During the exchange year in my bachelor’s, I discovered the bilingual study offers of the University of Fribourg. To me, the possibility to study in several languages (French, German and sometimes English) at the same time was perfect both on a personal level as well as well as an academic one. What brought me to clinical psychology was the opportunity of working in a one-to-one setting, where you can feel that your work has a real positive impact. Knowing that what I’m doing has a purpose is really important to me. Finally, the approaches taught in Fribourg are mostly client-centered and cognitive behavioral. I think that anyone considering a master’s in clinical psychology should take this into account when choosing where to pursue their degree. Ideally, you identify with the approaches taught—which is my case in Fribourg. (As a side note, the same holds in psychotherapy: therapists who are convinced by their approach also tend to be more successful!)
How do you feel about your choice today?
I’m very happy with my training in research methods. We even had an optional class dedicated to meta-analysis. I had very engaging and interesting classes in neighboring fields such as epidemiology and Applied Behavior Analysis. Last but not least, the psychology department in Fribourg being quite small, this meant I enjoyed close follow-up from my thesis supervisor. I never felt like just a number on a list. However, it also means that the selection of classes is not as big as what you could maybe find in larger universities. Sometimes I found my options a bit limited when filling in the last credits of my program. All in all, I’m very pleased with what I’ve learned, and the skills I’ve acquired during my studies here, doing hands on work, such as practicing structured clinical interviews.
What are some future career options that you consider?
I’m currently I’m aiming to do a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and enroll in a post-graduate program to become a psychotherapist. I could also picture myself working with in a public institution in the field of health promotion. I believe the methodological and clinical skills I’ve picked up in Fribourg will help me follow that path.
Thank you for your time Niels! That’s all for this season! Good luck to all future master’s students out there!
I was always interested in life sciences, and I even did a year of medicine before starting psychology. During my bachelor’s in psychology, at the University of Geneva, I tried to have a very interdisciplinary approach. When I started thinking about what master’s degree I wanted to pursue, I knew I was interested in research, and so I hesitated between a degree in neurosciences, and one oriented towards basic research in psychology.
The neuroscience degree is very hands on, with a majority of the credits coming from research work and internships. However, I find it a bit lacking in the theoretical department. The psychology degree on the other hand had lot’s of interesting classes, but there was less room for research. I couldn’t choose, so I ended up signing up for both programs.
How do you feel about your choice today?
The master’s in neuroscience is an interdisciplinary program, open to people with a background in biology, psychology, medicine, and other related fields. That being said, having a bachelor’s in psychology, I find that a lot of the theory classes are a bit redundant.
The research side is very engaging. Laboratory internships is a central part of the program. If the team you join doesn’t have a good structure ready to welcome you, you’re in for a rough start. A lot of knowledge is learned informally, so how it plays out varies a lot from person to person, and from lab to lab.
As said before, there isn’t that many opportunities to choose classes based on your own areas of interest. Personally, I’m very happy I chose to enrol in a psychology master’s degree as well. Without the classes from this program, there is a lot of knowledge that I wouldn’t have had going before starting my career. That could have turned into a weakness later on. At the end of the line, I think my neuroscience program is a very flexible. However, with this comes the personal responsibility to fill any potential gaps.
What are some future career options that you consider?
I definitely want to go into the world of research and pursue an academic career. I know some people use their neuroscience background to find jobs in applied research, working in the industry.
Personally, I’m interested in sexual neuroscience, with a fundamental research approach on humans. But this is a very little-known field, and consequently with very little funding. Maybe I’ll start by making some compromises and work in the field of affective sciences at the beginning of my career. It’s just as exciting and is a highly developed field here in Geneva.
Next time, we’ll be back at in the Mittelland, or plateau suisse if you prefer, to speak with Niels Kempkens, who’s about to wrap up a degree in clinical and health psychology at the University of Fribourg.
In my Matura thesis, I had already taken an interest in the homo economicus and analyzed whether this conception of man is still up to date. For me, human behavior in an economic context is extremely exciting, because we are presented with consumer decisions every day.
Before I decided on a field of study, I took a RIASEC test at the career counseling center. I scored full marks for a career in the field of psychology. My career counselor advised me to follow that path, and I choose to go with that piece of advice.
