Read this article published on the Cercle Psy website.

Once they’ve obtained their title after five years’ study, psychologists face a host of difficulties. From perilous access to their first job, to lack of respect for their practice, to non-recognition of their title, many clinicians run out of steam. How do young graduates cope? What difficulties can psychologists encounter once they’re in the job market? Whose fault is it?

On July 25, 1985, the title of psychologist came into being: under Law 85-772,  » holders of a diploma, certificate or title attesting to high-level fundamental and applied university training in psychology  » are now officially psychologists. Despite this long-awaited protection, certain difficulties inherent to the profession continue to prevail… while others are emerging.

Finding your first job as a psychologist: a daunting task

Today, the first obstacle facing budding psychologists remains access to employment. As early as the first year of psychology, guidance professionals and university lecturers make their students aware of the lack of job opportunities in the profession. All warn them of the perilous and competitive nature of professional integration. And yet, psychology studies continue to win over students, and the lecture theaters are always full: caught up in a desire to understand the human mind, and very often to understand themselves, many baccalaureate holders begin a course of study in psychology. It’s only once they’ve graduated that the reality of the job market sets in!

A saturated job market

Of the 45,000 qualified psychologists, an estimated 35,000 are in practice. In 2005, according to the Société Française de Psychologie (SFP) congress workshop entitled  » Métier : psychologue ou Métiers de la psychologie « , 88% of them worked part-time. Of the 4,000 psychologists employed by the local civil service, only 1,500 have tenure. There are also between 2,000 and 5,000 psychologists in private practice. However, it is difficult to establish representative statistics, as there are no official figures, and the vast majority of these professionals combine part-time work with a variety of employers.

Dozens, even hundreds, of applicants flock to the job vacancies posted on the Internet. The majority of psychologists find a position via a network of colleagues developed during a previous job. The search is therefore all the more complex for young graduates whose experience and network are still in their infancy. And the period of unemployment is prolonged. While the difficulty of finding a job is obvious, the reasons for it are less clear.

Universities or psychologists: whose fault is it?

According to Christine Goubert, clinical psychologist, technical advisor to the Syndicat National des Psychologues, and editorial secretary of the magazine Psychologues & Psychologies, universities have their share of responsibility:  » On the one hand, too many psychologists are graduating from universities, with little regard for employment opportunities. On the other hand, the training they offer is often too theoretical and not sufficiently professionalizing. « At present, more and more teachers are considering a reorganization of training. Academics would like to see an efficient selection process, well before the third year of the Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, as is the case today. The Syndicat National des Psychologues is also pushing for the introduction of a more professional Doctorat professionnel, which would add a year’s internship to a professional Master 2. Maryvonne Mesqui, a consultant at SOFIP (Service Offre de Formation et Insertion Professionnelle) at the University of Paris Descartes, advises future psychologists on the quality of their job search:  » It is often too restrictive. Their training entitles them to the title of psychologist, and all they want to do is become clinical psychologists, as they are taught at university, working with patients. Many of them share an idealized vision of the profession, and therefore knock on the same doors. « As a result, many psychologists would like to work in a facility such as a Centre Médico-Psychologique or hospital, and embody the psychologist as he or she appears in the collective unconscious. Yet there are many ways to put your skills as a psychologist to good use. The job market is full of opportunities that few take up: training, conferences, journalism, children’s toy development, corporate consulting… I try to broaden their professional horizons, » explains Maryvonne Mesqui . It’s not a question of saying « I’ve got a psychology degree, so I want a job as a psychologist », but rather « I’ve got skills in psychology, so here’s what I can offer you ». The aim is to match their skills with the needs of the job market. « .

