Psychotherapists are professionals in psychology who aim to help individuals with psychological, relational, behavioural, sexual or psychosomatic problems to improve their well-being. Their work is extremely important nowadays, and it is not surprising that many people, in a society that demands so much from us, seek psychological assistance to regain happiness or improve their quality of life.

Scientific studies affirm that psychotherapy is effective in overcoming many problems that may arise in daily life and allows patients to resolve some conflict from the past, re-establish their psychological balance, acquire greater self-knowledge, achieve emotional balance, etc.

The importance of continuous training in Psychology

Patients want to put themselves in good hands because their suffering often affects different areas of their lives. In this context, psychotherapists must be prepared and properly trained to care for people in need with the maximum guarantees. Good training is the best investment for psychotherapists, either to be able to grow professionally or to do a good job in the practice .

In Spain, it is necessary to have a Master’s degree in General Health Psychology (MPGS) or the PIR to be able to practice as a health or clinical psychologist, respectively; however, many students who finish the Degree in Psychology and the MPGS recognise that, at least as far as psychotherapeutic practice is concerned, do not feel completely competent and are not completely prepared to practice as professionals in psychological therapy.

As we saw in the article “The problem of the Psychology degree: much theory but little practice”, both the Psychology degree and the MPGS touch on a little bit of everything and provide a good basis, but they are impractical training and do not prepare you to be able to sit in front of a patient with complete confidence.

The best training in psychotherapy

Training in psychotherapy must be continuous, and often requires different specialisations, since psychotherapists offer their patients different tools to enable them to face different problems: break-ups, problems in childhood, the processes of grief… Therapists must master these areas if they decide to develop their professional future in this direction.

Fortunately, many educational institutions are aware of this, and therefore offer a wide variety of training opportunities and certifications for therapists interested in their own professional training.

Below you can find information on the best Masters and courses in psychotherapy in case you intend to broaden your knowledge both theoretically and practically and become a more prepared psychotherapist to be able to attend to your future patients with greater security and guarantee.

The best offer of Masters in psychotherapy

The Degree in Psychology does not prepare the graduates to practice as psychotherapists, but rather offers a general vision of what the science of behavior is and allows initiation into the different areas that comprise it (clinical psychology, educational psychology, organizational psychology, etc.).

That is why in order to become a good psychotherapist it is necessary to take postgraduate training, and to choose those Masters that are of quality and that fit the professional expectations you are looking for. For example, gaining practical experience or specialising in a specific field: couple’s therapy, child and youth therapy, bereavement therapy…

If you are looking for a therapeutic specialization…

Several university institutions offer the opportunity to specialize in a particular area of psychotherapy. The University of Deusto (Bilbao) offers a Master’s Degree in Systemic-Relational Psychotherapy, which is ideal for those professionals who wish to dedicate themselves to couple and family therapy .

In order to go deeper into the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders in childhood and adolescence (behavioural problems, mental deficiency or emotional disorders, etc.), the Miguel Hernández University of Elche presents the “Master in Psychological Therapy in Children and Adolescents”, which has three main modules: the basic foundations, psychological intervention and professional applications in this field.

Finally, for psychologists who want to specialize in the field of clinical sexology and sexual health, the University of Valencia offers the “Master in Clinical Sexology (University of Valencia)”, a quality theoretical and practical training to become a sex therapist trained to be successful in the workplace.

Excellent psychological therapy courses

In addition to these Master’s degrees, educational institutions also offer less extensive courses aimed at providing experience and the tools, methods and psychotherapeutic skills necessary to meet patients’ expectations .

Among these trainings we can highlight those of Centro TAP, an organization based in Madrid, which has a full agenda of workshops. Among them we find the workshop on Motivation and Leadership at Work, the workshop on Strengthening Self-Esteem, or the workshop on Mindfulness Training, all of them led by experts working in the field of psychology.

In Murcia, the Instituto de la Pareja offers the Practical Course in Couple’s Therapy , a highly recommendable way of training in this type of psychological intervention in marriages and affective relationships based on love in general.

This is a specialization program of 20 hours distributed in 4 sessions, in which both the theory and the practice of therapeutic assistance to couples are learned: ways of interviewing, exercises to be done, detection of problems, use of questionnaires and self-registration, etc. All of this is done by professionals in couple’s psychotherapy with many years of experience. If you are interested in reading more information about this course, click here

On the other hand, the Official College of Psychologists of Madrid, offers the opportunity to carry out the “Course of Psychological Intervention in Couple’s Therapy” in order to be able to intervene successfully in the relational problems that hinder the good progress of the couple and their health and well-being; and in the University of La Laguna (Tenerife) it is possible to carry out a University course in Third Generation Therapies, a new therapeutic approach that has a more contextualized and holistic vision of the individual.