Becoming an AEDP Certified Therapist reflects a practitioner’s adept application of AEDP principles and techniques in clinical settings. Certification, granted by the AEDP Institute, acknowledges therapists reaching a significant level of proficiency and competency within this therapeutic model. It signifies adherence to the Institute’s standards for excellence in delivering AEDP therapy. Attaining certification underscores a commitment to excellence and the facilitation of growth, healing, and transformation in clients and supervisees alike.
This recognition is achieved through mastery of the theoretical framework, skillful utilization of AEDP interventions across varied clinical scenarios, and a deep alignment with AEDP’s principles, mission, ethos, and values. Certification symbolizes the completion of rigorous training, supervision, and clinical experience in AEDP, affirming therapists’ ability to effectively apply AEDP techniques across diverse client populations.
Reasons why you should become an AEDP Certified Therapist
AEDP certification offers mental health professionals a pathway to deepen their clinical expertise, expand their professional opportunities, and make a meaningful impact in the lives of their clients. It represents a commitment to excellence and a dedication to providing compassionate and effective care to individuals seeking healing and transformation.
How to become an AEDP Certified Therapist
Consult with your Level 3 AEDP Certified Supervisor or faculty member about your readiness to start the certification process.
You must have achieved Level 3 to begin Certification. Level 3 signifies a comprehensive understanding and proficiency in the fundamental principles, techniques, and interventions of AEDP. It ensures that practitioners have a solid grounding in the theory and practice of AEDP and a certain level of clinical competence and experience in applying AEDP concepts and techniques in therapeutic settings., which serves as a foundation for certification.
Certification Guidelines for Therapists
Part l. Certification Process and Package Requirements
Part ll. Guidelines for Selection of Clinical Video Recordings
Part lll Guidelines and Format for Microanalysis
Part IV. Review Process by AEDP Faculty and Certified Supervisor
Part I. Certification Process and Package Requirements
Certification Process Requirements:
- You have achieved level 3
- You have worked with 2 different supervisors. If you have only worked with one supervisor to reach level three, then you will need to choose a different supervisor to be your Certification Supervisor (see step 3). If you have already worked with two different supervisors then you may choose one of them to be your Certification Supervisor, or you may choose someone different
- You now will work with your Certification Supervisor for a minimum of 10 additional hours of individual supervision preparing your Certification Package
- You will submit a letter of recommendation from your Certification Supervisor affirming the completeness and readiness of your package for review. recommendation letter(s) should be emailed to Carolyn.f@aedpinstitute.org. Upon receipt of your letter, you will be provided with instructions on uploading your certification package to the AEDP dropbox account
- You submit your Certification Package!
Certification Package Requirements:
- A copy of your state license -or the local equivalent to ‘state license’ in your region/country
- A Completed AEDP Level form- Click here
- Two video recordings of two different clinical sessions (see ‘selection of videos’ in Part II)
- Transcripts, in English, of each of the two video recordings
- A microanalysis of each video recording, annotating the AEDP principles and interventions applied in the psychotherapy sessions (see format for microanalysis in part III)
- Descriptive paragraphs of each of the two clients whose video recordings are included and their treatment processes.
Exceptions:
The AEDP Institute has a deep commitment to supporting members of our community who can demonstrate their readiness to be AEDP Certified but may have challenges meeting particular certification process or package requirements. To learn about possible exceptions, please reach out to Carolyn Fitzgerald, AEDP Certification Coordinator, at carolyn.f@aedpinstitute.org
Part ll. Guidelines for Selection of Clinical Video Recordings
Submitting two examples of clinical work from two different patients demonstrating the integration of AEDP theory with your clinical practice is a pivotal requirement in the AEDP certification process. For therapists who operate in agency settings or other environments where video recording is prohibited, please reach out to Carolyn at carolyn.f@aedpinstitute.org for further guidance.
Your Video Recordings:
When clinical session videos are conducted in a language other than English, ensure that transcripts are provided not only in English but also include timestamps. This facilitates reviewers in following the transcript while watching the tapes.
