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FORMAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS - SPAIN
The title. The Master's degree title Licenciado en
Psicologia, is the unique formal qualification requirement in
Spain that entitles psychologists to practice in any
professional area. Professionals having obtained this title
must register in the Colegio Oficial de Psicologos (COP), a
semi-public professional organisation created by law by the
Spanish Parliament (1980) that is entitled to regulate
professional practice in Psychology. Registration in the
Colegio is compulsory for private professional practice.
The law. The title Licenciado en Psicologia is registered in
the national catalogue of titles that is controlled and updated
by the University Council and the Ministry of Education. Thus
the title of Licenciado en Psicología is regulated at
the State level by the Ministry of Education, has validity all
over the State and has the basic teaching contents regulated by
a decree issued by the Ministry of Education. Universities may
create their "own titles" that are not registered in the
National Catalogue of Titles and do not legally qualify holders
for professional practice across the country. A licensed
psychologist is free to practice within any area of
professional psychology.
Licenciado en Psicologia is a unique title for the whole
country and consists of two cycles: a first cycle of 2 or 3
years and a second cycle of 2 years. Completion of the first
cycle does not lead to a title and is only the first phase of
education. There are no differential requirements issued by law
for different subfields. However, universities can establish
that certain topics and courses have to be undertaken for
recognition in specific subfields. However, officially the
requirement for professional practice is the general title of
Licenciado en Psicología.
On the other hand, the law that created the Spanish Colegio
Idicial de Psicologos and the law of Spanish Professional
Associations (Ley de Colegios Profesionales) make it compulsory
to register as Psychologist in the Colegio in order to be
entitled to practice as a psychologist. Thus, professional
practice as a psychologist is protected by law.
Further specialist education and training. At present in
Spain, a professional who obtains the degree of Licenciado en
Psicología is authorised to practice the profession in
all specialities (clinical, educational, organisational,
traffic, sport or others). The only requirement is to be
registered in the Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos.
There is an exception for Clinical Psychology, where a
specialist title has been created by the Ministry of Health. In
order to obtain this title, an internship training system has
been created (Psicólogo Interno Residente, PIR) lasting
for three years. The training consists of professional
qualification by rotation through the different areas of the
public health network.
Recently, the Colegio has published the professional
profiles of Psychologist including the following: Psychology of
Physical Activity and Sports, Clinical and Health Psychology,
Drug (abuse) dependence Psychology, Educational Psychology,
Social Intervention Psychology, law psychology, Work and
Organisational Psychology, and Traffic and Road safety
psychology. (see COP, 1998)
Many professionals look for postgraduate training (official
or private) before they practice the profession or during their
first years of practice. The Universities and other private
educational and professional institutions offer nowadays a
large number of Master courses as postgraduate (Post
Licenciatura) training. The array of Master courses cover all
the professional specialties and fields of professional
interventions. (Clinical, Health, Human resources management,
Ergonomy, Sport, Forensic, Educational, etc.). Minimal
requirements in 400 teaching hours and usually professional
practice under supervision is also required. There are other
postgraduate courses that are short and provide other
recognitions (expert title, etc.).
Finally, there is a large offer of continuous education
training courses that use to be more specific and of shorter
duration.
Research. Education for research is organised within the
University Departments as Doctoral Studies. They are regulated
by law and 2 years of studies (courses), a research project and
a general exam when al the courses have been passed are
required. This provides the title Diploma de Estudios Avanzados
(DEA). To obtain the title of Doctor a Doctoral Dissertation or
thesis is required. In total, Doctoral studies last for 4 year,
although often it takes longer to complete the Doctoral
Dissertation.
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