Hi everyone,

I have been trying and failing to find an accredited course in counselling in Zurich.
I've been in contact with a university in Geneva who say that if I can find 10 other students interested in Zurich, that they would be open to holding the course here!
So, if anyone is interested in a Masters in Counselling, please get in touch. Duration is 2 years, 2 nights a week.

Thanks!

Is the institution in Geneva accredited, by whom?

Good luck

That sounds interesting. Could you please elaborate?
Which university is it?

Please set out (or better still, link to this info):

• the admission requirements and any other pre-requisites (e.g. language?)
• course fees, and other costs
• language of tuition
• details of the university's academic staff
• syllabus
• modules / blocks / credits
• course-work required
• details of research required
• thesis requirement
• evaluation process for conferring the degree
• full name of the qualification.

Do you know whether this is a foreign qualification, or one that is recognised by the relevant Swiss professional associations?

Thanks very much.

Hi both,
I have PMed you with the details.

If anyone else is interested please PM me. Thanks!

I am not 100% sure I get "counselling" right, but are we talking about
1. a psychologist
2. a mediator who settles disputes from family to corporate outside of courts?

the second case is a bit of a fashion in Switzerland. The education is typically not a MA, but a smaller post graduate certificate called CAS in CH. Loads of trustworthy state run universities offer them:

http://www.swiss-mediators.org/cms2/...ehrgaenge.html

Hi,
Neither. A psychologist is someone who studied psychology and a mediator is indeed someone who can settle a matter outside of the court system. Inside the court system this would be an arbitrator.
A counselor is someone who helps people work through difficult times, like a therapist, and can be specialized in children, families, bereavement, trauma etc.

I find this explanation rather confusing. If I understand you correctly, you see counselor and therapist as being the same, whereas a psychologist is something else. Is that how you meant it?

My apologies.
A counselor and a therapist are somewhat the same. Both are people who engage in mostly talking treatments to help people with specific issues. Counseling can be seen as a type of therapy, it's usually a shorter-term process, wheras therapy can be a process that some people are involved in for years.
A psychologist is someone who has a degree in psychology, which is not ncessarily the case with therapists and counselors.
I hope that helps.

Does anyone know, please, whether this distinction, as weetruffle sets it out here, is a known concept in Switzerland?

EDIT: Ah, I see, in Switzerland this is relatively new. One of the links weetruffle sent me in the PM is to the Swiss Association for Counselling, which was founded in Zürich in 2006.
https://www.sgfb.ch/en/about-us

From there:
"SGfB provides clarity in the fragmented and confusing world of counselling. It strengthens the identity of the psychologically oriented counselling professions through measures for quality development and assurance. It also promotes the scientific and professional foundations of counselling."

The English version:
Advanced Federal Diploma
The Swiss Association for Counselling SGfB has been charged by the government with organising and conducting this federal professional examination in psychosocial studies. This professional title identifies its holder as qualified specialist in the field of psychosocial counselling.

In the German version:
Höhere Fachprüfung HFP
Die Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Beratung wurde 2013 vom Bund mit der Organisation und Durchführung der eidgenössischen Berufsprüfung im psychosozialen Bereich beauftragt. Der Berufstitel Beraterin, Berater im psychosozialen Bereich mit eidgenössischem Diplom bedeutet eine Auszeichnung als qualifizierte Fachperson im Bereich der Psychosozialen Beratung.

Hi All, I am about to apply for this MA in Counseling degree program offered by the Webster University. Program starts in January 2019, on a part-time basis, in English language, on weekends in Zurich IF there are at least 10 applicants. Right now we are 4 applicants all together. Anyone else is interested in joining? I think that already with 8 people they would go ahead..

Hi SanGiorgio, I know your post was a while back, but did you pull together enough applicants for the course to run in Zurich starting in Jan18? Thanks for letting me know!

Hello, still not enough applicants to start the weekend
course in Zūrich. However there is a possibility to
start the course as distance learning (going to Geneva
once a month) and then switch to the weekend thing is Zūrich over time
when there is enough people. Hope this helps!
Come and join us if you are interested! We would need
then only 2-3 more people..

just closing one loop and opening another here...

Anyone recommend a good quality post graduate clinical psychology course in Switzerland, in English, or one by correspondence (online)? and is it recognised?

the Webster MS in Counselling is recognised by the Swiss Association of Counselling as per this http://www.webster.ch/academics/graduate/counseling/structure.html

I want a bit more than this, I would like recognition as a Psychologist (already have a Psych degree and registration as Psychologist in Australia) . So a second question - does anyone here have experience getting Psychology qualifications recognised here?

I recognised the the federal authorities for registration as a psychologist or psychotherapist to practice in Switzerland?

I am still reading up on this stuff and am yet to see the landscape of it clearly - this question is a bit half baked.

Here you go: the official Swiss government information about recognition of psychology qualifications from abroad.
https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/de/home...ieberufen.html

And here are some FAQs: https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/de/home.../faq-psyg.html


Here are the three professional bodies:
Föderation der Schweizer Psychologinnen und Psychologen (FSP)
https://www.psychologie.ch/

Schweizerischer Berufsverband für Angewandte Psychologie (SBAP)
https://sbap.ch/

Assoziation Schweizer Psychotherapeuten (ASP)
https://psychotherapie.ch/wsp/


It's all in German (or French or Italian, click top right-hand corner), so if you don't speak one of those, you'd need to run in through a translator like google translate or deepl.

I'd think one of the central things you'd need to check is whether you will need a good command of a Swiss language, to get your foreign qualifications registered. For some professions (like nurses and doctors) this is a formal requirement. I'm not sure about psychologists. Whether or not, unless you can somehow find yourself a niche amongst English-speakers, such as expat executives and their families, you will probably need the local language up to a certain level of competence to speak to your clients.

Well done for wanting to do your research properly. I commend you for that, and wish you well.

Thank you for laying this out! I also have solid French, which may help if a language is needed, and yes, I expect my client base would be English speaking seeking native English speaker (possibly an under-served population based on this forum anyway ). Are you yourself a practitioner, or is a PM advised?

p.s. after following your link, after a few more clicks, I found this potentially useful page listing the courses that are currently accredited in Switzerland - towards/to be "federally recognized psychotherapist" in any case....:

https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/de/home...erbildung.html

And to dealing with all the insurance paperwork, etc. I'm not sure if the relevant authorities, insurances, etc. in Zurich have much info available in French or communicate much in French.

It might be a bit of a wiggle to set up and navigate, but if you can get your qualifications recognized and build up a client base to give you recommendations, I think you'll keep busy!

At the end of
https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/de/home...ml#-1845717202
there are downloadable pdfs of the actual application form for recognition. The forms themselves set out various exclusions and requirements.

One of the requirements is to prove that your foreign qualification had enough hours and credits of relevance to psychology, and what kinds of exams and practical training blocks you completed. For this, you might like to apply some of the tips here, by analogy (originally written for helping to prove that a nurse’s qualification was worthy of being recognised). https://www.englishforum.ch/3045764-post135.html