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Psychology is a young science and, as such, its study does not cease to be complex. Every faculty of psychology throughout the world prioritizes some theoretical frameworks over others, and the differences between the academic curriculum are notable.

One of the countries with a greater tradition in the study of the human mind is Argentina . The South American nation has a long list of psychologists and psychoanalysts (especially the latter) who have made important contributions to the science of behavior.

Stories of a Spaniard in Buenos Aires

In order to get to know better the particularities of the Psychology career in Argentina, we wanted to talk to
Daniel Tejedor Pardo, who at the age of 21 has had the courage to study psychology at both the University of Valencia (Spain), where he is a native, and the Catholic University of Argentina , thanks to a scholarship that allowed him to learn how this discipline is studied on the other side of the Atlantic.

Interview with Daniel Tejedor

Is it worth studying psychology in Argentina?

Bertrand Regader: Daniel, how’s it going? We wanted to talk to you about your experience as a student of psychology on two different continents. The first one is an obligatory question: as a Valencian by birth, what motivated you to want to travel to Buenos Aires to study the first semester of the fourth year of psychology?

Daniel Tejedor : Before entering the University, I knew that I wanted to do an exchange abroad. I have traveled and studied in other countries before on my own, and they have been by far the greatest experiences of my life. How could I not want to repeat it again, but studying what I like best?

On the other hand, I must confess that the idea of doing a university exchange came to me in third grade, but because I was too hasty, I could not confirm my registration in time. That’s why, in my last year, I was determined to do it and I had everything studied to make my dream come true.

B.R. How did you choose your destination? Did you have other countries or universities in your sights?

Well, actually, it was a complicated choice. At the University of Valencia we have a lot of destinations to choose from. The first thing I considered was the language. Most people who make an exchange of these characteristics, prioritize the idea of learning a language or improve it. At first I thought about travelling to the USA but, in my case, since I have studied and worked in Anglo-Saxon-speaking countries before as I mentioned, English was not a concern.

Then I considered learning Portuguese or Italian and going to a country where these languages are spoken. After a while, this idea evolved and I realized that since my real passion was psychology, knowing languages was not as important as my training in psychology. Travelling to a foreign country where a language other than your mother tongue is spoken turns out to be an impediment to developing yourself 100% in the field you study (unless you study a philology, for example, or have a special interest).

Thus, I limited my choice to countries where Spanish was spoken. This forced me to travel to Latin America. In Spain, by the way, there are three main types of university exchange, the SICUE Programme (between Spanish universities), the Erasmus Programme (between European universities) and the International Programme (outside Europe). Therefore, this last one was my choice.

B.R. What Latin American countries did you find most appealing to study psychology?

At first, any Latin American country seemed like an interesting option, but of course, I could only choose one. It was then that I began to consider other factors. In Spain (and I think in Europe), Latin American countries have a reputation for being unsafe. In fact, many of my colleagues discard the option of travelling to these countries because they perceive them as very dangerous. For my part, it was something that I took into account, but I wasn’t afraid, so I did the following, I looked for information on statistics of robbery and crime throughout Latin America, to take it into account.

In addition to this, I also had in mind other factors such as the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), the Standard of Living and the Level of Happiness. Maybe it can be excessive, but I wanted to base my choice on solid information and not just on opinions or TV news; because living so long abroad, without knowing anyone, knowing that I will never see any family or friends again until I return, more than 10,000 km away… is enough to take it seriously.

So, the result was that Argentina (and specifically Buenos Aires), had a good standard of living, a very low crime and murder rate compared to almost all other countries (although it was still much higher than in Spain), good universities and many points of interest, both within the capital and outside.

Some points against Argentina were its economic instability and inflation, having an extremely high rate of non-violent theft (especially in Buenos Aires) and its size (which is 5.5 times larger than Spain, being the eighth largest country in the world). The latter was very important for someone like me, who loves to travel and knew he was going to travel the whole country, from one end to the other.

B.R. : You chose as your study center the Argentine Catholic University. Why?

To choose the university, I thought first of all about the countries I was willing to go to. Mainly two, Argentina and Mexico.

At the University of Valencia, when you apply for the scholarship, you are allowed to put five universities from the country you want. I chose the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), in that order.

