SPK asks the Ministry of Health to clarify the procedure for accreditation of medical psychologists

"It must be said that the attempts of the Russian Ministry of Health to impose mandatory accreditation of a specialist on persons without medical education by immersing this procedure in professional standards have been unsuccessful for several years. For years, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Health have been proving the need to take into account the requirements of their by-law in professional standards, while ignoring the requirements of federal legislation," the SPC believes.

The council stated that the accreditation procedure for medical psychologists is redundant, and specialists with non-core education are simply not allowed to participate in it, since they do not meet the educational requirements established in Order No. 206n.

At the moment, the regulations stipulate that a medical psychologist must have a higher education - a specialist degree in "clinical psychology" or "psychology" with a specialization in "clinical psychology", or professional retraining in "clinical psychology" with a specialist degree in "psychology" or "psychology of service activities". In addition, specialists are allowed to work if they have more than five years of continuous work experience in the field with the completion of professional retraining programs - this norm applies to employees hired for the position before September 1, 2023.

The SPK notes that recently psychologists with non-core higher education have begun to face refusals from the Federal Accreditation Center to undergo the procedure, even despite having the necessary experience (formal compliance with the requirements of Order No. 206n). The reason is the "lack of the necessary level of education and qualifications."

According to the SPC, this problem arose for two reasons. For example, the order contains legal and linguistic uncertainty. "The listing of requirements for education, training in additional professional programs and requirements for practical work experience is inconsistent, which leads to the presentation of vague, difficult to implement and burdensome requirements to citizens, and for accreditation centers and employers it provides unreasonably broad discretionary powers (unreasonably broad limits of discretion) in matters of determining whether a person meets qualification requirements," the SPC statement notes.

The second reason cited by the council is that accreditation centers apply order No. 206n to employees who began working before the document came into force. The SPK called the current situation "unacceptable" since the legal relationship between employees and the employer arose before the new qualification requirements came into force.

“In law enforcement practice, a stable position has developed that individuals who meet the qualification requirements at the time of the emergence of labor relations and successfully carry out professional activities retain the right to work in the relevant positions in the event of a change in the qualification requirements established by regulatory legal acts and professional standards,” the request specifies.

In addition, this approach is consistent with the inadmissibility of "arbitrary restriction of freedom of labor", which is stipulated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The SPK reminded that everyone has the right to manage their ability to work, choose a type of activity and profession, assuming a contractual nature of labor. That is, work according to a profession, specialty, qualification or position is primarily determined by the employment contract agreed upon by the parties.

"In accordance with Part Three of Article 12 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a law or other regulatory act containing labor law provisions does not have retroactive effect and applies to relations that arose after its entry into force. In this regard, we believe that the requirements of Order No. 206n cannot be applied to legal relations that arose before its entry into force. A similar position is indicated in the letter of the Russian Ministry of Health dated May 5, 2025 No. 16-5/2867," the council summarized.

Vademecum sent a request to the Russian Ministry of Health.

In February 2025, the State Duma presented a draft law "On the Fundamentals of Psychological Activity in the Russian Federation", according to which psychologists will be able to practice privately only if they have at least three years of work experience in their field of activity. If approved, the document will come into force on March 1, 2026.

According to the initiative, a specialist will be able to carry out psychological activities in Russia only after reaching the age of 18 and receiving a higher specialized education. In the absence of such education, he will be able to work as a psychologist only after receiving additional education in the profile of the activity and confirmation of professional qualifications in accordance with No. 238-FZ of July 3, 2016 "On independent assessment of qualifications".

In the bill, the authors proposed to also establish the obligation of psychologists and psychological organizations to be members of non-profit organizations, associations, including self-regulatory ones. In the previous version of the draft, such a right was considered desirable.

The document has caused a negative reaction from the professional community. In March, professional associations of psychologists sent an appeal to the Chair of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood and Childhood Nina Ostanina with a request to adjust the said bill. The associations believe that the bill will undoubtedly affect "the prevention of unfair provision of services and fraud", but the current version "may harm the psychological industry and Russian society". In the appeal, representatives of the professional community asked to make the right of psychologists with non-specialized higher education and additional education to confirm their qualifications and conduct private practice permanent.

As of August 8, 2025, the bill has not passed the first reading.