Mental Health Jobs Abroad

[PeonyPatch]

Hello,

I am a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and I’m interested in jobs abroad. Does anyone know where I might be able to source vacancies?

many thanks

How are your language skills? This will affect where you can go. And the passports you hold. That will have an impact too.

Yes, good question. To be honest, I am only fluent in English. I have a bit of French-speaking skills but not enough to be able to conduct therapy.

I don't know exactly what your qualifications are, but a first step would be to contact your professional association and find out which countries recognise them. It can sometimes be hard if you have taken them as certificate or diploma programmes or through Institutes/Associations etc rather than as part of a degree programme. In some countries only certain, approved professions can give CBT and you would need to get your qualifications certified in the new country.

As you are not fluent in a second language you will likely need to restrict yourself to English speaking countries or countries where there are significant expat communities.

I have a degree in counselling, and postgraduate certificate and postgraduate diploma in low and high intensity CBT. I’ll contact the BABCP and see what they say. They’ve only just allowed us to practice in another country aside from UK and be able to keep our accreditation.

France is a no go, unless you want to be 100% private. Psychologists have to be qualified here, or to prove their equivalency - even harder since Brexit. And of course fluent French speaking. Having said that I’ve got friends working here as private therapists outside the French system, in cities with a big enough English speaking community. Marriage, adolescent, family therapy etc all popular.

Thanks for sharing @rickyrickygrimes I really love France! I used to travel there many summers with my family when I was a child. Very fond memories indeed ❤️

Whilst I’m fond of France and could imagine living there - certainly in a big City, I don’t think my DH would be too keen.

I do envisage (potentially) being based in a large city or metropolitan area where there is a lot of ex-pats or English speaking citizens. I am a very effective therapist and currently provide therapy as part of private medical insurance. I am not sure I’d be comfortable being fully private, but I wouldn’t mind some private clients as part of my caseload.

I appreciate your response.

You could try French-speaking Switzerland. I think you'd need a psychology degree with a PG qualification in counselling so not sure if it fits. Geneva has a big expat community and there are already people doing this kind of work in English. It's covered through the 'second tier' health insurance, 'assurance complémentaire', which most people (especially expats) are likely to have. It's an expensive place to live though! Not sure where to apply, but you could search for English speaking CBT in Geneva - often counsellors work together as a group practice so you could try applying directly. (I'm not a professional.)

As I understand it, any insurance / state funded psychologist sessions can only be with a ‘properly’ qualified psychologist. Usually the GP writes an ordonnance (prescription) staying that the patient needs to see a psychologist, then the patient chooses the psy they want to see. They will usually pay up front, and be partially reimbursed - but only if the psychologist is French qualified / approved. It’s virtually impossible for anyone who doesn’t have French qualification to become part of this process. I’ve got one friend who did her degree in the UK, worked then moved to France because she meet a French guy. After years of trying to get her qualifications verified here, she gave upand did a whole new degree at a French uni and qualified here. She works exclusively with autistic children now, in a hospital setting.

All the other therapists I know here are English speaking, private and actually doing very well because the expat community is generally quite well off. But yeah, it’s a different kind of job.

Ahh ok, fair enough. Thank you for letting me know. Shame they only recognise psychologists. I am very appropriately qualified for what I do with extensive NHS experience and 5 years of qualifications. I guess it’s just different country to country.

Something to bear in mind!

Some countries also require language qualifications in order to register as a professional. I met a British nurse working as a care assistant because her nursing qualifications couldn't be approved until she passed A-level Swedish.

I read earlier on a mental health nursing facebook page that Australia desperately need mental health nurses, not sure about therapists but might be worth looking into?