Psychologist CPD Requirements in Sweden

Psychologists in Sweden follow a CPD-based model rather than a fixed hour total. Psychologist (legitimerad psykolog) is one of the 22 protected, licensed health-care professions (legitimationsyrken) in Sweden. Legitimation is granted by Socialstyrelsen under the Patient Safety Act (Patientsakerhetslag 2010:659, Chapter 4) after a 5-year psychology programme (psykologprogrammet) plus a supervised practical year (PTP - praktisk tjanstgoring for psykologer). The licence is granted for life with no expiry, no periodic renewal, and no fixed statutory number of CPD/CE hours required to maintain it. Instead, Chapter 6, Section 1 of the Patient Safety Act imposes a general legal duty on all health-care personnel to perform their work in accordance with science and proven experience (vetenskap och beprovad erfarenhet), which implies keeping competence current. Competence is enforced through supervision and, in serious cases, revocation (Chapter 8, Section 3) rather than through a mandatory hours-tracking or renewal system.

Sweden does not mandate specific CE subjects for Psychologist beyond the general requirement — any board-approved continuing education generally counts. Always confirm with the regulator.

Generally yes — Sweden does not require live or interactive hours for Psychologist, so approved online / home-study CE can typically satisfy the requirement. Home-study note: Not applicable - no statutory CPD hour requirement or format restrictions; the format of any continuing education is at the professional's/employer's discretion.

Lifelong licensure, no renewal cycle - Sweden licenses for life with a general competence duty rather than fixed renewal hours. The duty to work per science and proven experience (Patient Safety Act Ch 6 s 1) is qualitative, not a counted-hours mandate. Employers/care providers have a parallel duty under the Patient Safety Act and the Health and Medical Services Act to ensure staff have the competence needed and to enable fortbildning (continuing education), but no statutory annual/biennial hour count is set. The optional post-licence specialist psychologist training (specialistutbildning) coordinated by the Swedish Psychological Association (Sveriges Psykologforbund) is voluntary and not required to keep the licence. EFPA's EuroPsy and its CPD expectations are voluntary and not a condition of the Swedish legitimation. Legitimation can be revoked (aterkallas) by the Health and Social Care Inspectorate route / HSAN for gross incompetence or manifest unsuitability (Ch 8 s 3).