Becoming an AEDP® Certified Supervisor
What you need to know and do to join our community of Certified Supervisors
Embarking on the path to AEDP Certification is a transformative journey that enriches both your clinical practice and professional growth. This process strengthens your therapeutic skills while preparing you to mentor and guide other therapists in AEDP. Along the way, you’ll deepen your mastery of AEDP principles, experience personal and professional growth, and make a meaningful impact on the lives of clients and colleagues alike. Becoming a Certified Supervisor is your opportunity to contribute to the vibrancy and excellence of the AEDP community.
“AEDP supervisors are taught an expert “recipe” for well-rounded, left-brain and right-brain learning. The same tenets of creating a delicious meal apply to AEDP supervision and training: explicit care, measurement, and balance are key. What is created together is a transformative, visceral, and professionally effective experience that — in one moment — therapeutically strengthens the core self of the therapist, nurturing emergent professional potential, receptive affective capacity, presence and psychological flexibility — and in the next — is infused with AEDP theory and essential skills, connected to the viewing of the videotaped client and session being shared between us”
-Michael Mondoro-
Become a Supervisor-in-Training
To apply for the AEDP Supervisor-in-Training track, applicants must be AEDP Certified Therapists for at least one year and meet the requirements within the year prior to applying.
Requirements to Become a Supervisor-in-Training
Experiential Assisting: You must assist in at least one Immersion and three ES1 modules, with positive feedback from both participants and Lead Assistants. By the time you apply for full Supervisor Certification, you must have assisted at least three additional times, also with positive reviews, plus one additional AEDP-related activity, see below.
For non-English-speaking candidates or those in time zones that make assisting in Institute-sponsored courses challenging, equivalent assisting in Institute-recognized trainings (online or in-person), AEDP supervision groups, or Core Trainings with positive feedback is acceptable. Contact the AEDP Certification Committee if needed.
Reading Requirement: Read Supervision Essentials of AEDP by Natasha Prenn, LCSW, and Diana Fosha, PhD.
Supervision of Supervision: You must identify two Supervisors of Supervision, at least one of whom must be AEDP faculty, who agree to supervise you through the Supervisor Certification process. Ideally, you should work with at least one supervisor you haven’t worked with before.
Each of your supervisors will need to agree to the following:
- provide at least 10 hours of supervision of your videotaped supervision sessions (no maximum),
- complete a joint application form submitted to AEDP Administration at carolyn.f@aedpinstitute.org,
- evaluate your progress based on the certification rubric, and one of the two supervisors will also help you prepare and review your Supervisor Certification Culminating Project before submission.
Application Requirements to Become a Supervisor-in-Training
Submit your application to Carolyn Fitzgerald, AEDP Administrator responsible for certification, at carolyn.f@aedpinstitute.org. She will verify your experiential assisting hours, participant feedback, Lead EA letters, and any required documentation from your licensing board or insurer.
Once verified, your application will be forwarded to the Supervisor Certification Review Board, which will review it and either contact you with questions or formally welcome you as an AEDP Supervisor-in-Training.
Upon approval, your name, photo, and bio will be added to the Supervisor webpage; your email will be added to the Google Groups findasupervisor@aedpinstitute.org and Supervisors-in-Training@aedpinstitute.org; and your AEDP Directory Listing will be updated to reflect your new level. (We recommend that all Certified Therapists and Supervisors-in-Training have an AEDP membership and Directory Listing.)
Important Notes for the Supervisor-in-Training
Supervisors-in-Training may provide supervision to therapists of any level. A maximum of 10 total supervision hours, whether from one or multiple Supervisors-in-Training, may be applied immediately toward AEDP Level 3 supervision requirements.
Additional supervision beyond these 10 hours is encouraged for learning and consultation; however, these extra hours may be applied toward a therapist’s Level 3 requirements only once the Supervisor(s)-in-Training have become Certified Supervisors.
Supervisors-in-Training may not serve as Certification Supervisors for Level 3 therapists seeking certification.
[Download guidelines here]
Graduating From Supervisor-in-Training to Certified Supervisor
The anticipated timeframe for certification as an AEDP Supervisor is approximately two (2) years after becoming a Supervisor-in-Training, though it may take longer depending on individual progress.
Requirements to Become a Certified Supervisor
Supervision of Supervision: Complete a minimum of 20 hours of supervision of supervision. At least 10 hours with each of your two Supervisors. One supervisor must be AEDP Faculty. (There is no maximum number of hours. You will receive as many hours as needed to reach certification readiness)
Experiential Assisting: Complete a minimum of one Immersion/ five ES1 modules/ one Advanced Skills Module
(keep in mind, The Immersion and three of the five ES1 modules were required in order to apply to the Supervisor-in-Training Track.)
Complete one additional AEDP activity while you are a Supervisor-in-Training: e.g., guest presentation, regional engagement, participation in the AEDP Research project, write a Transformance Journal article or another published piece, present a Clinicians Corner, Teach or co-teach a seminar, etc.
- Guest presentation
- Regional engagement
- Participation in AEDP research
- Writing a Transformance Journal article or other published piece
- Presenting a Clinicians’ Corner
- Teaching
- Or another AEDP-approved professional contribution (the board may ask for more information)
Letter of Recommendations from each Supervisor: Obtain a written recommendation from each of your supervisors confirming your readiness for certification. Email Carolyn with your letter, updated assisting hours and your AEDP-related activity and she will forward this along with your package to the board.
Culminating Project: To demonstrate supervisory competence, submit a Culminating Project consisting of recorded supervision and microanalysis that provides evidence — according to the Supervisor Certification Rubric — of all seven required rubric items (see rubric). The AEDP Supervisory Stance (Item 1) must be evident in all submitted videos, and the AEDP spirit should be present throughout.
Video Requirements
- Submit one or two unedited video clips from one or two supervision sessions
- Each clip must be 15–25 minutes in length (Total submission time should be 30–50 minutes)
- All videos must include supervision of a recorded therapy session.
Recorded material allows the Review Board to directly observe clinical interventions and the application of AEDP principles. Unlike supervision based only on supervisee report, recordings provide a more accurate, detailed, and fair assessment.
Microanalysis Format (choose one)
- A Written Microanalysis: A time-stamped transcript with analysis
- Oral Microanalysis (Zoom): A recorded presentation where you present your microanalysis of the screen-shared video session(s) to one or both of your supervisors, or as a self-recorded oral presentation
For Zoom/oral presentations: Clearly track and verbally “check off” each element of the Certification Rubric during your discussion Presentations may be recorded with or without a Supervisor present
Submission Process
Once your Culminating Project is complete, email Carolyn with your two letters of recommendations, updated assisting hours and one additional AEDP-related activity. You will then receive directions for uploading your materials to the AEDP Dropbox.
Once uploaded, your complete submission package will be forwarded to the Supervisor Review Board for review. Refer to the committee Webpage [here] for the most up-to-date application deadlines.
A $300 application fee applies. Carolyn Fitzgerald will issue a Stripe or PayPal invoice once your materials are uploaded.
Review and Certification
The Certification Review Board meets quarterly to review submissions and announce newly certified AEDP Supervisors. Materials submitted before a published deadline will be reviewed in the following three-month cycle. Upon approval, candidates will receive a formal letter of congratulations from the Review Board, an AEDP Supervisor Certificate of Achievement, and an announcement on the AEDP community listserv as well as in AEDP News. Additionally, newly certified Supervisors will be added to the AEDP Certified Supervisors webpage and the Supervisors Google Groups.