Practitioner Level Certification Standards

[ABE Psychodrama]

Dear All,
Please remember that the Board has two levels of certification:  Certified Practitioner (CP) and Trainer, Education and Practitioner (TEP).  The comments about our requirements have generally been correct but these requirements refer only to the practitioner level.  Listed below are the certified practitioner requirements:


CERTIFIED PRACTITIONER STANDARDS

 

1. EDUCATION

A. A master's degree
from an accredited university in a field relevant to the applicant's areas of
practice. Note: Individuals certified by the Board are expected to practice
and/or train only within their areas of competence.

B. Applicants must
document postgraduate training/education in the following areas: human growth
and development, theories of personality, abnormal behavior (psychopathology),
methods of psychotherapy, and social systems. Applicants who are master's level
licensed mental health professionals or applicants who have master's level
mental health degrees are assumed to have these competencies and are not
required to document the training and education. Examples of these master level
mental health degrees include Master's level degrees in Counseling or Clinical
Psychology, Social Work, Mental Health Counseling or Pastoral Counseling,
Expressive Arts Therapies, Art Therapy, Dance/ Movement Therapy, Drama Therapy,
Music Therapy and Psychodrama.

 

2. TRAINING

A. A minimum of 780
hours of training in psychodrama, sociometry and group psychotherapy from
individuals certified by the Board.

B. A maximum of 100
hours of the required 780 training hours may be waived if the applicant is
either a master's level licensed mental health professional, or certified or
registered from the following professional associations: American Art Therapy
Association, American Dance Therapy Association, American Music Therapy
Association, and The National Association for Drama Therapy.

C. A maximum 160 hours
of the required 780 training hours may be from individuals certified as
practitioners and formally admitted as a Practitioner Applicant for Trainer
(PAT) or certified trainer/educator/practitioners (TEPs) by Board of Examiners
from other countries that have established formal reciprocity agreements with
the Board.

D. A maximum of 100
hours of the required 780 training hours may be obtained from individuals other
than TEPs and PATs provided that the training occurred at local, regional, and
national conferences sponsored by the American Society of Group Psychotherapy
and Psychodrama, The American Group Psychotherapy Association and the National
Association for Drama Therapy.

E. Except for the
exemptions listed above (B, C, D) all other training hours must be from
individuals certified as trainer, educator, and practitioners (TEPs) by the
Board.

 

3. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

A. Fifty-two weeks of
supervised experience in the practice of psycho-drama, sociometry and group
psychotherapy is required. The supervised experience practice must be current
with the application for certification. The supervised experience must be
completed within four years from the date of application for certification.

B. The fifty-two weeks
of supervised experience can only begin after a minimum of 80 hours of training
has been completed and the primary trainer approves the supervised field
experience.

C. The fifty-two weeks
of supervised experience is to be comprised of 80 psychodrama sessions, each a
minimum of 60 minutes in length. The population served by these sessions may be
individuals, couples, families and groups. All the sessions may be group
sessions, but if they are not, a majority of these sessions (41 or more) must
be group sessions. The format for all these psychodrama sessions must use
action based experiential methods that may include but are not limited to
psychodrama, sociodrama, action sociometry, behavioral rehearsal, social skill
training, bibliodrama, and play-back theater. All the sessions may be
psychodrama sessions, but if they are not, a majority (41 or more) must be
psychodrama sessions. The supervised experience may take place over a time
period of not less than one year and not more than four years.

 

4. SUPERVISION

A. At least 40
supervision sessions of at least fifty minutes each must be obtained for the 80
psychodrama sessions that make up the field experience.

B. One half of these
supervision sessions (20) must be provided by a TEP, while the remaining half
(20) may be provided by any clinical supervisor who has been approved by the
primary trainer as qualified to supervise sessions in psychodrama, sociometry
and group psychotherapy.

 

5. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Appropriate professional memberships,
activities and/or publications which demonstrate the applicant's participation
in the fields of psychodrama, sociometry and group psychotherapy.

 

6. ENDORSEMENTS OF COMPETENCY

A. Following successful
completion of the above minimum requirements for professional training,
supervision and practice candidates are required to obtain three endorsements
of professional competency.

B. Two of the three
endorsements must be made from a primary trainer (TEP) and a secondary trainer
(TEP) who attest to the applicant's professional competence and readiness to
take and successfully complete the examination process. The third endorsement
may be from any professional in the applicant's area of practice who attests to
the applicant's professional competence.

C. Each endorser must
have witnessed a candidate direct a psychodrama session on at least two
occasions within the past three years and must be willing to endorse the
applicant for certification. Endorsements of competency cannot be obtained from
family members, personal friends, professional colleagues who are financial or
business partners, and colleagues who were on-going group members in the
applicant's training groups.

 

THE EXAMINATION PROCESS

Individuals who are formally admitted
to the examination process are candidates for certification.

 

1. COMPREHENSIVE WRITTEN
EXAMINATION

Candidates must successfully complete
a comprehensive written examination in the knowledge, skills, and abilities to
conduct group sessions in the fields of psychodrama, sociometry and group
psychotherapy. The comprehensive written examination assesses candidates on
seven areas: History, Philosophy, Methodology, Sociometry, Ethics,
Research/Evaluation and Related Fields.

 

2. ON-SITE EXAMINATION

A Board examiner will be appointed to
assess the session using a standardized evaluation form. The on-site
examination assesses a candidate's ability to conduct a group psychodrama
session which includes a warm-up, action structures, closure and sharing. The
on-site examination also assesses the ability of the candidate to process the session
with the examiner after the group session is completed, and the group members
are no longer present.

 

TIME DEADLINES

There is no expiration of training
hours, but the supervised professional practice and supervision must be
completed within four years of the application for certification.

 






Dale Richard Buchanan, Ph.D., T.E.P.

Executive Director, American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama,

Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy

202-483-0514

abepsychodrama at yahoo.com

www.psychodramacertification.org


      
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