National Requirements Slovenia

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• Psychology Education

The Psychologist education in Slovenia follows a structure of 3 years BA + 2 years MA
The 4-year pre-Bologna study programme in psychology (University Degree in Psychology) has also been recognised for the transitional period, provided that the applicant has provided additional evidence of their competence.

• The following university programmes meet EuroPsy requirements:

• Supervised Practice arrangements (for the EuroPsy certificate)

There are requirements for supervised traineeship in the following fields: clinical/health psychology (6 months), social welfare (9 months), psychology in education (10 months),  public administration (10 months). The mentoring programme for the traineeship is prescribed by the national authorities and the relevant regulations. However this programme is general, and prescribed in a similar form to all professionals in the relevant field, and is not specific to psychologists. In the programme a mentor is chosen by the organisation where the practitioner-in-training works. The chosen mentor will not necessarily be a EuroPsy psychologist and may therefore lack knowledge about the requirements for the EuroPsy certificate. The mentors are not usually trained in mentoring and supervision. In other fields of practice there is no requirement for supervised practice, although practitioners-in-training may want to arrange their own supervision to reach the EuroPsy standards.

A new development in 2017 is the launch of the supervised practice system developed in the SUPER PSIHOLOG project. In this system, novice psychologists will receive supervision by trained supervisors according to the guidelines for implementing supervised practice that were developed in the project (available in Slovene here; the guidelines in English are available here.

In this system at least 45 hours of supervision will be required (twenty 2-hour meetings in a one-year period and an additional 5-hour visit of the supervisor at the supervisee’s workplace). Supervisory meetings will be regularly documented and monitored by the system administrator.

• Training of supervisors

The training of supervisors is being developed by the national psychologists association (Drustvo Psihologov Slovenije) in collaboration with the University of Ljuljana.  In the period 2009-2010 and in 2013 thirty-two supervisors were trained in the EuroPsy competence approach to supervision.  In 2015–2016 throughthe project “Supervised practice of psychologists: Development of a training programme for mentors and a model of supervised practice – SUPER PSIHOLOG” thirty supervisors completed a comprehensive training in supervision equivalent to two years (part-time) of training as required by the EuroPsy Regulations. Future trainings will be organized by the Slovenian Psychologists’ Association. The goal is to expand the network of trained supervisors, so that (i) the mentors assigned by the institutions in the fields where the traineeship is regulated are trained in supervision, and (ii) supervisees will be able to find themselves supervision outside the institution if needed.

Level of training of supervisors

Most supervisors meet Level 5 or higher criteria (see regulations)

• Recognition of title

The title “Psychologist” is not legally protected. However the title “Specialist in Clinical Psychology” or “Clinical Psychologist” is used in documents of Ministry of Health, e.g. in the Order about the Programme of Specialisation in Clinical Psychology, and clinical psychologist  is a regulated profession within Ministry of Health. Entrance into independent practice is also regulated in the fields of education and social welfare with the acts related to the requirements for traineeship in those fields and the professional exam at the end of the traineeship period; the requirements are general and relate to different professional profiles working in those fields, not specifically to psychologists. Other standards of psychological practice are not regulated.

• License to practice

There is no license or entry in a register required for practising psychology. However, in healthcare (and clinical psychology), social welfare, education, and public administration, psychologists need to follow a prescribed traineeship programme and pass a state exam before they are allowed to work independently in the field.

• Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Currently no requirements for CPD exist
There is no license or registration, hence there is no revalidation