Psychotherapists trained outside of the EU/EEA
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, only persons granted the right to use a protected occupational title by Valvira may use that title.
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). Send your application with attachments to Valvira. 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 e-mail in advance, because this will slow down the processing of your application.
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 A fee is also charged for a withdrawn application.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”.
Send your completed application and appendices by mail to:
National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira)
PO Box 43
FI-00521 Helsinki
You must supply officially certified copies of the documents listed below (1–5). Copies can be officially certified by a notary public in Finland or in another EU or EEA Member State, or by a Finnish mission in other countries. Copies issued by a notary public outside the EU/EEA and furnished with an Apostille or Grand Legalisation are also acceptable. You must submit to Valvira, by mail, the copies that bear the original stamp and signature of the notary public or Finnish mission.
Append copies of the following documents to your application:
- Passport, identity card issued in an EU/EEA Member State, alien’s passport or refugee travel document (proof of your identity and nationality). Please read the instructions on our website if you do not have a Finnish personal identity number.
- Degree certificates for your background training and your psychotherapist training, and the official e-mail address and mail address of your educational institution
If you give the contact details, Valvira may verify the legitimacy of your degree. This verification may delay the processing of your application. You do not need to submit an officially certified copy if Valvira verifies your degree directly with your educational institution. If Valvira is unable to obtain the required information directly from your educational institution, you must submit your degree certificate, verified by Apostille or Grand Legalisation.
OR
Have your original degree certificates for your background training and your psychotherapist training legalised by Apostille or Grand Legalisation in the country where you completed your training. This procedure must verify that your degree certificate is legitimate. Find out from the foreign ministry or other body in your country of education how to legalise your degree certificate (diploma). - Appendices to your degree certificates for your background training and your psychotherapist training (e.g. transcript of records, academic transcript)
- A certificate verifying that your right to practise the profession in question has not been restricted or revoked (e.g. Certificate of Good Standing). 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. If you have practised your profession in a country where practitioners of that profession are not registered, then you need to submit an affidavit from the competent authority in that country stating that practitioners of your profession are not registered in that country, or some other reliable testimonial of the matter.
- Translations into Finnish, Swedish or English of the documents listed in points 2–4.
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. - Freeform consent stating that Valvira has your permission to submit your application documents to a Finnish educational institution for an expert opinion if necessary.
- Certificate of sufficient language proficiency.
Further information on language proficiency requirements is available on our website.
Valvira may issue a decision mandating supplementary studies even if you have not submitted appendices 4 and 7 referred to above, but you must submit those appendices in order to be legalised. In other words, you must submit those documents at the latest when you file your final legalisation application, having completed the mandated supplementary studies.
The appendices listed below points 8–11 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.
The appendices must be submitted as officially certified copies. Copies can be officially certified by a notary public in Finland or in another EU or EEA Member State, or by a Finnish mission in other countries. Copies issued by a notary public outside the EU/EEA and furnished with an Apostille or Grand Legalisation are also acceptable. You must submit to Valvira, by post, the copies that bear the original stamp and signature of the notary public or Finnish mission. - 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). We recommend that you also include course descriptions from your background training if your training has included 30 credits of psychology or psychiatry studies. 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 background work experience in mental health services. 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.
- 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.
- Translations into Finnish, Swedish or English of all the aforementioned documents.
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.
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, you must send in replacing documents that meet the formal requirements. This will significantly slow down the processing of your application.
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:
- Applicable Master’s-level degree or applicable advanced qualification in social welfare and health care from a university of applied sciences. The degree or qualification must include, or you must have otherwise completed, a total of 30 credits in psychology or psychiatry studies.
- 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. Competence equivalent to that gained from background work experience is required even if your training was structured differently and it was not possible for you to acquire background work experience before undergoing psychotherapist training.
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).
- Applying for the right to practise
- Request for further information if necessary
- Request for expert opinion if necessary
- Hearing if necessary
- Decision on supplementary studies
- Decision on the right to practise
Valvira will investigate whether your training qualifies for the same profession as the relevant Finnish training. Work experience, supplementary professional training and continuing education may be considered in the comparison and may compensate any differences in the training between countries. If differences are found between the applicant’s training and the current Finnish training, Valvira may issue a decision that mandates you to complete additional studies. Valvira can request an expert opinion on your professional qualifications; if so, you will be charged a fee for this.
In most cases, the processing period will be at least 4 months. The processing period is calculated from the time when Valvira has received all the required documents. If Valvira has to send you a request for further information or if Valvira has to verify your qualification, then processing your application will take significantly longer.
When you apply for the right to practise as a health care professional and you have completed your training in a country outside the EU/EEA, Valvira will investigate whether your training qualifies for the same profession as the corresponding Finnish training. Work experience, supplementary professional training and continuing education may be considered in the comparison and may compensate any differences in the training between countries. If differences are found between the applicant’s training and the current Finnish training, Valvira may mandate the applicant to complete additional studies.
In such a decision, Valvira specifies the additional studies that you will need to complete in order to be granted a licence to practice as a professional in Finland. When you have completed the additional studies mandated by Valvira, please read the application instructions on our website.
This does not apply to medical doctors and dental practitioners. If you are a medical doctor or a dental practitioner, instructions for how to apply can be found on our website.
Valvira charges a fee for every decision concerning licences to practise a profession, including when an application is denied. Half the processing fee is payable if you withdraw your application.
If Valvira has requested an expert statement, the invoice for the statement fee will be sent to you after Valvira receives that statement.
Types of fee include:
- Fee for expert opinion EUR 200–600
- Decision mandating supplementary studies EUR 520
- Legalisation after completing supplementary studies EUR 870
- Legalisation without a decision mandating supplementary studies EUR 1390
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.
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.