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Luxembourg
Psychotherapy finally reimbursed in Luxembourg . January 2023
Psychotherapy finally reimbursed in Luxembourg
January 30, 2023
It took 7(!) years of bitter discussions and several rounds of mediation between the national health insurance fund (CNS) and the Federation of Psychological Psychotherapists to reach a final result. From 1st February 2023, the reimbursement of psychotherapeutic acts involving psychological psychotherapists will become finally a long-awaited reality in Luxembourg.
In 2015, a law creating the profession of psychotherapist had been enacted in Luxembourg and the logical follow-up of this law would have been to quickly achieve a reimbursement of psychotherapeutic acts. However, this did not happen.
SLP (Société Luxembourgeoise de Psychologie), the most representative association of psychologists and psychological psychotherapists in Luxembourg decided then to involve other psychotherapy associations in the future negotiations by initiating a federation called FAPSYLUX structured as an umbrella association of associations.
The very frustrating negotiations eternally failed on following sticking points:
- access of patient to the psychological psychotherapist without having to consult first a medical doctor
- restricted patient access to psychological psychotherapy due to its age criteria
- exclusion of several mental disorders despite being listed in internationally recognized classifications
- recognition of any psychotherapist authorised to practise by the Ministry of Health (doubts pronounced of the effectiveness of some psychotherapeutic currents despite well-established scientific evidence)
- and at the end of the day after several years of discussion, negotiation on the fees
But as the French proverb says, “tout est bien qui finit bien”, all's well that ends well.
From February 2023 onwards, psychotherapy acts will be reimbursable, allowing many disadvantaged citizens with mental health problems to access or to access more easily a reimbursable treatment of which they were previously excluded. And at the same time, society recognizes by proper reimbursement the profession of psychological psychotherapist for its true value.
Link to conditions for reimbursement by CNS
Marc Stein.
President SLP
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Netherlands
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The NIP developed the guide to legislation and regulations for psychologists in healthcare. March, 2023
- Queen Máxima Zorreguieta of Netherlands writes a letter addressing the youth about mental health. November, 2022
- The NIP is growing by merging with other association NVGzP. October, 2022
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The NIP developed the guide to legislation and regulations for psychologists in healthcare
March 2, 2023
What information about my client may I provide if requested by the police, the UWV or a lawyer? And under what conditions? How should I act in case of legal incapacity? What should I do if I do not have an agreement with my client about terminating a treatment agreement?
As a psychologist, you must be well aware of the legal provisions that apply to healthcare. Easier said than done, because it is often complicated and sometimes opaque. That is why the NIP developed the guide to legislation and regulations for psychologists in healthcare.
This guide contains most of the relevant legislation and regulations, specifically for you as a psychologist working in healthcare.
The queen Máxima Zorreguieta of Netherlands write a letter to youth about mental health
November 5, 2022
The queen Máxima Zorreguieta of Netherlands is now active in the field of mental health, she wrote a letter to our youth in the newspaper asking for awareness for their mental health. We are pleased to see that the topic has so much attention in the NL, that definitely helps us towards reaching our goals.
On May 30 2022 the Member Councils of both NVGzP and NIP took the final decision to merge as one new, larger professional association from 1 October 2022. From then on, the merged professional association will continue under the name Nederlands Instituut van Psychologen, abbreviated NIP.
The merger of the NVGzP and the NIP will lead to one powerful professional association, with room for all master and post master-trained psychologists in the full breadth of psychology. With one large and powerful association for psychologists, we strengthen the professional identity, can represent the interests of our various professional groups even better than before and broaden our services
The new association has 17000 members.
New Board and Management:
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Portugal
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Stress and Psychological Health Problems at work in Portugal cost 5.3 billion a year. February, 2023
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Conference “Well-being, productivity and sustainability of organizations”. february, 2023
- Published regulation that defines the acts of psychologists. January, 2023
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The Portuguese Psychologists Association published, on the 3rd of February, a new report on the Cost of Stress and Psychological Health Problems at Work in Portugal. Costs have risen by more than 60% in the last two years (5.3 billion). They already represent an amount equivalent to what the portuguese government spent in 2021 on measures to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.
Conference “Well-being, productivity and sustainability of organizations”
February 2, 2023
The psychologist David Ballard was in Lisbon, on the 2nd of February, at the invitation of the Portuguese Psychologists Association and the Portuguese Business Confederation (CIP), for the conference “Well-being, productivity and sustainability of organizations”.
David Ballard warned that the success and failure of companies are always related to people. He also said that many companies are committed to wellness programs, but often do not put them into practice or measure the results.