Two clinical session recordings from two different clients -Each submission should consist of:
- Two clinical session recordings from two distinct clients.
- Each session video should range from 25 to 40 minutes in length with no more than 2 edits.
- Each video serves as an opportunity for you to showcase your proficiency in applying clinical skills using AEDP interventions.
The first clinical sample should depict work with a new patient and should be drawn from an early session (sessions 1 to 4).
The second clinical sample should demonstrate work from either the middle or concluding phase of an AEDP treatment with a different patient.
These two clinical examples should illustrate the therapist guiding the client through all four states of the AEDP transformational process. For instance, in the first tape, there should be movement from state 1 to state 2, and in the second tape, movement from state 3 to state 4.
Please remember: To safeguard yourself and your clients, be sure that you have written consent for sharing all videos with supervisors.
Part III. Guidelines and Format for Microanalysis
Within your Certification Package, you will incorporate microanalyses of the two clinical session video recordings you’ve submitted. The objectives of microanalysis are twofold: to furnish reviewers with theoretical underpinnings for the specific intervention strategies showcased in your clinical practice and to provide you a rewarding learning experience that validates and enriches your self-reflection.
At the outset of each case, include a paragraph or two delineating the pertinent psychosocial history, along with any other relevant information such as early clinical observations and assessments, to orient reviewers to the client and the treatment progression thus far.
Accompany your videotapes with microanalysis annotations that describe how you apply AEDP theory to your corresponding interventions. Some narrative may be incorporated into the microanalysis as you delineate the process of intervening and integrating theory into your practice.
In your annotations, demonstrate a capacity for self-supervision; this may include detailing self-awareness, self-regulation and interventions you would have liked to have made / not made (i.e. please comment on interventions you, in retrospect, wish you had made that might have been a better track to follow.)
Format of the microanalysis can be done in one of two ways:
Format 1): Therapist and patient verbal communications are in regular print. Non-verbal communication/body language is in italics and in parenthesis. Therapist comments on the process, the theory, the interventions are [in bold in brackets.] Below is an example:
Th: If instead of doing the “so what” with a joke, or “that’s life,” [urging patient to relinquish defense]
Pt: Uh huh
Th: If you let yourself stay with this feeling (slowing down, sobering ), the sense of emptiness, this inner sense of (deep sigh, grave tone of voice )… having to work so hard to keep something away. [affective resonance]
Pt: Yeah… (also slowing down and sobering ) it’s tiring. [deepening experience]
Th: It’s very exhausting (amplified exhausted intonation )… Mmmmmm…. [amplifying affective experience] I mean right now it seems to me like we’re sort of approaching this from the outside because it’s a scary place to be [empathic identification of fear]. Pt: Yeah, it is…mmm… I don’t know… Sometimes I wonder, is this it? Is this what life is about? It feels empty… (pained tone ) [deepening of despair]
Or…….
Format 2): Use a grid in which you put the content on the left side and the commentary about the interventions, theory and process on the right side.
See example below (you may want to look at the transcripts in the AEDP 2.0 Book for other examples):
Part IV. Review Process by AEDP Faculty and Certified Supervisor
The review process commences once your Certification Supervisor sends their letter of recommendation to Carolyn Fitzgerald at Carolyn.f@aedpinstitute.org.
This letter may encompass the candidate’s clinical journey, as well as the developmental journeys of both the candidate and the clients; for instance, detailing how “the client had experienced significant emotional growth, even in the absence of overt emotional expressions.”
Upon receipt of the recommendation letter, Carolyn will provide you with a link to a HIPAA-compliant AEDP Dropbox folder for the upload of all contents within your certification package.
Two reviewers will be designated, ideally comprising one faculty member and one certified supervisor. Subsequently, the review process will initiate, with an expected duration of up to 10 weeks.
Please note there is a $300 certification fee, and an invoice will be dispatched once your reviewers are confirmed. For inquiries regarding scholarship availability, kindly contact Carolyn.
download the certification guidelines pdf here
download the reviewer worksheet here