O-STA

Institute for Psychology of the University of Vienna (Austria) develops postgraduate training in clinical psychology and psychotherapy recognized in Europe

MAPS-C, a Socrates/Erasmus project of the universities of Vienna, Athens, Dublin, Koblenz-Landau and Luxembourg

Vienna (ots) - Within the framework of the EU�'s Socrates/Erasmus programme, the development of a study syllabus for postgraduate training in clinical psychology and psychotherapy, which will be valid for all EU Member States, will be promoted until 2003. Prof. Dr Ilse Kryspin-Exner together with Mag. Katharina Pal-Handl (University of Vienna) will be coordinating the MAPS-C project. The project team currently comprises four partners: Greece (Prof. Dr Anastasia Kalantzi-Azizi, Ioanna Sotiropoulou), Germany (Prof. Dr Annette Schröder), Luxembourg (Prof. Dr Germain Weber) and Ireland (Prof. Dr Alan Carr).

MAPS-C aims to systematically compare the training courses currently carried out, prepare ‘minimum standards�' for the theoretical and practical part of postgraduate training and involve the most important interest groups.

Standardization of all training courses in line with European training policy and related formal integration will foster the mobility of clinical psychologists and (psychological) psychotherapists by mutual recognition of training and ensure, as far as possible, equal treatment of clients within the EU.

Therefore, MAPS-C is primarily geared to the postgraduate training of psychologists. In particular, professional mobility is regarded as an integral part of the European training policy. The current situation is such that there are mostly individual regulations relating to the accounting of training modules (for instance, within the framework of exchange semesters or recognition of practical work). Psychologists who have gained their professional qualifications in one country and would like to work in another country can sometimes face strict limitations regarding their field of work. Everyone would benefit from a generally recognized training programme based on valid and reliable data.