The Regulation defining the acts of psychologists was published on January 6th, in portuguese legislation. According to this regulation, acts of psychologists are the application of psychological science in all areas and challenges involving behavior and mental processes, namely:
- The psychological assessment activity
- The technical-scientific activities of psychological intervention
- The activities of diagnosis, analysis, prescription, and psychological intervention, including psychotherapeutic, non-pharmacological
- The elaboration of technical-scientific opinions and expertise
- Intervision and supervision activities
Acts of psychologists may also be considered as activities within the scope of teaching, research, training, selection, consultancy and coordination and direction.
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Spain
Spanish Consejo General de la Psicologia de Espana celebrates: World Rare Diseases Day. February, 2023
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Spanish Consejo General de la Psicologia de Espana celebrates: World Rare Diseases Day
February 28, 2023
Psychological attention is key in tackling ‘Rare Diseases’. La atención psicológica, clave en el abordaje de las Enfermedades Raras
February 28 was celebrated the World Rare Diseases Day, a date whose aim is to reflect on the challenges and challenges faced by all people living with some so-called rare disease, raising awareness and raising awareness about the realities of these people and the need to receive early diagnosis and treatment, in the face of an improvement in their quality of life.
Rare Diseases (ER) or infrequent are those with low prevalence in the population (that is, less than 5 persons per 10,000 inhabitants). These types of diseases are heterogeneous in nature, usually serious, chronic, degenerative, associated with comorbidities and potentially deadly.
Despite its low frequency, there are many people who live with rare diseases worldwide - amounting to 3 million people in Spain, 30 million in Europe and 300 million globally - and it is estimated that there are more than 6,000 different rare diseases (72% of course 70% of them start in infancy).
These types of illnesses significantly affect children, young people and adults – and indirectly their family members – and constitute an emerging public health priority, given the considerable emotional, psychological, social and economic impact that comes with being diagnosed with and living with a disease this kind of thing.
The World Health Organisation in Europe reports that a WHO supported roadmap on mental health and psychosocial support of populations in Ukraine during and beyond the war has been presented and endorsed at a high-level meeting in Ukraine.
Read more about the operational roadmap on the Miscellaneous section of this edition
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Ukraine
- The Ukrainian association hotline now works in 21 countries. February, 2023
- Ukraine endorses roadmap on mental health during the war. December, 2022
The Ukrainian association hotline now works in 21 countries
February, 2023
From the first day of war we, the Ukrainian psychologists, have been providing psychological support for our society. This is an online format organized by volunteers who stay in safe conditions and have enough emotional resources for work. It is important, because people are rapidly changing locations due to increased risk to life.
New toll-free numbers for psychological help for Ukrainians abroad are:
- Belgium +32 800 11 728
- Denmark +45 80 82 08 61
- Estonia +372 8000 044 624
- Latvia +371 80 005 945
- Lithuania +370 800 00 414
The World Health Organisation in Europe reports that a WHO supported roadmap on mental health and psychosocial support of populations in Ukraine during and beyond the war has been presented and endorsed at a high-level meeting in Ukraine.
Read more about the operational roadmap on the Miscellaneous section of this edition
EMDR Europe - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
EMDR Croatia - Seminar on "EMDR Treatment of Depression"
EMDR Europe : EMDR Croatia - Seminar on "EMDR Treatment of Depression"
Source: https://www.eaclipt.org/
EMDR Europe Association and EMDR Croatia Association have been working closely together during 2022 on developing the EMDR ecosystem in Southeast Europe. A part of this joint undertaking was to organize expert seminars that empower regional psychotherapists for using EMDR technique in different relevant fields. The first one covered the topic of EMDR group therapy, while the second one dealt with EMDR treatment of depression. Further information about the events held can be found here:
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EFPSA- European Federation of Psychology Student's Associations
- Past events and activities
- Upcoming events and activities
- Projects and upcoming news
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The Joint Executive Board and Member Representatives meeting (EB&MR) was held from 26.10 to 2.11 2022. The participants spent 7 days together in Tulln, a lovely village just outside Vienna, Austria.
During this annual event, EB members and MRs from each of the represented countries meet in person to discuss their projects and work together to improve EFPSA's missions. The participants also attend training sessions and workshops delivered by our trainers and coordinators.
Another important aspect of the event is socialising and creating meaningful relationships between EFPSA's Working Community members. The evenings are reserved for various social activities. At this year’s event, there was a band performing, a Halloween party, a karaoke night, and a traditional Cultural Evening, where participants shared and tried out sweets and other food from their countries of origin. The excursion day consisted of a short hike through the vineyards above Vienna.
