Clinical Psychology in Spain: History, Regulation and Future Challenges

Abstract

The heterogeneity of national regulations in clinical psychology and psychological treatment across Europe requires a detailed description of every regulation to start a shared discussion. In the current paper, we describe the history, legal regulations, a specialized training program, the current status and some future challenges for clinical psychology in Spain. The evolution of clinical psychology in the Spanish National Health System (NHS) towards a health specialty regulated by law, exemplifies a balanced process of expansion, social recognition and professional settlement. Overall, the growth of clinical psychology in Spain may depend on access to leadership and management positions in the NHS that would allow a better organization of care resources to improve citizens’ access to psychological treatment. Spanish regulation of clinical psychology is mediated by socio-cultural and political changes that occurred in the late 70's and 80’s in the country. Recognition as a licensed clinical psychologist is obtained through a 4-year training system as an intern resident psychologist (PIR). PIR is a training system of supervised internships, with increasing autonomy in various healthcare departments in the National Health System (NHS). Achieving independent Clinical Psychology Services within the NHS in order to organize, implement and deliver evidence-based practices is currently one of our biggest challenges in the near future. Spanish regulation of clinical psychology is mediated by socio-cultural and political changes that occurred in the late 70's and 80’s in the country. Recognition as a licensed clinical psychologist is obtained through a 4-year training system as an intern resident psychologist (PIR). PIR is a training system of supervised internships, with increasing autonomy in various healthcare departments in the National Health System (NHS). Achieving independent Clinical Psychology Services within the NHS in order to organize, implement and deliver evidence-based practices is currently one of our biggest challenges in the near future.

La Psicología Clínica ante la Pandemia COVID-19 en España

“…El artículo 43 de la Constitución Española y el Real Decreto 1030/2006, de 15 de septiembre, amparan el derecho de cualquier ciudadano que lo necesite a recibir tratamiento psicológico especializado en la sanidad pública (Prado-Abril et al, 2019). Tal y como apuntan Duan y Zhu (2020), una intervención psicológica especializada ante el COVID-19 debe ser lo suficientemente dinámica y flexible como para adaptarse rápidamente a las diferentes fases de la pandemia.…”

Development of a practice research network in Spain (Desarrollo de una red de investigación orientada por la práctica en España)

“…El caso de España, como el de cualquier otro país, es un proceso caracterizado por sus propias dinámicas profesionales y socioculturales. En particular, la regulación de la psicología clínica no puede entenderse fuera del foco del proceso de democratización acaecido en el país desde finales de 1970 junto a los cambios políticos, sociales y culturales que se precipitaron (Prado-Abril et al, 2019a). Asimismo, durante los últimos 30 años, gracias a una presencia creciente en el Sistema Nacional de Salud (Fernández-García, 2021), la psicología clínica ha ido adquiriendo progresivamente una identidad propia basada en una sólida formación sanitaria especializada (Prado-Abril et al, 2019a).…”

“…Furthermore, differences were found in the scientific-professional configuration of both countries. For example, in Spain, compared to Argentina, the specialized training system in clinical psychology was based on more solid and generalized scientific criteria (Fierro et al, 2019; Prado-Abril et al, 2019a).…”

¿sabemos Cuántos Profesionales Especialistas en Psicología Clínica Trabajan en El Sistema Nacional De Salud Español?

“…El acceso a la titulación de Psicólogo/a Especialista en Psicología clínica se inicia en 1998 cuando se crea y regula el Título Oficial de Psicólogo Especialista en Psicología Clínica (Prado, Sánchez-Reales, Gimeno, Aldaz, 2019).…”