EFS & ESSM Certified Psycho-Sexologist

The European Federation of Sexology (EFS) and the European Society for Sexual Medicine (ESSM) collaborate in order to provide competency certification to individual psycho-sexologists from around the world.

This procedure was initiated in 2014, and is carried out once in every two years.

Due to the worldwide Covid19 pandemic many training programmes have been cancelled or postponed; this resulted in a lack of training opportunities and a great number of requests to postpone the exam planned in 2022 by one year. The exam committee has therefore decided to accept these requests and move the exam to 22 April 2023.

Important Dates

Next examination: 2025 (TBC)

Date: TBD

Format: Online (TBC)

Information will be made available in due time

Further Information

Examination fee: €300 – this was the fee in 2020 and 2023; TBD for the next edition
(to be paid only after application to sit the exam has been confirmed)

Who can apply

The candidate eligible to take the exam must demonstrate expertise in psycho-sexology and obtain proof of

  • Psychology degree or
  • Psychiatry degree or
  • MD degree with additional psychotherapy training

and

  • Post graduate training in sexology (providing certificate) including relevant supervised experience of at least 2 years.
    Providing 2 letters of recommendation according to preformat.

ECPS Assessment Process: The assessment process will be implemented fully online and consists of 3 stages. Applicants will be eligible to the exam after the first 2 assessment stages. Candidates will receive the ECPS certificate after being eligible and successfully passing the exam.

Assessment

  • Stage 1) Assessment by the ECPS accreditation committee (EPSA) of application form, certificates and recommendation letters
  • Stage 2) Online Interview

Examination

  • Stage 3) Online Multiple-choice questions

Preparation Material

Check out the updated list of suggested preparation material.

Candidates for the title ‘EFS-ESSM Certified Psycho-Sexologist’ should demonstrate competences reflecting the breadth of the curriculum, which is defined as follows:

  • Introduction to human sexuality
  • Issues of intimate relationships
  • Bio-psycho-social aspects of sexual development and the sexual response
  • Diagnostic and therapeutic methods in psychosexual therapy
  • Male sexual dysfunction
  • Female sexual dysfunctions
  • Medical conditions and their relation to sexual function
  • Other sexual disorders
  • Issues related to contraception and childbirth

The assessment process will be implemented fully online and consists of 3 stages. Applicants will be eligible to the exam after the first 2 assessment stages. Candidate will receive the ECPS certificate after being eligible and successfully passing the exam.

Assessment

  • Stage 1) Assessment by the ECPS accreditation committee (EPSA) of application form, certificates and recommendation letters
  • Stage 2) Online Interview

Online Examination

  • Stage 3) Online Multiple-choice questions

Assessment Stage 1 (application form and documents)

Candidates need to deliver the following documents:

  • A fully-completed APPLICATION form which will include a comprehensive description of educational and clinical experience in the field of Sexology; may also include a list of publications in the field of Sexual Medicine, if any (not mandatory)
  • Upload certificate of University degree in Psychology or Medicine and/or Psychiatry specialization.
  • Certification of psychotherapy training (required only for MDs that are not specialized in Psychiatry.
  • Certification of postgraduate training in sexology including relevant supervised experience.
  • Upload proof of licence to practice or equivalent registration from the respective authority in your country.
  • Upload two clinical case descriptions (a template will be provided on the application system). The clinical cases presented by the candidates should cover two different areas of sexology. The clinical cases should be described by analysing the issues of clinical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.
  • Upload two letters of recommendation in English (according to the template that will be available on the application system)

Please be prepared to upload the above documents in PDF format and translated into English.

Applicants will be informed by email about their eligibility to proceed to the assessment stage 2.

Assessment Stage 2 (interview)

During stage 2 each applicant will be invited to an online interview hosted by two supervisors/interviewers (duration of max 60 min).  The interview will comprise two parts: a) opportunity to introduce oneself and relevant experience in sexology, b) discussion of clinical cases previously selected by the applicant.

Applicants will be informed by email about their eligibility to the exam. Applicants will not be able to proceed to stage 3 unless the examination fee payment is confirmed.

Assessment Stage 3 (Multiple choice questions)

The exam will be held ONLINE on 22 April 2023. The exams consist of 100 multiple choice questions, divided into 9 topics to be answered in 3 hrs.

  • Introduction to human sexuality
  • Issues of intimate relationships
  • Bio-psycho-social aspects of sexual development and the sexual response
  • Diagnostic and therapeutic methods in psychosexual therapy
  • Male sexual dysfunction
  • Female sexual dysfunctions
  • Medical conditions and their relation to sexual function
  • Other sexual disorders
  • Issues related to contraception and childbirth

To take the exam, you will have to install and configure exam software on your laptop.