I then started looking for a specific program, and I sat down to learn more about the different career possibilities in psychology. During my search, I came across a new bachelor’s degree in Business Psychology, offered by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland. The courses combined everything that interested me. I liked it so much that at the end of my bachelor’s I decided to pursue a master’s in the same field.
To this day, I have no regrets about my choice and can only recommend studying business psychology!
How do you feel about your choice today?
I absolutely love it. My academic education has enabled me to enter the field of behavioral economics consulting. I am also finishing my master’s degree. I am extremely happy with my academic and professional decisions and highly recommend it.
What are some future career options that you consider?
After my studies, I would like to start working full time for my current employer, elaboratum, a consulting firm. I am really looking forward to it, and I’m already involved in many exciting projects and look forward to going to work every day.
My co-students from the master’s program work in related fields. Some have moved into marketing, others are user-experience researchers, product managers, market researchers and many other professional fields where the perspective offered by someone with a background in psychology is welcome.
Thank you for your time Vanessa! If you haven’t already had the chance take a look at our other texts about choosing a master’s degree. Maybe you’re not too sure where to start? Or maybe you would like to learn more about what it’s like for those who have already made their choice? Stay tuned as we keep talking to master’s students, helping you get a clearer picture of what your options are!
The spring semester is upon us , and that means a new year of Bachelor’s students are preparing to choose their Master’s program. It’s a hard choice indeed, and in many ways it’s the first serious step towards choosing a specific career, closing some doors, and opening others.
In this series we will take a closer look at some of the options, by speaking with students doing a master’s in one of the many disciplines of psychology. In this first installment, we’ll be speaking with Sandro Jenni, head of psyCH!
I picked my two specializations because they offered me the opportunity to follow a really broad Master’s program. I’m interested in so many areas of psychology, so when I was approaching the end of my Bachelor’s I found it difficult to choose just one area to focus on. I ended up reasoning that the two fields I chose in many ways provide the basis for a lot of other areas in psychology that I’m also interested in, that might be closer to applied psychology. Before I made my choice, I read through the descriptions of the classes in all the specializations that were offered. I highly recommend doing that. It provides you with a pretty clear picture of what you will learn in each program instead of just asking yourself on a superficial level whether a field is a good match for you. As I researched the different options, I realized that most of the questions I was interested in during my Bachelor’s were closely related to the two specializations I ended up choosing, and so I knew what to pick.
How do you feel about your choice today?
Today, I’m a bit more than halfway through my Master’s, and I feel like I made the right decision . I enjoyed the classes so far and learned so many things that I always wanted to know.
What are some future career options that you consider?
Haha, that’s a hard one! Thinking about potential career options, I have to admit that one challenge of a broad Master’s program is that there is no obvious next step after graduation. Of course, this is also an opportunity, I have so many options! Today, I feel pulled in many directions. To give you an idea, I am considering doing a PhD in one of the fields related to my Master’s. I could also imagine pursuing a job in the fields of organizational, environmental or political psychology, working as a consultant, doing field research or holding workshops. In the same vein I can picture myself doing stuff like test construction and validation, or even working for the Swiss Federal Office of Statistics.
Finally, I think about working as a mediator, focusing on conflict resolution in NGO’s or for the government. It’s good that I still have some time left to decide!
Thank you for your time Sandro! We’ll keep exploring the different master’s programs out there! In our next blog post, we’ll be speaking to Vannessa Schär. She is pursuing a master’s degree in business psychology at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland! Stay tuned
The exam period is upon us once again, and if you’re like us, you probably don’t mind a little break from studying. Why not use your pause for something useful, like reading a few suggestions on how to make the most of the time you have left to prepare for your exams?
Now before we dive into this, I want to make a small disclaimer. I wrote The Official psyCH Study Tips! in the title because it sounded better, but I have to be honest with you, Kristian’s Personal Tongue-in-cheek Suggestions for Students Approaching an Exam, is closer to what I’m actually doing here. In essence, everyone has their own preferences, strengths and weaknesses when it comes to learning. I for one am almost unable to remember anything I hear. To compensate, I take notes all the time. Talking to my mother, or talking to my thesis advisor, it makes no difference. If it’s not spelled out in letters, it’s gone in 5 minutes. I even have to check my ID to remember my age every now and then. Sometimes I wonder how I even made it beyond my bachelor’s, but I digress. All I’m trying to say is that these suggestions seemed to have worked for me, so maybe they can work for you. Let’s get into it!
