionals. The processing period is laid down in the relevant EU Directive and is the same in all Member States.
Valvira charges a fee for every decision concerning rights to practise a profession, including when an application is denied. Half the processing fee is payable if you withdraw your application.
Types of fee include:
- Fee for expert opinion EUR 100–400
- Registration of protected occupational title EUR 710
- Decision on conditional recognition EUR 710
- Recognition of professional qualifications or protected title registration after an adjustment period or completing supplementary studies EUR 180
- Recognition of professional qualifications EUR 470
- Registration of protected occupational title once proof of language proficiency is received after recognition of professional qualification EUR 240
The decision on the right to practise a profession will be issued in Finnish or Swedish. The invoice will be sent separately by post after the decision. If Valvira has requested an expert statement, the invoice for the statement fee will be sent to you after Valvira receives that statement.
If there are significant differences between the education that the applicant has received abroad and the education in Finland, Valvira will issue a certificate of conditional recognition of professional qualifications. In social care this can be issued for all qualifications completed abroad and in health care for qualifications received in another EU or EEA country. The certificate of conditional recognition will specify the additional measures required to compensate for the differences. Additional measures include an aptitude test and an adaptation period. The applicant cannot be licensed to practise their profession until the additional measure specified has been acceptably completed. The applicant will need to reapply for a licence once they have completed the additional measure.
You will find the information on the rights to practise granted to you in JulkiTerhikki or JulkiSuosikki.
Rights to practise granted may be viewed in the public information services for social welfare and health care professionals (JulkiSuosikki and JulkiTerhikki, respectively) after the decision is issued or the registration is made. The register data are updated once a day.
A right to practise granted for a fixed term will be visible in the public information service only while it is valid, as with the registration for an adaptation period.
More information on the official registers of professionals underlying the public information service is available on our website.
Valvira may send you any requests for further information, certificates and decisions electronically as a Suomi.fi message if you have registered in that service. Suomi.fi messages may only be used for matters that are currently pending. You may register for Suomi.fi messages at the suomi.fi website or by downloading the Suomi.fi mobile app.
In application matters, we will only deal with the applicants themselves. However, an applicant may authorise an agent or an assistant to act on their behalf in the matter of their application. In this case, the agent or assistant must present a power of attorney authorising them to act for the applicant. The power of attorney may be an e-mail or physical document sent by the applicant, stating that the applicant authorises the person in question to act for them in the matter of the application. However, attorneys-at-law and public legal aid attorneys do not need to present said document unless specifically requested.