Self-employed psychologist: what advantages?

It is possible to become self-employed as a psychologist. Here is an overview of the obligations and benefits offered by this status.

What are the advantages of being psychologist liberal? The health professions, as liberal professions, are highly regulated: therefore, not all disciplines can be practiced freelance. The psychologist is one of the professionals who can exercise their activity under the status of auto-entrepreneur. But what are the specifics of his situation? What advantages can it benefit from? Here are some answers.

Update on the liberal professions

The liberal professions are highly regulated. This is the case for chartered accountants, but also for doctors and health professionals in general. This is the reason why there are very few medical disciplines that can be practiced after a registration in auto entrepreneur. But the psychologist is one of them.

Indeed, the liberal professions are subject to a strict code of ethics and to supervisory bodies such as an order or a union, for example. Psychologists therefore have their own code of ethics and their profession is protected by the Law No. 85.772 of July 26, 1985. It is not possible to carry out an activity in psychology without holding a diploma in Bac +5 level in this domain. You must also have obtained a license and a mastery in this discipline. However, there is no professional order per se for this medical practice. It is possible to become a self-entrepreneur and to practice this profession.

What are the specifics of an activity in psychology?

The psychologist is a psychotherapist. We must distinguish this profession from psychiatrist, who is a full-fledged doctor, as well as a psychoanalyst. The latter is not a regulated professional since the condition for the practice of his discipline is to have himself followed a psychoanalysis.

Psychologists generally face significant competition, especially in large cities and agglomerations. In addition, since patients sometimes find it difficult to distinguish between different disciplines, competition can be both direct (other professionals) and indirect (peripheral professions).

To build a stable clientele, it takes several years. In order to stand out from the others professionals, it is however possible to broaden its range of skills by training in analytical psychology, NLP, behavior therapy or at the sophrology or to psychoanalysis.

What are the advantages of becoming a self-entrepreneur for a psychologist?

Self-employed status has a number of advantages, especially for newly graduated psychologists. It allows you to check the stability of your professional project while limiting risks and constraints. The auto-entrepreneur responds, in fact, to a statute with lightened rules and numerous advantages.

  • Social security and tax contributions are calculated based on the turnover achieved. This means that if the practitioner has no clientele and generates no turnover, he has no contributions to pay.

  • The self-employed practitioner can constitute his clientele while combining his situation of freelance with a job seeker position, which solidifies his entry into activity.

  • Micro-entrepreneurs benefit from a VAT exemption.

  • The registration and cessation of activity of a self-employed entrepreneur are very simple: the process takes a few minutes online, without the need to travel. Just go to the portal official of auto-entrepreneurs or to entrust his file to a specialized company so that it takes care of administrative formalities.

  • Accounting is simplified since it suffices to keep an up-to-date account book. However, all invoicing documents must be kept for a period of 10 years after the eventual closure of the activity.

This will also interest you

Psychiatry, psychology and psychoanalysis, what are the differences? In this video, Virginie Lacombe, museographer and project manager at the City of Sciences and Industry, explains the differences between these three disciplines called upon to treat mental disorders.