Make a study plan
You don’t learn from just sitting in the library, you learn from studying. At first glance this seems so obvious that it’s bordering on a truism, and yet it’s easily forgotten. Only time spent actually working is valuable to you when preparing for your exams. The first step towards minimising the gap between library-time and effective-work-time is to get organised. Draw up an overview of all the hours at your disposal, and assign specific tasks to each timeslot.
Don’t just put general things like “studying” (then you’re going to end up like me, writing blog posts when you should be writing summaries). Be as specific as possible, for example: 10h-12h: Social Psychology: Write summaries of chapter 3-4. Specify what, when and where, with a concrete goal in mind, so you know how far you’ve advanced. Above all, be realistic in your goals, you can always adjust them later if you’ve misjudged your capabilities.
Now before you start drawing up 14 hour days, have a look at the next suggestion
Stick to your usual schedule!
Imagine for a moment you’re preparing for a sprinting competition. You need to run 60 metres as fast as possible.
This is basically what an exam is. You can argue that exams are far from the best way to assess you abilities (I’m sure there is some psychological model explaining the different phases of despair when facing an upcoming exam, trying to argue against the importance of exams is probably the first one) and you may be right, but the fact of the matter remains: you have been assigned a very short period to show all you’ve learned during the last semester.
Now back to the race. How would you prepare for a sprint ? Would you spend three weeks running as many marathons as you can, and then show up on race day with a few cans of red bull, hoping that you make it to the finish line?
It sounds ridiculous when put like this, and yet this is what plenty of students do each exam period, and they keep doing it year after year.
In concrete terms, this means that when preparing your schedule, you use short intervals, just as if you were trying to increase your cardiovascular fitness. For me that means at maximum two hours for each task, longer then that and I’m bored to death long before the end. Even more importantly: pace yourself. Despite what many students seem to think, you don’t get a medal for sitting in the library until 2 in the morning. You don’t get a medal for doing good on your exam either (unless you do VERY good, but you’re reading this instead of studying, so we both know that’s not going to happen), but good grades are always helpful, and being exhausted on the third day of your study period because you worked for 14 hours yesterday is not going to get you anywhere.
Try to stick to your usual schedule as much as reasonably possible. Only hours spent working effectively count towards your exam, so make sure the hours you spend in the library enter into that category. When the sun has settled, and you’re so hungry and tired that you keep confusing b’s with d’s, it’s time to head home.
Exercise!
Some Roman guy once wrote “Mens in sana in corpore sano”, which translates to “a healthy mind in a healthy body”. You’ve probably heard this before, but I’m going to help you understand what it means for your exam preparation. The exam period is not a good time to stop exercising! That being said, make sure you do something fun, like playing football, climbing or whatever you like ( I personally hate football). Despite what the behaviourist wants you to believe, you’re not actually a rat (even though you might smell like one). Running in a wheel or pushing buttons up and down are not fun ways for humans to exercise. Pursue physical activity during your exam period for the fun of it, not just to move. Your grades will improve.
Talk to other students about the material
As you get closer to the exams you have a better grip on the materials. Now it’s time to clear any misconceptions from your mind, and above all, do some active rehearsal. Find the smartest girl or guy in your class or friend group, and ask them to study with you. Ask each other questions, exchange summaries, discuss what parts you find the most interesting, and tie it to something from your everyday life.
For example, if you’re revising evolutionary psychology you can talk about how you can’t seem to find anyone willing to reproduce with you, or if you’re studying social psychology, talk about how the the Dunning-Kruger effect relates to your personal experience at university!
So there you go. I hope these suggestions help you, and if they didn’t, then you’re probably doing it wrong 😉
Hey Ralph! We’re all excited to hear about the next psyKo, but first, tell us a bit about yourself!
Hey! I’m currently finishing the last year of my bachelor’s, at the university of Bern, where I’m doing a major in psychology, and minoring in computer science. I have experience working in a wide range of organisations and events, from the Samaritans association in Bern, to organising the high school christmas ball.
