Psychotherapists are concerned about the changes that the Ministry of Health is planning to introduce in their profession. It is about a draft regulation, according to which a separate specialization in this field would be introduced. – The specialization exam is to be a guarantee of quality in the profession – said the Minister of Health, Adam Niedzielski, in an interview with RMF radio, referring to the concerns raised by the environment.
Adam Niedzielski: The existing certificates of psychotherapists will still be recognized after the introduction of the specialization
Published Dec. 20, 2022 09:18
Fot. Wojciech Górski
In connection with the draft regulation amending the regulation on specialization in the fields applicable to health care, organizations associating psychotherapists have prepared a joint position published last week.
"The professional preparation process and the principles of practicing the profession of psychotherapist should be subject to comprehensive statutory regulation. For this reason, we call for the suspension of work on the Draft Regulation and to focus further legislative efforts on the draft act on the profession of psychotherapist”, we read in the letter.
As the authors of the position paper pointed out, the process of preparing to practice as a psychotherapist has been the subject of self-regulation of the psychotherapists community, represented by numerous societies and associations, for many years.
"In the light of the justification to the Draft regulation, the introduction of specialization is to increase the availability of psychotherapy. In our opinion, the draft regulation may lead to the opposite effect, i.e. a real limitation of the availability of health services in the field of psychotherapy for patients - due to the possible lack of a sufficient number of specialists in this field, the lack of a sufficient number of training centers and training places”, they wrote.
The Minister of Health Adam Niedzielski referred to these allegations on RMF. As he assured, the certificates that have been issued so far by the training companies will be recognised.
- We will define the point in time from which it will be necessary to take the specialization exam for people entering the profession. It is supposed to be a guarantee of quality in the profession. It will be preceded by a specialization training, as in any profession where responsibility for human health is borne. I think that anyone who would refer their child to therapy would like to be convinced that this person has verified competences - said the Minister of Health.
In the opinion of Adam Niedzielski, the reaction of the environment to the draft regulation is typically corporate, because all the societies objecting were involved in issuing certificates.
