History and development

Our headquarter, the SFU-Vienna

Founded in Vienna in 2003 by Dr. Alfred Pritz, Prof. Jutta Fiegl, Heinz Laubreuter, and Elisabeth Vykoukal, Sigmund Freud University (SFU) is a private university officially accredited by the Austrian state since 2005.

Inspired by Sigmund Freud’s 1926 work, The Question of Lay Analysis, SFU aimed to transform psychotherapy into the Science of Psychotherapy, structurally based on scientific foundations. The Faculty of Psychology was founded in 2006. The psychological approach taught at SFU is explicitly linked to cultural studies and social sciences. In this respect, SFU offers an alternative to the more common approaches that consider psychology as belonging to the natural sciences.

To affirm its European identity, SFU established its first branch in Paris in 2006, followed by branches in Ljubljana, Berlin, Milan, and Linz. All branches offer training in psychotherapy and psychology in the local language.

As an accredited university, all degrees and titles conferred by SFU are internationally recognized, subject, particularly in France, to the recognition of professional qualifications (see Recognition of SFU’s Programs by France).

The academic programs are regularly subjected to reaccreditation procedures for quality assurance purposes.

SFU-Paris

SFU-Paris was established from the desire of Sigmund Freud University Vienna to offer its specialized training internationally, first in Psychotherapy and then in Psychology since 2003.

The name “SFU” was obviously chosen with care. Indeed, Sigmund Freud is universally recognized as the “Father of Psychoanalysis,” with a history closely linked to the city of Vienna. However, while this name was chosen for its symbolic value, it does not fully define the training offered, as, on the contrary, multidisciplinary and multireferentiality are at the core of the teachings provided at SFU.

It is based on this innovative and pioneering proposition that SFU-Paris opened its doors in 2007 and received its first official accreditation in 2009.

Accreditation

Sigmund Freud University is an accredited private university under Austrian law. It offers study programmes in Vienna and at the following locations: Linz, Berlin, Ljubljana, Milan and Paris. The academic degrees awarded in the individual programmes are Austrian degrees which are recognized in the European Higher Education Area.

SFU-Paris report

Report on the 2009 accreditation process for the Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in “Psychotherapy Sciences” at SFU Paris.

SFU-Paris Accreditation in Psychotherapy

University Regulations

The Admission and Examination Regulations, the Faculty and Appointment Regulations and the Habilitation Regulations are published at Notifications by the Senate.

Please note that some of the information below is only available in German.

Discover the documents (here).