The Federation of Swiss Psychologists (FSP) has launched a petition. Add your signature to it!

The time has come to act. On 17 November, the FSP launched a petition demanding the coverage of psychotherapeutic care by basic health insurance when prescribed by a doctor. It’s crucial to get as many signatures as possible to prove the necessity of changing the current system (that of delegation).

Mental illnesses and crises are frequent occurrences. Nearly one in every two people suffers from mental illness at least once in their lifetime. Access to ambulatory psychotherapy is fraught with obstacles, resulting in largely inadequate care. The fact of not treating mental illness in time has disastrous consequences.

There is a simple solution to this problem: the psychotherapy carried out by psychologists must also be covered by basic health insurance when prescribed by a doctor.

Sign the petition! You’ll be contributing to greater recognition of the profession of psychologist and better access to care for people suffering from mental illness.

• Read the full text of the petition (in French or German)
• Read the arguments (in French or German)

How to sign

• Online, at www.eliminer-les-obstacles.ch (F) or www.huerden-abbauen.ch (D)
• By printing out the petition form (F or D) and filling it out by hand. It will hold around fifteen signatures. When completed, put it in an envelope, stamp the envelope and send it to the address on the document.
• By ordering ready-stamped petition forms from the FSP (send an email to [email protected]). These will hold five signatures.

Note: anyone can sign a petition, including minors and people who do not have Swiss nationality.

Spread the word!

If every psychology student gets involved, the potential number of signatures is huge. Please share the link to the petition (www.eliminer-les-obstacles.ch, www.huerden-abbauen.ch) with as many people as possible, circulate the explanatory video (in French or German), follow the Facebook page and encourage everyone you know to do the same, send the link to the petition to your contacts on WhatsApp and include it in your email signature. Talk about it with your student friends from other faculties too. If we all work together, we can make things change.

Many thanks in advance for getting involved!

Sooner or later we are all faced with the challenge of presenting ourselves as the intelligent, successful, motivated and experienced people we are on one piece of paper: the curriculum vitae. We have summarized some of the most important points for you.

A CV should be tailored to the specific position you are applying for. The goal is to present yourself as the best fitting person for this job. So, do your research, be sure about what they are looking for and adapt your CV accordingly.

Usually a CV is 1-2 pages long. It is advisable to put some effort in design elements so that employers see your motivation for the job. A typical CV consists of the following elements:

Contact information:

Name, address, phone number, email address, professional media (LinkedIn, Xing, …), nationality, and date of birth.

Photo:

Professional quality is very important. Usually Universities offer free opportunities to get a professional picture, for example at the Long Night of Careers.

Education: list the universities where you have studied, start with the most recent one.  

• Indicate the duration of your degree
• Write the title of the degree, specialisation, the name of the University
• Specify your focus, show them what you’ve learned

Hint: If you had outstanding grades or if a specific project might be interesting for your future employers, make sure to highlight it. If you are applying for an academic position, make sure to include the names of your supervisors (“name-dropping”). If you are applying for a position in a country with a different grading system, translate your grades in words (e.g. “excellent”, “very good”, …).

Professional experience: list relevant experience as bullet points

• start by specifying the date/duration of employment
•  then the title of the position, the company name and if you think it might help include the names of your supervisors
• describe your activities, the technical skills you developed and highlight the ones that are of interest for the position

Hint: Show them very clearly what your skills are and where you have acquired them.

Professional training:

If you had the opportunity to do a special training, follow a specific course, attend a summer school or got a relevant certificate, it is important to mention it, this could help you to stand out from the other candidates.

Technical Skills:

Here you will mention all the software that you are able to use. If you like you can state your level.

Publications and Conferences:

If you are applying for an academic position you should mention publications and the attendance at conferences. These kinds of Super-Curricular activities show your enthusiasm for your field of interest.

Languages:

Mention all the languages that you studied and your level (native/ proficient /conversational/basic, or alternatively: B1, B2, C1, etc.)

Extracurricular interests:

This part is not to be neglected; it can very much positively distinguish you from the other candidates. In this section you can list your activities and hobbies (e.g. association, sports, music, art, volunteering, …) and the quality that you developed through them (organization, supervision, budgeting, …).

References: there are 2 possibilities:

• either you mention the references: name, relationship (professor, internship supervisor, …), email, and phone number
• or you keep the references private at the first stage and simply write “References upon request”. The recruiter will have to contact you first to get your reference contact and you will be able to notify your reference person that he/she might receive an email from this particular company for this specific position.

Finally, make sure to ask someone for proof reading and good luck with your application!

Author: Sonia Lebboukh

Edited by: Cécile Vitali

All about psyKo!

PsyKo is a National Congress for the psychology students of Switzerland organized by the psyCH. About 100 psychology students will gather in a big house in Hasliberg Reuti (BE) on the weekend of 26-28 April 2019 to take part in interesting presentations, workshops and trainings. The program is in English (with a few exceptions in French or German).

Why should I go there?

Do you want to enlarge your knowledge of psychology outside of your studies? Do you want to meet psychology students from all over Switzerland? Are you thinking about a career in research? Or do you miss the camp feeling and want to have a fun weekend with your study buddies?

All of the above are valid reasons to participate psyKo! The broad program ensures that everybody finds lectures and workshops they are interested in. Contrary to other psychological congresses, psyKo chooses not to have one specific topic in order to cover a vast majority of different fields of psychology.

With fun welcome games and a party on Saturday night, you will get the chance to meet psychology students from different universities. Have you ever considered studying on a different campus? This is your chance to ask your fellow students all about their university!

Thanks to student lectures you will get the chance to present your bachelor or master thesis and to gather your first congress talk experience.

Another highlight of psyKo Congress are the psyCH trainings given by the psyCH trainers.

That does sound fun… how can I apply?

Applications will be possible between 23 November and 23 December 2018. As the number of seats is limited (100 students + our organization team), you need to show your motivation via a google form and only the 100 selected psychology students will have access to the link for the final registration. This is NOT a first-come, first-served system. Therefore, it is all in your hands! Think about your motivation to attend psyKo 2019 and fill out the google form since the selection will be primarly based on that. The participants will have to pay a participation fee to cover food and logistics.

Great! So we will see you at psyKo 2019 in Hasliberg Reuti (BE)!

Author: Selina Stüssi

Edited by: Gaëlle Venrad