Perhaps spurred by societal issues and a desire to help, more Russians are seeking clinical or practical psychological training. "Ten years ago, there was no department or university where we could even get training in psychotherapy," Maknach remembers. "Now we have several opportunities for training in Moscow and St. Petersburg."
Although psychology programs are still largely research-focused and located only in Russia's big cities, such as Moscow or Leningrad, says Maknach, that's a major improvement from the mere six psychology departments that existed in the entire Soviet Union before 1991. And now institutes can offer degrees in psychology, in addition to universities. But, according to Robert Solso, PhD, who taught at Moscow State University in 1980 as a Fulbright Scholar and has lectured there in recent years, there are some "fly-by-night" programs due to the lack of accreditation.
While the signs are good for the growth of psychological practice, one of the major obstacles is a lack of teaching resources. "There are not enough trained professionals who can teach psychology, so sometimes it is horrible," says Maknach.
"And there is little literature available," notes Janice Strength, PhD, a psychologist at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., who has been instrumental in establishing a graduate psychology program in Moscow.
When Strength first began visiting Russia in 1991, only Freud and a small portion of Jung's work had been translated into Russian, she says.
"Many authors commonly read in the West are still not available in Russian," she adds. "Most psychologists in Russia have read everything in the language. There's a finite amount of information available."
And then there's the "brain drain" problem, says Michael Cole, PhD, of University of California, San Diego, and editor of theJournal of Russian and Eastern European Psychology from 1969 until 2000. In the last five years, the Institute of Psychology has had to cut salaries by 40 percent. "Many professors will take on second jobs," says Solso. "One professor--a full professor and head of a laboratory--is working three jobs." Academically, there's been a sea change. Students were paid to go to school in the past; now many have to pay. So, some students and faculty leave the country to study or teach.