Considering my academic record, I knew that one of the first three would be granted to me. Mexico, as you can see, was my second country on the list and my third university for several reasons, such as the incredible culture and its fascinating places, but the main reason was the quality and fame of UNAM.

To see the ranking of the best universities in Latin America consult the famous
QS University Rankings; which not only informs you about the best universities, but also about the best cities to live in as a university student. The UBA, UCA and UNAM occupied in 2015 the positions, 15, 26 and 6, respectively. As a curiosity, Brazil is the country with the best universities according to this ranking, but as I already mentioned, I discarded the option of dedicating my trip to learning languages.

B.R. : You went to Argentina during your fourth year of studies, as far as I know. What subjects did you take?

First of all, we must clarify that I went to Argentina to study the first semester of fourth grade (I spent exactly 171 days). In Spain the Psychology degree is 4 years, and the internship is done in the last one. That’s why, besides taking a certain amount of credits in subjects (which I had to validate when I arrived in Spain), I also had to do another amount of credits in academic practices.

I took 3 subjects and participated in 4 different university internships. The subjects were: Seminar of Philosophy and Psychology
Psychoanalysis and Research Methodology

On the other hand, the internships were at the J. Borda Psychiatric Hospital; at the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires (where I did two different ones) and at the Mayeutic Psychoanalytic Institute of Buenos Aires.

B.R. I suppose the differences in the way of teaching psychology were notable with respect to your previous stage, in Valencia. Did you appreciate this in the subjects you studied, and in general in the mentality of teachers and students?

The general methodology is very similar. Master classes supported by teacher’s slides, one or several group works per subject with their respective presentation, compulsory attendance (you need to attend a minimum of 70% of the classes and if you want to travel it is a problem)… As for the subjects, I prefer to analyze them one by one, because I lived them quite differently.

First of all, I must clarify in passing, one of the great reasons why I chose Argentina for this adventure, and that is the importance of the psychoanalytic movement, both academically and culturally. There, a great part of the population has its own psychologist (normally psychoanalyst), since in fact, Argentina is the country with more psychologists
per capita of the world.

B.R. You have noticed the special influence of Psychoanalysis.

Yes, of course.From my point of view, Psychoanalysis, especially its latest contributions, where the classic dogmatism imposed by authors such as Freud or Lacan is already overcome, is essential to train a good psychotherapist. This is why I chose Argentina, a place where I could be trained in orthodox psychoanalysis, from which one must start, in order to build a solid base to know the most current psychoanalytic currents. Ah! in case I haven’t said it, at the University of Valencia, and in almost all the Universities in Spain, there is no subject in psychoanalysis, hence my interest.

Having said that, studying Psychoanalysis at the UCA allowed me to learn quite extensively all the teachings of Freud that I consider fundamental, even if some of them need to be updated, because they allow you to see where this great current was born. Although, I must admit, it was a really difficult subject, and it was also, the one I dedicated more time to.

Research methods turned out, I must admit, to be very easy. I studied it because I had to validate it with a similar subject at my university in Spain. The difference is that in Europe, the training that we psychologists receive in Statistics and Psychometry is colossal in comparison with the one given in Latin America (in general). What’s more, the subject of statistics as such, was formerly in the UCA in the first year of the degree, and they changed it to third or fourth, because people found it too difficult and dropped out of the degree. In Spain this last is also common, people are surprised to see numbers in psychology, but a university does not allow to change the order of the subjects because of this; especially Statistics, which is fundamental to understand the research in Psychology.

As for the Seminar of Psychology and Philosophy, it was a different point of view from any other one I had before. A point where philosophy and psychology come together to address issues in a reflective and holistic manner. Themes such as love, freedom, happiness and power were openly discussed in class by all students. In addition, this seminar was also attended by people from other careers, so it was truly stimulating to hear opinions from all areas of knowledge.

B.R. : Focusing now on the practices you have mentioned that you did, what can you tell us about them?

The internship was a big boost to my training. It was something I took into account when I chose the International Programme, instead of the Erasmus. While in PI you are allowed to do an internship, in the conventional Erasmus* you are not. Moreover, curricularly speaking, having done an internship in a foreign country is a great incentive.

In this sense, in Buenos Aires I had no problem in making them. The university made it very easy for me to do the paperwork and did not give me any problems at all. This is, in fact, one of the great bureaucratic differences I have found in Argentina. While in Spain the bureaucracy is slow and serious, in Argentina it is infinitely slower but more flexible. This allows you to delay or rectify paperwork issues, because everybody gives you things late, but at least they are aware of how it works, they take it into account and they don’t make you feel bad.

