French Clinical Psychology - a unique discipline

Selective training

These are the comments of students from the Faculty of Psychology. Different from the training program of the whole faculty, the Clinical Psychology program is taught in French. The program is in collaboration with the University of Toulouse II in the French Republic with the support of the Francophone University Agency AUF.

Currently, there are many schools that are training in Psychology such as Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Education, Trade Unions... with similar teaching and training programs. To meet the needs of society and improve employment opportunities for students after graduation, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU has opened a new major in the faculty, Clinical Psychology. This program is completely new, advanced, and specialized compared to a large training program in Psychology.

To study this program, students' entry standards are based on registration and university entrance exam scores from high to low. Selecting students with good entry is to train a truly quality human resource.

Right from the first years, students are equipped with French in addition to the general subjects of the school. This is a stepping stone for the second year, when they will have more access to the major taught directly in French.

Vu Hong Ha Anh, a first-year student of the French-language Clinical Psychology major, shared: “I registered to study French-language Clinical Psychology because I already have English skills and now want to learn another foreign language. Besides, Clinical Psychology is both a new major and a major with great career prospects after graduation.” Although it is only the first year starting with learning French, Ha Anh feels extremely excited about this new training method.

Learning goes hand in hand with "practice"

With a duration of 4 years, the training program balances study and practice time. Students are regularly invited to facilities and consulting centers to verify the knowledge they have been trained.

Students are trained to meet the needs of intervention, psychological assessment, psychological monitoring diagnosis, accompanying and leading parents. In particular, during the course, students learn to work with a team of therapists and educators.

According to Dr. Tran Thu Huong (Deputy Head of the Department of Psychology), Clinical Psychology training at the Department has many new features, especially the majority of specialized subjects are taught by experienced and prestigious foreign lecturers: "The priority of this program is to help build clinical and social functions for practicing psychologists; provide in-depth training for practicing psychologists to work with children, adolescents, families, as well as work with professionals related to the above subjects".

Opportunity to study in conjunction with other institutions

It can be said that the training cooperation with international organizations and French universities is a great opportunity for students majoring in Clinical Psychology to directly contact the French language and culture, and receive good support in their studies and employment after graduation. Students enjoy many policies of the Francophone University Agency such as: social scholarships for excellent students, opportunities to study with experts from Francophone universities, internship scholarships, master's and doctoral degrees at one of the French universities...

Ms. Nguyen Mai Anh, currently a lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology and also a former student of French Clinical Psychology, shared with us: studying Clinical Psychology was the right choice. Unlike the current training programs of many schools in Vietnam, she was able to study the major starting from the second year of university, not the third year. Not only that, learning another language besides English increases job opportunities. After graduation, students receive a French language certificate issued by AUF.

According to Dr. Tran Thu Huong, graduates of the French-language Clinical Psychology bachelor's degree are recognized as equivalent to a level 1 Master's degree and can directly enroll in level 2 Master's programs at French universities or in the joint training program of the French-language Master's degree in Child and Adolescent Developmental Psychology at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. This is also the main source of selection for postgraduate study abroad with state scholarships or international cooperation programs of the University. The scope of this industry is very wide, related to many fields from health, education, training to career orientation, working at consulting centers, research, businesses and non-governmental organizations to hospitals... This can be considered the only training major in the field of social sciences where students can work in hospitals.