So how did you end up as the Head of psyKo21?
I’m tempted to say, purely by chance! All the way back in 2019 I was working in the library of UniBern, and found myself standing in front of a wall plastered with leaflets and invitations to various associations. An announcement calling for people to join the psyKo team stood out, and I ended up contacting Yara Delegado, landing the position of co-head of psyKo19.
As you all know, the conference got canceled, for reasons that are all too familiar to us by now. And so, I ended up moving to the head of communications mandate, in the psyCH mother organisation. After a year in psyCH I felt pulled towards psyKo again. Seeing that the Head of psyKo position was open, I decided to go for it!
I really have the feeling that with my experience working in different organisations, I’ll be able to build a solid and well-documented foundation for future organisers to build upon. It’s way easier to get started when you have a little guidance, and don’t have to do everything from scratch.
So I’ve heard this year’s theme is the future of Psychology. What does this mean to you?
The future of psychology is obviously a rather large theme, and that is partially why we chose it! We’re still booking speakers, workshops and infotables, but our current focus is on technology. Among the confirmed speakers are Thomas Berger, winner of the Marcel Benoist prize, who will talk about the possibilities offered by online therapy. We’re working to include speakers from fields such as sentiment analysis, and other areas putting modern technology at the service of psychology. We also hope to have representatives from the newly founded ALPS foundation present the new frontiers discovered in psychedelic studies!
Awesome! So when and where is psyKo22 going to happen ?
So the location is the Lucerne Youth Hostel, meaning we’re going to be close to the city, and right in the middle of Switzerland!
The current date is in the beginning of April, but as you all know, the COVID situation is rather unpredictable, and constantly subject to change. It’s hard to plan with new variants and measures popping out here and there at an unpredictable pace. That being said, the current dates are 01.04 till 03.04, and registration will open soon! PsyKo22 will happen, and it will be an in-person event!
PsyKo is so much more than a weekend for participants to learn about new areas of psychology. It’s also a possibility to meet and connect with students from all over Switzerland, making new friends and sharing knowledge. That means that we would rather postpone the event than have it be an online happening.
Sounds great! Anything else you want to tell our readers?
At first, the conference topic, Healthy Mind, Healthy Body, sparked my interest. As I read about the event, I realised it would be a great chance for me to talk about a subject I find very interesting, namely psychedelic therapy! I had registered for last year’s conference but as it was cancelled because of COVID. I was so happy that I could attend this time. This was my first time at psyKo and I’m really glad I got to attend before I finish my master’s.
What did you enjoy the most?
I really appreciated the fact that we were psychology students from all over Switzerland. We all have different interests and perspectives, and have so much to learn from each other. Secondly, I really enjoyed the Help to get Help workshop. Through it, I was introduced to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It was a great way to approach the subject. The workshop gave us an occasion to explore both theory and practice through role playing exercises with the other participants!
Did you make any new friends?
I was lucky to meet a lot of new people. Some even turned out to be from my own university! We’ve been in online classes together, but I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that they’re not really the best place to get to know the other students. In particular compared to psyKo, where I felt that everyone was very open to meet people and learn from each other.
Léonore Guiet Workshop Host: “Emotional regulation for a healthier life”.
What brought you to this year’s conference?
Some time ago, I participated at the psyCH’s trainer school, so I wanted to host a workshop. This proved a great opportunity for me to contribute to the conference by hosting a workshop. I also wanted to seize the opportunity to meet new people and learn more about psychology.
What did you enjoy the most?
I was a supporting staff member during the conference, and so I ended up not attending as many lectures and workshops as I would have liked to. However, I must say that the Saturday evening with the party and the concert were both very very good! That being said, I really liked being useful and helping out with the conference for the whole weekend, while still having some time for meeting new people. In the end, I’d say it’s more of a mix of everything that I really enjoyed.
Did you make any new friends?
YES ! I was actually saying to someone during the weekend that I find this type of event so great because we meet people who are there to learn more about a field you’re also interested in. The mix of opportunities for learning and socializing are really the perfect combination for meeting new interesting people.
