Switzerland

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ESCAP member profile

SWISS SOCIETY FOR CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY or Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und -psychotherapie (SGKJPP/SSPPEA)

552 ordinary members and 94 trainee members

Switzerland has more than seven million inhabitants, including about 1.7 million (23 percent) 0 to 19 year olds. The first child and adolescent psychiatric clinic in Switzerland was founded in 1921. The Swiss Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (CAPP) was founded in 1957. In spring 2005, the society had 561 members. Five universities in Switzerland hold a chair for child and adolescent psychiatry: Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Basel and Zurich. Besides private practices for child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy there are 27 institutions for it. These 27 institutions treat in- and out-patients and day clinic patients, and are entitled to provide postgraduate training.
Medical doctors who want to specialize in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy have to fulfill a six year lasting program including passing a final exam. The training contains four years in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy, one year in adult psychiatry and one year in a somatic discipline (such as pediatrics, neurology, etc). During these years, candidates also have to train in one of the three following psychotherapeutic directions: psychodynamic/psychoanalytic, systemic or cognitive/behavioural.

Challenges of the Swiss society:
- Strenghten the lobby for children in general, for child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy in particular.
- Secure a high quality in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy, including research.
- Approve help for all children and their families who need support from child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy.
- Approve support for families and their children who immigrated to Switzerland.
- Strenghten the network with allied professions.