For more information about the eligibility criteria to psychotherapist training choose Finnish or Swedish page.
The next application period is spring 2026 The application uses the Studyinfo application form..
You can apply to no more than three Psychotherapist Training Programmes, which you have to put in order of priority. The ranking indicated in the application form is binding. You can be admitted to one programme only. There are two stages in the admissions procedure.
For more information about the application process to Psychotherapist Training Programmes choose Finnish or Swedish page.
Applicants are admitted to the Psychotherapist Training Programmes on the basis of an aptitude assessment. Depending on the programme, either all eligible applicants or only some of them are invited to the assessment. When all eligible applicants cannot be invited, they are placed in ranking order based on the score given for the application documents.
For more information about the assessment of aptitude in the Psychotherapist Training Programmes choose the Finnish or Swedish page.
Applicants to the Psychotherapist Training Programmes are required to have language and IT skills needed to complete the training. In addition, applicants must have the opportunity to provide psychotherapeutic patient care. The preconditions for completing the programme are assessed as part of the aptitude assessment.
Applicants to the Psychotherapist Training Programmes must be able to understand and use Finnish or Swedish in such a way that they are able to attend and understand Finnish-language or Swedish-language instruction and absorb scholarly literature, as well as produce scholarly text in Finnish or Swedish.
In addition, applicants must have sufficient skills in understanding and using English in such a way that they are able to understand English-language literature and, when necessary, attend English-language instruction.
Applicants are expected to have IT skills that enable them to utilise the relevant web-based learning programs, University databases, information systems, search programs, word processing software and presentation graphics programs as well as devices for recording audio and video.
Supervision of psychotherapeutic patient work is part of psychotherapy studies from the first year onwards, and an applicant cannot be selected for training if they do not have the opportunity to perform this work during their studies.
It is advisable for training patients to have a treatment relationship with a licensed health or social services unit, where the responsibility for the patient's care remains throughout the training therapy. Special attention should be paid to patient safety when working with children and adolescents. Psychotherapeutic patient work involving children and adolescents is strongly recommended to be carried out in collaboration with a healthcare unit and the treating physician.
If a student of psychotherapy training is not a healthcare professional by their degree, the psychotherapeutic work included in the training must be conducted under the supervision of a healthcare or social services organization. Only a healthcare professional who has the right to patient or liability insurance for training psychotherapy work can practice privately during patient work in the training. The trainee is responsible for determining how the training psychotherapy work is insured. Opportunities for patient work are assessed as part of the assessment of aptitude in the second phase of student selection. In the assessment of aptitude, the applicant must present a realistic plan for conducting patient work. If the applicant is not a healthcare professional, a written agreement with the unit responsible for psychotherapeutic patient work must be brought to the interview, detailing how patient or liability insurance and the storage of patient records are arranged.
Procedures pursuant to section 43a of the Universities Act related to the revocation of the right to study (amendment 954/2011 to the Universities Act and amendment 1034/2011 to the Government Decree on University Degrees and Professional Specialisation Programme) are applicable to applicants to the Psychotherapist Training Programmes.
To promote patient and client safety as well as the safety of minors, restrictions have been applied to University admissions as of the beginning of 2012. Such restrictions pertain to the following fields: medicine, dentistry, logopedics, psychology, psychotherapist training, pharmacy, social work and teacher education. Similarly to the other fields mentioned, admission to psychotherapist training requires that the applicants’ state of health and ability to function allow them to complete tasks and provide psychotherapeutic patient care associated with the training. Limitations related to health or the ability to function are not an impediment to admission if their effects can be eliminated through reasonable measures such as special arrangements. In any case, the purpose is not to unnecessarily hinder the access of disabled persons or persons suffering from physical or mental limitations to education. Restrictions on student admission will be applied only in cases where it is evident that the applicant cannot participate in education due to his or her state of health or ability to function. As a prior cancellation of the right to study may be an impediment to admission, applicants must inform the University of such decisions already at the application stage.
In certain limited cases, students may be required to present a drug test certificate. This primarily concerns situations where testing is necessary to ascertain a student’s ability to function, provided that certain additional conditions specified in detail by law are met. Students admitted to the University in 2012 or later are also requested to provide a criminal records extract. Such an extract may be requested only from students whose studies include psychotherapeutic patient care or other activities involving work with minors. The extract will be requested before the beginning of work with patients or other activity. To ensure the safety of minors, it is necessary to ascertain that the student has no criminal record of certain serious crimes (sex offences, aggravated homicide, aggravated robbery and narcotics offences).