Specialised Certificate

Background

In 2005 EAWOP created a Task Force with the objective of defining the minimum standards that European Psychologists should meet in order to qualify for independent practice in the field of W&O Psychology. The Task Force was asked to build on the European Certificate in Psychology (EuroPsy) that was adopted by the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA) in 2005.

EuroPsy defines a set of requirements (academic education, professional competence, and ethical commitment of psychologists) that should be met by individual psychologists in order to demonstrate that they can be expected to render adequate services to their customers and employers. EuroPsy is based on an assessment of the educational and competence portfolio of psychologists. Those who meet the requirements are awarded the “European Certificate in Psychology” and are entered in a public web-based register as a “Registered European Psychologist” for a certain period of time. The register is managed by EFPA.

EuroPsy represents a great step forward compared to the past when psychologists in Europe had widely diverging qualifications. Yet it only deals with the basic level of qualification needed for entry into the psychological profession. This was the main reason why EAWOP established a Task Force with the mission to develop proposals for what was called an Advanced Certificate in W&O Psychology.

The task force was active from 2005 to 2007, and was chaired by Jose Maria Peirò (Spain), the other members being Marco Depolo (Italy), Lourdes Munduate (Spain, as Eawop liaison), Robert Roe (Netherlands), Branimir Sverko (Croatia) and Matti Vartianen (Finland). The final proposal was presented and adopted by the EAWOP General Assembly in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) on May 2009.

Download the proposal (PDF).