I’ve always wanted to come to the psyKo, but I knew no one there, and so was under the impression that it was mostly an event for german speaking Swiss. Luckily, I was wrong, all languages are represented at the conference! A big plus this year was that I had the opportunity to come and host an infotable event on the student association I’m involved in, the ZETA Movement. We ended up being a few people coming to represent the association, and this provided the final impetus to get going!
What did you enjoy the most?
I loved to listen to the different lectures, and participate in a variety of workshops. I especially liked the workshops on acceptance and commitment therapy, Help to get Help, and ACTivate your psychological flexibility skills.
Did you make any new friends?
Of course! I met other students from all parts of Switzerland. This was really great, and we shared lots of nice moments during the weekend! The speed-friending Friday night turned out to be a really funny way to get in touch with the other participants!
We’re always trying to improve psyKo. If you attended, please take a moment to give us some feedback by following this link This will help us greatly when preparing for next year’s event.
Does this sound like something you would like to be a part of? There are so many ways to contribute. Hold a workshop, or give a student lecture about something you’re passionate about!
Get in touch with Raphi on psyko@psynet.ch, to discuss how you may contribute to psyKo22!
So Yara, tell us a little about yourself! How did you end up here?
I grew up on the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. We moved to Switzerland when I was about 11 years old. In 2019 I obtained my bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Zurich, and I am currently working towards a master’s in social and clinical psychology.
How long have you been in PsyCH/ the PsyKo team?
I first joined PsyCH in 2019 after attending that year’s PsyKo on a whim! During the conference I visited the PsyCH infotables and only then did I realize that they were the people that had put together the entire conference. I got so excited that I ended up signing up as head of PsyKo 2020. As you know PsyKo2020 got canceled, but by then I had put so much energy into the project, so I decided to stay for another year to see it to the end. In fact, this year’s conference will be the first PsyKo under my leadership.
What made you apply for this position? Most people might prefer to dip their toes before jumping head-on into such a large responsibility!
I love to create stuff, to see my ideas materialize, so I knew I had to do something to be a part of this great organization. Looking at the list of available mandates, I realized I’m not cut out for some of the other important jobs, such as contacting sponsors, or creating online content, but the leader mandate seemed like a natural choice, fitting both my level of ambition and personal disposition.
I think I might have been a bit hesitant if I knew how much work I have had to put into this, but I have learned so much, and gotten to know so many great people through PsyCH. Of course, there have been times where I wondered if I was up for the task, but the motivation to see the event take place has always outweighed any doubts that I’ve harbored.
What do you feel has been the hardest part about this year’s conference?
In one word: COVID: After last year’s conference got canceled, a majority of the team ended up moving on towards new projects. I decided to stay on for a new mandate, and I was left building up everything from scratch again, without even knowing if this year’s conference would take place. It was a rough start for sure.
We had to keep on postponing this year’s event, with each change of date causing us to lose steam. Luckily we’ve been able to rally the team, and push on all the way up the conference. Also having to run the organisation almost entirely online has definitely made team cohesion harder. It’s tough to build up that feeling of being in the same boat when you’ve never met in real life.
What are you the most happy with regarding this year’s conference?
Above all, I’m just so happy to know that PsyKo21 is actually going to take place. To see the fruit of my labors, and know for certain that my work has not been futile. I’ve put countless hours of work into this, and it’s incredibly satisfying to know that I’ve contributed to make this unique and exciting event come to life. Seeing that many psychology students together, and knowing that I’m offering them the same great experience I had when I attended my first PsyKo is just indescribable.
Sounds great! I’m attending my first PsyKo this weekend, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Any words of advice to those among us attending our first PsyKo?
Come with an open mind, and remember to enjoy yourself! We offer a lot of academic content, but don’t forget that this is also a unique opportunity to meet other students from all over Switzerland! These are people you wouldn’t meet otherwise, and there is so much to learn from them! Seize the occasion to gather some new perspectives. You’ll be sure to learn something you’d never hear in class!
Let’s first take a step back to appreciate the work that has been put into making this year’s conference come to life.
The PsyKo21 is organized by the PsyKo team, a subgroup of PsyCH consisting of about 10 students from all over Switzerland. We’ve been working hard towards PsyKo21 ever since last year’s conference was canceled for reasons you can probably guess yourself. PsyKo21 was originally scheduled for the beginning of 2021, but due to covid-measures we’ve kept on postponing, hoping to hit a date that would allow our event to take place. Turns out that ended up being October! It’s been a long wait, but we’re so happy to see that our patience paid off, and that we’re finally able to share the fruit of our labors with you!
