Running head: PSYCHOLOGIST LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS IN SPAIN 1
Psychologist Licensure Requirements in Spain
Angel M. Perez
Liberty University
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY THEORY CASE STUDY FOR HECTOR 2
Psychologist Licensure Requirements in Spain
My aspirations is to become a General Psychologist in Spain. I intend on permanently
relocating to Spain and work in a clinic or hospital setting for the first 2 – 3 years. Depending on
the state of the economy in Spain at the time, I may contemplate opening a private practice as a
General Psychologist. With that said, it is imperative that I stress that there is a substantial
difference between the requirements for a licensed psychologist in Spain and a licensed
psychologist in the U.S. Licensure requirements as a psychologist in Spain is governed by the
Spanish National Health System, Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte (Spanish Ministry
of Education, Culture and Sports), and the Colegio Oficial de Psicologia (COP) (García Vera,
n.d.). The COP is Spain’s version of the APA in the U.S. Similarly, as the U.S. is divided into
States and each State is responsible for the establishing the licensing requirements, process and
issuance for that State, so is Spain divided into provinces. Each province has a COP division;
each COP division acts as the combination of a U.S. State level government and the APA in
respect to licensure (Colegio Oficial de Psicologia de Madrid, n.d.). The important and confusing
fact to understand is that the Spanish government (the Spanish National Health System and
Spanish Ministry of Education) “officially” only recognizes one field of psychology for
licensure, Clinical Psychology. Clinical psychology is the only program a university in Spain can
offer an “official” Bachelor, Master, or Ph.D. degree in. All other “specialty” fields in
psychology, such as Neuropsychology, Professional Counseling, Cognitive Psychology,
Experimental Psychology, Positive Psychology, etc. are offered as “non-official” degrees and are
not “officially” recognized by the Spanish Ministry of Education, thus “licensure” is only
available for Clinical Psychology candidates. Yet, this issue does not restrict potential
employment opportunities from requiring a “non-official” degree in a field other than Clinical
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY THEORY CASE STUDY FOR HECTOR 3
Psychology. Currently, measures are being taken by the Spanish Ministry of Education to
implement an “official” Bachelor, Master, and Ph.D. program in “General Health Psychology”,
which serves to include those specialty fields that otherwise do not qualify as an “official” degree
(García Vera, n.d.). The main difference between the “official” and “non-official” degree is that
with the “official” degree in Clinical Psychology one can work in both the national public health
system (government run institutions) and the private sector. With a “non-official” degree, one can
only work in the private sector. There is an on-going argument between the Spanish Ministry of
Education and COP as to the limitations for employment or practice between “Clinical
Psychologist” and “General Health Psychologist”. As it stands right now, only the Clinical
Psychologist is authorized by the Spanish National Health System and Spanish Ministry of
Education to work in a public or private hospital setting or mental health institution (García Vera,
n.d.).
The following is a high-level view of the process for becoming a licensed Clinical
Psychologist recognized by the Spanish Ministry of Education (García Vera, n.d.):
A Bachelor of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology (5 year program, which includes a
mandatory internship and/or practicum).
A Master of Arts and/or Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology (4-6 year program,
which includes a mandatory internship, postgraduate practicum and completion of the
Intern Resident Psychologist or PRI training).
Completion of an online application with appropriate fees and supporting documentation
for licensure via www.COP.es (Cologio Oficial de Psicologia, n.d.).
No State or national board exam is required (Cologio Oficial de Psicologia, n.d.).
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY THEORY CASE STUDY FOR HECTOR 4
The following is a high-level view of the process for becoming a licensed General Health
Psychologist recognized by the Spanish Ministry of Education (García Vera, n.d.):
A Bachelor of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology (5 year program, which includes a
mandatory internship and/or practicum).
A Master of Arts degree in General Health Psychology (1.5 year program) from an
accredited university in Spain.
Completion of an online application with appropriate fees and supporting documentation
for licensure via www.COP.es (Cologio Oficial de Psicologia, n.d.).
No State or national board exam is required (Cologio Oficial de Psicologia, n.d.).
The following is a high-level view of the process for becoming a licensed General Health
Psychologist, but not recognized by the Spanish Ministry of Education to work in the public
health system (García Vera, n.d.):
A Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from an accredited university in Spain (5 year
program, which includes a mandatory internship and/or practicum).
Completion of an online application with appropriate fees and supporting documentation
for licensure via www.COP.es (Cologio Oficial de Psicologia, n.d.).
No State or national board exam is required (Cologio Oficial de Psicologia, n.d.).
If any of the education requirements where met outside Spain, such as in the U.S., then one
must go through the process of homologacion in order to have the degree(s) validated by the
Spanish Ministry of Education. The homologacion process is very political, it can take 6 months
to a year or more, and requires a fee of 96 euros (Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte,
2014).
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY THEORY CASE STUDY FOR HECTOR 5
References
Colegio Oficial de Psicologia de Madrid (n.d.). Psicólogo Interno Residente (PIR).
Retrieved May 14, 2014, from
http://www.copmadrid.org/webcopm/recursos/que_es_el_pir.pdf
Cologio Oficial de Psicologia (n.d.). Colegio Oficial de Psicología de Andalucía Occidental.
Retrieved May 14, 2014, from
http://www.cop.es/delegaci/andocci/es/VUAltaColegial.asp
García Vera, M. P. (n.d.). The development of the profession of general health psychologist
and the master s degree in General Health Psychology: challenges, opportunities and
threats for Clinical and Health Psychology in Spain. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from
http://www.iaapsy.org/division6/uploads/Experts%20across%20the
%20word/Development_of%20the%20proffesion%20in%20Spain.pdf
Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte (2014). Inicio > Educación > Áreas de
Educación > Universidades > Educación superior universitaria > Títulos >
Homologación de títulos - Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte.
Retrieved May 14, from http://www.mecd.gob.es/educacion-mecd/areas-
educacion/universidades/educacion-superior-universitaria/titulos/homologacion-
titulos/homologacion-titulos-universitarios.html
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