Supported Computers are: (PC Windows 10 (64-bit), Mac 10.13 and later). The laptop must also have a working web camera and microphone. A stable internet connection is mandatory. When installing the software (1-2 weeks before the exam) you will have to agree to the exam terms. This includes but is not limited to: being recorded, monitoring of your computer, and the collected data processed by Artificial Intelligence.

The examination is a digital examination that will be performed online. Each candidate has to use his/her own personal computer that will be connected to internet in a web browser. Personal login and detailed information will be provided by the Examination Office. All data entry will be stored at all time and a finished question cannot be lost.

Security wise, all questions and answer options will be randomized, meaning that every participant has a unique, traceable order of their examination delivery.

The calculation of the pass mark will be performed after analysis of the results and definition of the distribution curve.

After taking the exam applicants will be informed by email about success or failure to receive the ECPS certification!

The ESSM and EFS Syllabus on Clinical Sexology (ed) Kirana P, Tripodi F, Reisman Y, Porst H: 2013, Medix, Amsterdam is the preparation material endorsed by the EPSA. Additional suggested reading for the exam can be found here.

In order to help candidates prepare for the ECPS and MJCSM exams, the ESSM arranges the online condensed preparation course. The online course offers a focused overview of Sexual Medicine aimed directly at increasing the chance of success in passing either of the two exams. Lectures are delivered by renowned experts and the course is highly recommended for anyone who aims for ECPS or MJCSM certification.

E.P.S.A. Committee

The EFS/ESSM Psycho-sexology Accreditation (E.P.S.A.) Committee was appointed by the ESSM and the EFS, on June 2013, in order to plan and implement the necessary procedures for the nomination of EFS-ESSM Certified Psycho-Sexologists.

The aim of the committee is to provide accreditation of professionals and of educational courses relative to psycho-sexology. The objectives are:

  • To accredit educational programs in psycho-sexology
  • To certify competent psycho-sexologists with mark of excellence and determine the eligibility criteria of exam candidates
  • To promote psycho-sexologists in Europe

Full members of the E.P.S.A. have the duty to design, organize and implement tasks for the accreditation of psycho-sexologists and relevant educational courses. Essential characteristics of full members are: Outstanding contribution to the field, either by their executive actions, or through their long-lasting clinical experience and/or academic background; preferably ECPS accredited.

Chair: Jim Pfaus, Neuroscientist and Psychologist (Czech Republic)

  • Charmaine Borg (The Netherlands)
  • Francesca Tripodi, Psychologist (Italy)
  • Janico Georgiadis, Neuroscientist (The Netherlands)
  • Lior Lowenstein, Gynecologist (Israel)
  • Remziye Kunelaki, Psychologist (UK)
  • Tilmann Krueger, Psychiatrist (Germany)
  • Xanthi Ntoni-Fynbo, Psychologist (Denmark)
  • Yacov Reisman, Urologist (The Netherlands)

Honorary advisors are prominent scientists of international repute and high distinction that serve in advisory capacity to the E.P.S.A. committee. Their role is to provide advice to the committee on scientific and executive issues that come within their experience and expertise.

An Associate Member is someone that contributes to the objectives of E.P.S.A. by participating in projects that aim to facilitate the role of psycho-sexologists in Europe.

The Associate Member could be an EFS/ESSM certified psycho-sexologist (ECPS) that has demonstrated special interest in ESSM/EFS educational activities or has had an active role within national or international societies and would like to be involved in the work of the E.P.S.A.

Associate members are assigned specific tasks under the supervision of full members. Such tasks may involve, for example, mapping of educational events relevant to sexology or the dissemination of information relative to the exam etc.

If you would like to become an associate member please let us know!

Frequently Asked Questions

Although this is a title that ensures that applicants are accredited by the two largest European scientific societies of sexual health, national authorities are not obliged to recognize the title.

The duration is 3 hours for 100 MCQ questions.

Yes, the exam is in English language.

The results will be available within 1 month after the exam.

Applicants will be informed about their admittance to Stage 2 by the end of October and, about their admittance to Stage 3 before the end of the year.

The application form is very important, because it should demonstrate your special interest and expertise in the field of psycho-sexology. Please take care in order to describe the breadth of your experience and training as fully as possible.

No preparation material or course is mandatory. The EPSA committee may suggest the preparation course, the EFS and ESSM syllabus, as well as a list of peer reviewed papers, but neither is obligatory. These are endorsed by ESSM and EFS as suggested material.

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