EFPSA Day is an international event that is organised in the member countries by local students in the first week of December. Students present EFPSA´s activities, projects, events and opportunities to get involved on an international level.
This year the Member Representatives organised an online event together next to their individual local or national activities. They organised an online event with a fun quiz and a networking moment with Executive Board members for all psychology students. It was a great opportunity for them to not only work on a project together but to also reach more students and potentially future members.
On the 17th October 2022, EFPSA organised a webinar aimed at raising awareness on mental health through the participation of 8 Maltese artists who came together with university students who experienced struggles with mental health, and together formed artworks that depict what experiencing mental health difficulties mean. In this webinar, these Maltese students exhibited their artworks about mental health to a European audience and shared their experience of struggling with mental health as a student.
The webinar “Study and Travel Abroad: A Survival Kit” took place between the 21st to the 22nd of January 2023 over Zoom. It included workshops from our very own EFPSA trainers, a Q&A Session all about the STA team behind this event and a workshop by Dr. Magdalena Rychlowska about studying human emotions and social signals. This 2-day webinar was aimed at getting students interested and motivated in the concept of studying, travelling or working abroad while providing them with the necessary tools to be able to do so. Topics discussed included how to create a CV, how to make friends abroad and issues about housing.
Move to Move is a fundraising event created by EFPSA for raising money for EFPSA and Mental Health Europe (MHE) and encourage psychology students all over Europe (or anyone else we can motivated) to become more physically active. Participants each created their own list of sponsors that donate a certain amount of money per 10 minutes of physical activity during a certain period. Participants collected the money themselves and, after the event, transferred the money to the organising organisation. In total 46 individuals participated and around 400 euros were sponsored.
The aim of this webinar is to encourage the inclusion of Community Psychology in universities’ curricula and create opportunities for psychology students in this field. The event was open to anyone who is interested. Two experienced psychologists, Sara Bahia and Tiago Pereira, joined and provided different perspectives and explore together the current state of this field, why it is important, and how to move forward.
The European Federation of Psychology Students Association (EFPSA) is working to strengthen community psychology, emphasizing the importance of social, cultural, economic, political, environmental, and international factors on our mental health and well being. We believe it is crucial to understand and enhance peoples’ behaviors and well-being within the context of the community environment and the social systems in which people live. In order to do this, community psychology needs to be included in university curricula and students need to be provided with opportunities within this field. Hundreds of psychology students and professionals have been involved in the development of a Call to Action - students building community psychology, and now we want you to join too!
You can read the full Call to Action for Community Psychology here
The paper addresses:
- An introduction of the field of Community Psychology and its development
- The current status of Community Psychology in educational institutions.
- Case Studies of Community Psychology curricula and Community Psychology Interventions.
- Summary of recommendations for the integration of Community Psychology in the curriculum on different levels of stakeholders.
You can sign the Call to Action for Community Psychology here!
To get more involved, contact: advocacy@efpsa.org
After the first In-Person Meeting in August and the Joint EBMR Meeting in October, the Board of EFPSA will meet for the third time in person for the second Board Meeting at the end of the February. The Board will be finishing projects of the mandate, will be preparing for handover of their positions to their successors and for the EFPSA Congress. The Board will discuss many important issues for the future of the Federation like changing the mandate switch, sustainability of EFPSA, annual reports, General Assembly proposals and more.
The Congress is the biggest and most important for EFPSA as a Federation. Around 250 psychology students join in person and it additionally marks the switch of mandates. The Board and members of the Working Community of 2023-2024 will get elected. Students will get a chance to participate in lectures, workshops and plenary discussions related to the theme of the Congress “Unravelling psychology´s role in policy-making”. The Congress will be hosted in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal between 27th of March and 2nd of April 2023.
EFPSA has its own podcast now! Check “What’s up, psychology?” on Spotify or here.
Since a new EFPSA mandate starts following the 37th EFPSA Congress happening between the 27th March and the 2nd April 2023, the open call for positions within EFPSA’s Board has been published. Joining the Board of EFPSA is a unique opportunity to lead Europe’s biggest psychology students’ federation. Board members go through enormous personal and professional development, acquiring soft and hard-skills in an international working environment. Additionally, students will build a great international network of students and professionals while getting the chance to work on impactful projects, attend both internal and external events, as well as potentially improve EFPSA’s activities and introduce new working practices! Deadline to apply is the 12th February 2023.
