2024-01-11 11:10:47
In the future, psychotherapy training will move to public universities, and from 2026 up to 500 master’s study places will be offered regionally throughout Austria. This is provided for in an amendment to the Psychotherapy Act, which was examined on Thursday. The aim of the reform is to significantly expand the range of psychotherapy available and to make access to training more affordable. This currently costs between 25,000 and 50,000 euros.
In the current times of crisis, the need for psychotherapy is great, emphasized Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) at a press conference. However, of the psychotherapists currently available, only regarding half of those people who would like to receive psychotherapeutic treatment can be cared for. “This is unacceptable.” The planned reform is now intended to train more specialists in this area – a good 34 years following the first psychotherapy law came into force – and thus improve psychosocial care in Austria.
The training currently takes place at private non-university training institutions or private universities and consists of a two-year preparatory course and – depending on the subject area – a three to six-year specialist course. From the beginning there is a close connection between theory and practice. However, according to Rauch, psychotherapy is now the last high-ranking and independently active health profession in Austria without academic training.
According to Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP), the reform will – as has been demanded for a long time – transform the previously purely private education into a public one. “It must be ensured that there will be a high proportion of practical work, but at the same time the broadest possible scientific training,” he said, setting out the content.
Specifically, a two-year master’s degree in psychotherapy is to be offered at public universities in the future, although the exact design lies within the autonomy of the universities. Some of them already offer psychotherapy training in the form of university courses. Two thirds of the specialist societies are already cooperating with public universities.
The prerequisite for access to a psychotherapy master’s degree at universities is – similar to the current preparatory course – a relevant subject such as psychology, medicine or educational sciences. The amendment is intended to allow public universities to conduct their own bachelor’s degree courses in psychotherapy if they wish.
As a third training phase, analogous to the current specialist training, a method-specific specialist training with a practical phase with patient contact is planned. The final stage is the state licensing examination. The financing of the new offer should be regulated in the University Act.
Barbara Haid, President of the Austrian Federal Association for Psychotherapy, compared the new training with that of specialists. The Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees are followed by the practical training part in clinics, teaching practices and other healthcare facilities. The specialist societies and their teaching therapists would accompany them with theory, practical instructions, supervision and within the framework of self-awareness.
Of course, there will also be costs for this in the future. However, according to Polaschek, part of the previous specialist knowledge will be incorporated into public studies and this will therefore be cheaper. In addition, the psychotherapists are already working under supervision at this point and are already earning money, added Haid.
The amendment provides for long transition periods for the change of the system: the preparatory course from an existing training course can be completed by the end of September 2030, the specialist course by 2038 at the latest.
In addition to the new university training, the amendment is also intended to legally anchor online therapies. According to Rauch, these have helped many people, especially since the corona pandemic.
The FPÖ criticized in a broadcast that Rauch was only now presenting a reform of the psychotherapy law. The FPÖ has been demanding this since 2021. In addition, the government itself promoted and provoked an increase in psychological problems through its Corona measures, according to health spokesman Gerhard Kaniak.
For NEOS health spokeswoman Fiona Fiedler, the academization of psychotherapy training is a long overdue step, but the reform must also finally ensure that psychotherapy is reimbursed as a health insurance benefit. Rauch himself admitted at the press conference that there was an “undisputed” need for more on-demand psychotherapy to ensure psychosocial care. Here too you should be able to use the e-card instead of the credit card. However, an expansion is “the subject of negotiations between social security and the association”.
1704971998
#Psychotherapy #training #public #universities
