Spain

Situation of Psychotherapy in Spain – updated as per October 2017:

There is not a law in Spain that recognize psychotherapy as a profession.

Many psychotherapist that are members of the spanish federation are working as psychotherapist by taking advantage of this legal gap.
The Spanish Association of Psychologist (member of EFPA) is trying to legalize psychotherapist only if they are psychologist.
The EFPA association in Spain is against our statutes because we recognize other grades to study and training on psychotherapy.
In Catalonia, the psychiatrists section of the Medical Organization is recognizing our statutes and training requieres for psychiatrists that want be psychotherapists.

Last summer (june 2017) The spanish federation changed their statutes and will recognize any ECP holder as psychotherapist in Spain.
Any ECP holder could be a member of FEAP (Spanish Federation).

In this moment, be a FEAP member is only a recognition of quality training and has no legal implication.

The situation of psychotherapy in Spain – status 2013

How many psychotherapists work in your country?

I can answer this question about FEAP’s members; that means that there are many psychotherapists working in Spain that aren’t FEAP’s members.

As members of FEAP there are 2172 psychotherapist registered right now.

Overview on psychotherapy training:

Psychotherapy is a post degree training:
This training has to be of a minimum of 600 hours of technical and theoretical training in one of the specialities and a minimum of 2 years in clinical practice.

List of psychotherapy schools in your country:

These are the 51 Associations that are psychotherapy schools in our Association:

Asociació Catalana de Psicoterapia Psicoanalítica (ACPP)
Asociación Andaluza de Terapia Familiar y Sistemas Humanos (AATFASH)
Asociación Aragonesa de Terapia de Familia (AATF)
Asociación Aragonesa para Investigación Psíquica del Niño y el Adolescente (AAPIPNA)
Asociación Cántabra de Psicoterapeutas (ACPA)
Asociación de Psicoterapeutas Laureano Cuesta
Asociación de Psicoterapia Analítica Grupal (APAG)
Asociacion de Psicoterapia Humanista Integrativa y Counselling de España (APHICE)
Asociación de Psicoterapia Integradora Humanista
Asociación de Psicoterapia Operativa Psicoanalítica (APOP)
Asociación de Terapeutas de Familia, Mediadores Familiares y Expertos en Intervenciones Sistémicas de la Comunidad Valenciana (ATFCV)
Asociación de Terapia Familiar y de Sistemas (SYFA)
Asociación Escuela de Clínica Psicoanalítica con Niños y Adolescentes de Madrid
Asociación Española de Constelaciones Familiares Bert Hellinger – AEBH
Asociación Española de Hipnosis Ericksoniana (AEHE)
Asociación Española de Psicodrama (AEP)
Asociación Española de Psico-somatoterapia
Asociación Española de Psicoterapia Dinámica y Sistemas Humanos (AEPDSH)
Asociación Española de Psicoterapia Psicoanalítica (AEPP)
Asociación Española de Psicoterapia Psicoanalítica Oskar Pfister
Asociación Española de Psicoterapias Cognitivas (ASEPCO)
Asociación Española de Psiquiatría y Psicología de la Infancia y Adolescencia (AEPPIA)
Asociación Española de Sexología Clínica (AESC)
Asociación Española de Terapia Gestalt (AETG)
Asociación Española para Investigación y Desarrollo de la Terapia Familiar (AEI+DTF)
Asociación Madrileña de Psicoterapia Psicoanalítica (AMPP)
Asociación Madrileña de Terapia de Pareja, Familia y Otros Sistemas Humanos (AMTPFOSH)
Asociación para el Estudio de Temas Grupales, Psicosociales e Institucionales. Área 3
Asociación para el Estudio Sistémico de la Familia y Otros Sistemas Humanos (AESFASHU)
Asociación Vasca de Psicoterapias Dinámica y Sistémica (AVAPSI)
Asociación Vasco-Navarra de Terapia Familiar, Mediación Familiar e Intervención Sistémica (AVNTF)
Associació Catalana per a la Clínica i l’Ensenyament de la Psicoanàlisi (ACCEP)
Centro de Estudios y Aplicación del Psicoanálisis y Psicoterapia Psicoanalítica (CEAP)
Centro Psicoanalítico de Madrid (CPM)
Escuela Clínica de Psicoanalítica con Niños y Adolescentes de Barcelona (ECPNA)
Escuela Española de Psicoterapia
Escuela Española de Terapia Reichiana (ESTER)
Fundación Puigvert
Gradiva, Asociación de Psicoanálisis Aplicado
Gradiva, Associació d’Estudis Psicoanalítics
Grupo de Psicoterapia Analítica de Bilbao (GPAB)
Institut de Psicología Analítica Carl Gustav Jung Barcelona
Instituto de Psicoterapia Relacional (IPR)
Instituto Español de Psicodrama y Psicoterapia Psicoanalíticos
IPSI, Formació Psicoanalitica
Sociedad Catalana de Terapia Familiar (SCTF)
Sociedad Española de Psicoanálisis (SEP)
Sociedad Española de Psicología Analítica (SEPA)
Sociedad Española de Psiquiatría y Psicoterapia del Niño y el Adolescente (SEPYPNA)
Sociedad Española de Terapia Bioenergética (SETB)
Sociedad Española para el Desarrollo del Grupo, la Psicoterapia y el Psicoanálisis (SEGPA)

Legal situation

Psychotherapy is not recognised by the Spanish laws.
The only National Register of Psychotherapists is ours.
The FEAP’s register.

Payment: How much do clients pay on average per hour
?

As psychotherapy is not regulated this can vary a lot.
The average could be 50€ per session.

Is psychotherapy paid by health insurance?

No, never by the national health insurance.
Some private insurance companies pay an average of 20 sessions per year.

Which governmental body is responsible for psychotherapy in your country?

The Health Ministery.

Which psychotherapy modalities are accepted in your country?

  • Children and Adolescents Psychotherapy
  • Group Psychotherapy
  • Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy
  • Body and Emotional Psychoterapy
  • Humanistic Psychotherapy (includes Gestalt Psychotherapy)
  • Family and Couples Psychotherapy

Joseph Knobel Freud
February 2014
www.feap.es

Training

Psychotherapists are required to engage in extensive personal psychotherapy during their training which is up to seven years duration. Psychotherapists usually have a first degree followed by a professional, highly specialised, theoretical and clinical training which includes research methodology and continuous professional development. The EAP promotes the recognition of common standards of training throughout Europe, and will ensure their mobility across member states.

Training