While in Spain, to access an internship, you need certificates, supporting documents, periodic follow-ups, signatures from all over the world and a thousand other things; in Argentina, the same day I communicated that I was interested in an internship, they assured me that I could do it, they told me where and when to start, and that same day I started.

Without wanting to expand on this point, I will summarize that, in the practices of the J. Borda Hospital, I was working in a therapy group with patients with psychotic disorders, with whom I had direct contact, something very difficult to access in Spain. We had weekly sessions and I was able to witness the havoc that these disorders wreak and the joy that comes with getting better.

At the Italian Hospital, in the department of psychiatric pediatrics, I attended conferences on research done by doctors from this hospital, while we discussed their results and implications. I also participated in a case supervision group, where psychologists and psychiatrists from the hospital shared their most difficult cases, in order to seek advice and guidance from the rest of the team.

Finally, at the Institución Psicoanalítica Mayéutica de Buenos Aires I attended some conferences on childhood phobias from the perspective of Lacanian psychoanalysis, where we discussed some of their seminars.

B.R. : As much as Psychoanalysis is widely accepted among professionals there, I’m sure they have an open and updated mentality.

Of course, it’s obvious we can’t keep Freud on a pedestal any longer.But this applies to all classical authors. To think that the theories based on concrete casuistry of 100 years ago are still valid today is a serious mistake.

I repeat that starting to study the classics is essential, but to hear that there are still psychoanalysts who continue to relate all psychological disorders to sex; or who over-interpret all the acts of their patients, seems to me to be an outrage. To this we must add that the importance of
neurosciences and cognitive psychology, if in Spain they displace everything else, in Argentina they hardly play a role. Both extremes seem to me to be open to criticism. In my opinion, it is essential to achieve a balanced synthesis between these perspectives.

B.R. Did you notice a special interest on the part of your Argentine colleagues towards the methodology and the typical teaching methods of the Spanish faculties?

If I’m honest, they were much more interested in my opinion of Argentina, strangely enough. It is also true that it is assumed that the methodology is different, but this is not the case. Some of the highlights are, for example, that the subjects were once a week; that is, Monday Psychoanalysis, Tuesday Research Methods, etc. On the other hand, in Spain, we have less time for most subjects, but several times in one week. This also had a great impact on me, because it involved giving five hours of Psychoanalysis (for example) in a row. There is a risk that it will be tedious, but for my taste, it improves the organization of the week and allows you to focus more on the subject of that day, without losing the thread.

It should be added that I have friends who have travelled to countries such as Germany or England, and they do claim that there is a substantial difference in methodology. They are more interested in general knowledge, in having a critical spirit about what is being taught, they do more practice, they spend a lot of time reading current articles in psychology, they do more debates in class and presentations on free topics. Things I haven’t seen in Spain or Argentina.

B.R. B.R.: Doing this type of exchange and traveling thousands of miles from home to study in another part of the planet must be an incredible experience, and not only in terms of the study itself. Would you recommend psychology students to do an exchange experience similar to the one you have had?

Academically, I think the advantages of studying abroad have already become clear, both in terms of training and curriculum. That said, I recommend travel. Without further ado. It doesn’t matter your age, if you study or work, your purchasing power**, your destination or origin. Travelling will always be good for you, even when the trip doesn’t go as you expect and some things may have gone wrong; because you will learn. You will learn from your mistakes (which we all make) and you will learn a lot of things, like how to manage yourself economically, how to plan your trips… You will even learn how to combine going out to party every week, studying as if there were no tomorrow and travelling to get to know the world you live in a little better.

The day you are going to die you will only remember two things, the most important people in your life and the happiest moments, and the best way to achieve both is by travelling.

Notes from Daniel Tejedor:

* There is a new modality of Erasmus, called Erasmus Internship, where you can do your internship, but the duration of this program is 2 to 3 months maximum.

** I’ve met a lot of people who travel around Argentina and other parts of the world “in their clothes”. No credit cards and only a couple of hundred dollars; spending months away from home. Obviously they don’t stay in fancy hotels, but because the real luxury is in the country if you dare to travel.