What is EuroPsy?
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EuroPsy (or European Certificate in Psychology)
is a European standard of education, professional training and competence in psychology set by the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA).
Visit: www.europsy.eu
European Awarding Committee for the Specialist Certificate in W&O Psychology
The new European Awarding Committee for the Specialist Certificate in Work and Organizational Psychology (S-EAC W&O) had their first meeting on October 6th in Brussels. The group want to take an offensive approach to promote this EuroPsy specialist certificate and the professional standard. A first action will be to map the situation regarding available training programmes in work and organizational psychology throughout Europe, and also reach out to other organizations, e.g. EAWOP, which many of the psychologists in this field of practice are connected to. Later we hope to engage some of the national member associations to explore the route to awarding the specialist certificate.
The members of the committee represents both the academic and practice field of work and organizational psychology profession:
Per A Straumsheim, chair (Norway)
Snezhana Evlogieva Ilieva (Bulgaria)
Pietro Bussotti (Italy)
Gail Steptoe-Warren (UK)
Vicente Martinez-Tur (Spain)
EuroPsy at the ECP 2022 Ljubljana, Slovenia
A symposium on 10 years of EuroPsy, chaired by Dr. Rosaleen McElvaney was held at this year's 17th European Congress in Psychology, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. EuroPsy was initially piloted with six countries across Europe, and has grown exponentially since its foundational roots, with 37 countries currently holding membership status. The success of EuroPsy has been widespread, and now includes specialist certificates in psychotherapy, and work and organisational (W&O) psychology and projects in development for sports psychology and clinical neuropsychology.
Dr. McElvaney gave an overview of the progress within EuroPsy’s European Awarding Committee (EAC) and the impact EuroPsy has had in member countries over the past ten years. There were a number of notable examples where the EuroPsy standards were used by member NACs; to influence policy and legislation by lobbying politicians to maintain a European standard for psychology practice; to ensure educational curriculums within the field of psychology continue to be developed or revised in line with minimum EuroPsy standards and competences; and to promote supervision engagement, training and practice post-qualification.
Prof. Nady Van Broeck presented an update on the conceptual framework underlying the specialised certificate in psychotherapy and outlined the competencies required by psychologists to practice psychotherapy.
Mr. Per Straumsheim provided an update on progress by the S-EAC and member S-NACs implementing the work and organisational specialist certificate.
Mr. Straumsheim highlighted some of the achievements and barriers faced by the S-NAC implementing the certificate in Norway. The S-EAC are actively encouraging chairs to get in contact to learn more about the process of establishing a S-NAC in their country and highlighted the many benefits this could have for individual psychologists, and for the development of the field of practice.
The second symposium regarding EuroPsy was chaired by Prof. Conny Antoni on ‘Revising EuroPsy Standards and Competences - Questions to be Answered and Possible Solutions’.
The ‘international declaration of core competences in professional psychology’ and ‘the cube model’ were presented by Prof. Antoni and Mrs. Bjørnhild Stokvik as examples which could be compared and drawn from to revise the current EuroPsy standards and competencies.
Dr. Vlasta Novak Zabukovec discussed possible ways in which such competencies could be assessed. The competencies of supervisors including basic requirements, selection and training and the assessment of supervision outcomes, was reflected upon and discussed by Dr. Sarah Bahia. Dr. Bahia outlined the opportunity newly qualified psychologists are presented with to develop attributes of self-awareness, reflectivity, personal integrity, ethical competence and robustness during their year of supervision post-qualification. Encouraging newly qualified psychologists to engage in supervision post-qualification and the promotion for the uptake of training to develop competencies in supervising others was noted to be a current challenge faced by member NACs. Considerations for why this may be the case and ways of promoting supervised practice were discussed across both symposiums. EuroPsy is a pillar of the European Federation of Psychologist’s Association, along with ethical principles of the profession and legal regulation. As Europe begins to open following the Covid-19 pandemic, and travel becomes more accessible, it is a critical time to facilitate the mobility of psychologists to practice across Europe, whilst maintaining quality assurance and accountability of professional competence for public protection. The success of EuroPsy is founded on the hard work, dedication and collaboration of members. Both symposiums provided an opportunity for members of EuroPsy, EFPA and delegates from across Europe to unite and offer reflections on the success and challenges of EuroPsy, to hear about on-going projects, and to exchange ideas regarding the future of EuroPsy.
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What is the Revalidation of EuroPsy certificate
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The EuroPsy Certificate is valid for seven years, after which the holder undertakes revalidation to ensure current competence and up-to-date knowledge. Revalidation, or renewal of the certificate, requires that the psychologist has undertaken Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in order to demonstrate continued competence.
There is a wide range of activities that psychologists undertake as part of their CPD, these include:
- Attendance and participation in accredited courses and/or workshops aimed at further professional development
- Development of specific new skills through practice at work
- Participation in peer supervision
- Participation as a supervisor
- Attendance at a professional or scientific conference
- Authorship or co-authorship and/or editing of publications on research and/or professional issues; presentations to professional audiences.
- Editorial work on journals and books in psychology.
These activities are intended to support psychologists’ development of new skills and understanding and to foster the quality of professional practice.
