News item | 07-11-2022 | 1:00 pm
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) is simplifying the occupational structure. With this decision, one basic profession for psychological care will be included in the BIG Act as of 1 January 2025. This change is intended to provide professionals and clients with more clarity as to who they can turn to for the most appropriate treatment in mental health care. The decision is made on the basis of widely supported advice from professional associations, the Netherlands Institute of Psychologists (NIP) and the Dutch Association for Psychotherapy (NVP).
The right therapist faster
As of 1 January 2025, there will be one basic profession for psychological care in the BIG Act: the health care psychologist-generalist. This new profession brings together existing health care psychologists and child and youth psychologists. The current basic profession of psychotherapist and the specialty of clinical psychologist are also merging in the new specialty of clinical psychologist-psychotherapist. In the same process, professional associations create a private register in which BIG-registered psychologists can be designated as providers of methodical, target-group or reference framework-related expertise. This also contributes to helping clients find the right therapist for psychological care more quickly.
Integral Healthcare Agreement
The change is in line with the agreements of the Integral Care Agreement to make optimum use of the available capacity. With the simplification of the psychological occupational structure in the BIG Act, a broader deployment of the right practitioners is possible more quickly. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the professional associations in psychological care are working together on changes to the occupational structure. The preparations for the change are being carried out by the NIP, NVP and their partners in the Professional Structure of Psychological Care programme. After these preparations, the clarification of the appeals can take effect on January 1, 2025. It is unique that the professional associations for psychologists and psychotherapists realize both the preparation and the actual implementation of the change in the professional structure in psychological care in close collaboration.