First-ever admissions process for the Master’s degree programme in Psychotherapy

At 8.15 am on 6 July, the moment had finally arrived: the entrances to Messehalle A opened for the first time to applicants for the Master’s programme in Psychotherapy. 159 applicants turned up to sit the entrance examination. The programme, which is offered jointly by the Medical University of Graz and the University of Graz, is designed to help meet the demand for psychotherapy services in Austria. A total of 500 places are being offered across Austria at the campuses in Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Krems, Linz, Salzburg and Vienna, with Graz becoming a hotspot for psychotherapy training, offering 140 of these places.

“The establishment of the psychotherapy degree programme as an academic discipline in Austria for the first time is an important step for quality and access to care. Through close cooperation between the University of Graz and the Medical University of Graz, and links to the Medical University of Graz’s teaching hospitals, we can draw on many years of expertise and ensure that theory and practice are closely intertwined from the very start,” explains Erwin Petek, Vice Rector of Studies and Teaching at the Medical University of Graz, outlining the interdisciplinary and practical approach of the programme in Graz.

Catherine Walter-Laager, Vice-Rector for Studies and Teaching at the University of Graz, adds: “With the joint Master’s programme in Psychotherapy offered by the University of Graz and the Medical University of Graz, we are making Graz a centre of excellence for psychotherapy training in Austria. By combining the core expertise of the University of Graz on the one hand and the Medical University of Graz on the other, students receive a top-level education and make a significant contribution to psychosocial care in Austria.”

Andrea Kurz, Rector of the Medical University of Graz, welcomed the prospective students present and, in her speech before the start of the test, emphasised the importance of mental health and wished all participants every success.