Florence Agé, Head of Career Guidance and Integration at Sciences Po and facilitator of professional project development for future psychologists at Paris Descartes University, adds:  » However, I find that psychology students are particularly able to reflect on themselves in order to build their career plans. This maturity sets them apart from students in other disciplines. Their training cultivates in them the ability to take a step back and analyze their career path, which are key skills for any professional insertion. « . While the latter represents a major mission for a majority of psychologists, access to a first position is likely to confront them with other types of difficulties. Starting with the precariousness of their working lives, characterized by low salaries, fixed-term contracts and an accumulation of part-time jobs…

Their practice can be undermined…

While the title of psychologist is protected by law, the practice of psychology is not, nor is the code of ethics on which it is based. According to Christine Goubert, this is the profession’s second weak point, after the lack of professional training. The code of ethics, which has not been legalized, remains an indicative but not legally enforceable code of ethics. I remember, » confides Christine Goubert, that a hospital doctor had forced a psychologist in his department to treat two members of the same family individually, which was ethically inconceivable for this clinician. But she had to comply, or face dismissal. « The recommendations of the hierarchical superior, whatever his or her training, therefore take precedence over the psychologist’s code of ethics. This is why the Syndicat National des Psychologues continues to advocate the creation of an Order of Psychologists. However, many other organizations continue to oppose it, including the Fédération Française des Psychologues et de Psychologie. The latter would prefer the Code of Ethics to be the subject of a decree implementing the law of July 25, 1985, which would protect psychologists, like the public, from the misuse of psychology.

… And their title is not always recognized!

While some psychologists strive to gain acceptance for the specific nature of their practice, others are unable to gain recognition for their title. This is the case, for example, for those working with autistic children. Such job offers, published in large numbers by Pôle Emploi, run counter to the 1985 law. Although the advertisement mentions psychologist in black and white, the actual position does not correspond to that of a psychologist, but rather to that of a specialized educator. However, the Pôle Emploi administration lists the status of psychologist at the level of BAC + 2… In the same vein, one association in the social field employs around sixty psychologists by title within its telephone service for teenagers and parents in difficulty. Through its leaflets and websites, the association promotes the quality of the psychologists who take calls on its various lines. But at the heart of the association, the reality is quite different: these professionals are only considered by management as Listening Assistants with a BAC + 3 level, based on the Collective Animation Agreement. According to some of our employees, this symbolic and financial non-recognition of their status as psychologists leads to « real institutional abuse ».

So it’s not easy to pinpoint the root cause of clinical psychologists’ difficulties. Is it the fault of a saturated job market? Incomplete training? Increasingly intense competition? Disrespectful employers? Or is it a lack of pragmatism and demand on the part of psychologists themselves? Perhaps only the future, and the future reforms that will punctuate it, will tell.

To find out more…

Syndicat National des Psychologues, 40 rue Pascal, Paris. Website: www.psychologues.org

Psychologues & Psychologies monthly newsletter on the public voice of the psychologist (Syndicat National des Psychologues, June 2012).

Fédération Française des Psychologues et de Psychologie, 77 avenue Edouard Vaillant, Boulogne-Billancourt. Website: www.psychologues-psychologies.net

Service Offre de Formation et Insertion Professionnelle (SOFIP), Paris Descartes University, 12 rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, Paris. Website: www.sofip.parisdescartes.fr

Patrick Ange Raoult et al (L’Harmattan, 2004). The disappearance of clinical psychologists. Struggles and conflicts .

Patrick Ange Raoult et al (L’Harmattan, 2005). La psychologie clinique et la profession de psychologue: (dé)qualification et (dé)formation.

Staying active despite unemployment

It was during the critical period of looking for a first job that Cyrielle Vinet, who graduated from the Ecole des Psychologues Praticiens in 2011, felt the need to create her blog psycogitatio.  » It was a way for me to continue training and keep in touch with psychology despite unemployment. It kept me focused on the idea of being an active psychologist, confident in my skills, which is far from obvious in this tumultuous period of professional inactivity. « His blog, which is still going strong, centralizes psychology-related events (conferences, radio and TV broadcasts), and brings together psychologists of all persuasions. His motto: « Get informed, get trained, get together. »