That being said, the event has also profited from this delay to grow and mature, and we are very proud to offer the participants such a variety of perspectives as we gather in Les Diablerets to explore this year’s topic : Healthy Mind, Healthy Body – What Health means to Psychology.
Friday
Early registration starts at 14h00. During this afternoon, visitor’s can choose between several workshops on topics such as healthy communications in the aftermath of a conflict, how to get help for mental health issues and exploration of the connection between mind and body.
A welcome apéro will precede the opening lecture. Afterward we’ll all have dinner together before some social activities mark the end of the first day.
Saturday
By far the most important day of the conference, Saturday will start with some exciting lectures held by student’s like you and me! A lot of different areas related to health and psychology will be presented. Personally I’m looking forward to hear Johanna Blanc’s talk on Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, but I’m sure that all students will find a lecture on something that interests them. Topics range from Alice de Marco’s lecture on Transgender people’s mental health, till Giorgia Mano’s discussion of the effect Instagram influencers have on teenagers health habits.
Before lunch, a new set of workshops take place, this time systemic therapy and integration of body, mind and soul will be on the schedule!
The serious part of the day will be rounded off by my area of responsibility : the infotables. After a short introduction of each organisations, participants will get the chance to mingle with representatives from some of the most important organisations for psychologists in Switzerland, such as the all important FSP. Other major names present are the Swiss Association for Applied Psychology (SBAP/APSPA) and the Swiss Society for Health Psychology (SSGPsy/SSPsys). Student projects and startups such as PALA and BeWell will also be there, so make sure you are there too!
PsyKo is also very much a social event!
With all this academic content, it’s important to remember that PsyKo is also very much a social event! Workshops and lectures are separated by plenty of breaks to give you the chance to meet other students and grow your network!
In tune with this, the last happening of the day will be a party hosted by PsyCH, with the aptly named music group Express Therapy providing the entertainment! If you haven’t made any friends by Saturday evening, now is the time to hit the dance floor and meet people!
Sunday
The finaly day of the conference is less packed. Workshops on Mind-Body therapy and Psychological flexibility take place in the morning, and the closing lecture at 13h00 marks the end of the congress.
We’re looking forward to meeting you there!
Tomorrow we’ll talk to Yara Delgado, the mastermind behind PsyKo21, to hear her thoughts on this year’s congress. Stay tuned!
For a detailed overview of the conference program, please consult the conference booklet.
Kristian Beichmann Blog Editor Originally from Norway, I obtained my bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Geneva in 2020. I am currently studying clinical and health psychology at the University of Fribourg. I joined PsyCH last year as member of the PsyKo21 sponsoring team, and now I’m looking forward to continue my work in PsyCH as the PsyCH blog editor! My main areas of interest are clinical psychology, psychiatry and psychedelic studies, and I’m looking forward to learn and share more about these areas during the coming year.
Johanna Henry Blog Writer I am currently doing a master’s in Social and Intercultural Psychology at the University of Lausanne. I joined psyCH a few years ago, first as a psyKo team member, then as an editor and promotion coordinator and now it is my second year as a blog writer. I’m mostly interested in environmental psychology, LGBTIQ+ studies and psychedelic science. My objective is to write about unusual and/or unknown topics that we don’t commonly discuss in class.
Lionella Bragoi Blog Writer Born and raised in the Republic of Moldova, I am currently pursuing my bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Lausanne. This is my first year as a blog writer at PsyCH. I am mostly fascinated by clinical psychology and psychiatry. These are the subjects I hope to write and learn more about during my mandate.
Naomi Gyger Blog Writer I am currently finishing my bachelor’s degree in Berne with a minor in neuroscience and sports. Next to my studies, I’m working as a neuropsychological research assistant at the Inselspital Berne. So as you might suspect I have a strong interest in neuroscience and neuropsychology. That’s why I’m planning to pursue a master’s in neuropsychology. I joined PsyCH just this year as a blog writer and I am very excited to start writing!
