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Accredited Training Course in Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy

Le Sarment's course in Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy is intended for trainees who plan to pursue a professional career as psychotherapists. The training is accredited by the European Association for Transactional Analysis for the purpose of registration.

Accreditation and registration
Trainees completing the course will normally take the international examination set by the European Association for Transactional Analysis (EATA) for accreditation as a Certified Transactional Analyst (CTA) in the field of Psychotherapy. Success in the CTA examination normally qualifies you for Professional Membership of the TA Association of your home country (eg the UK Institute of Transactional Analysis). This membership, in turn, carries the right to be listed in the UKCP's National Register as a Transactional Analysis Psychotherapist. The CTA qualification is also recognised by TA organisations worldwide as a certificate of competence to practise. It is a necessary step if you intend going on to become a TA trainer within the international EATA/ITAA framework. If you wish to have advanced TA training and supervision to apply to your own practice, without taking the CTA examination, you may also attend the TA workshops.

Trainers' qualifications
All TA trainers on Le Sarment?s TA Psychotherapy course are accredited by the International Transactional Analysis Association (ITAA) and the European Association for Transactional Analysis (EATA). All training and supervision provided on the TA Psychotherapy course counts towards the hours credits set by ITAA and EATA for Advanced TA Training and TA Supervision.

Duration
Training takes place over 4 five-day workshops in each calendar year. The total duration of the course will depend on your own initial experience and background, since it may be possible to credit prior learning towards the total hours requirement; as a general guideline only, most trainees can expect to take up to four to five years between entering the training and taking their final examination.

Eligibility for entry to the course
To be eligible for the TA Psychotherapy course, you must:
 a) have a degree (or degree-equivalent qualification), preferably in the helping professions. (If you are in doubt about the degree-equivalence of your qualifications, please consult us for an opinion).
 b) have completed the official "TA 101" course or passed the "TA 101" open-book examination.
 c)  complete an intake interview with one of the trainers, (this may be by telephone if overseas) to the mutual satisfaction of trainer and trainee.
 d) take out membership of the EATA and pay the necessary EATA membership subscription.

Psychotherapy for trainees
For those taking the ongoing professional training, you are required to undergo personal psychotherapy. At a minimum, this should be psychotherapy of a type and frequency similar to that which you expect to provide after accreditation. We view this as a professional and ethical necessity, and it is also one of the requirements laid down by the TA awarding bodies. For the TA trainee, this implies membership of an ongoing TA psychotherapy group, as well as individual psychotherapy and participation in "marathons". We encourage you also to benefit from personal psychotherapy in modalities outside TA. Opportunities for personal psychotherapy are available in conjunction with the training programme. Alternatively or additionally, you may arrange to undertake psychotherapy with other recognised TA practitioners.

Requirements for accreditation in TA Psychotherapy
In order to become accredited as a Certified Transactional Analyst, you must meet the requirements laid down by the relevant committees of EATA. These are set forth in detail in the EATA Training and Examination Handbook (EATA, current edition 2003). In summary, to gain accreditation you must:
 a) complete a minimum number of hours of training, supervision and experience as outlined below.
 b) pass a written examination that includes a professional self-portrayal, a report on learning experiences during training, a detailed case study, and essays on TA theory and literature.
 c) pass an oral examination before an international examination board of accredited members (this will include presentation of taped work recorded during your application of TA). 
The number of hours requirement for eligibility for the CTA exam has recently been revised by EATA's Professional Training and Standards Committee (PTSC). The revised figures (EATA Training and Examination Handbook, 2003 revision) are as stated in the following list:
 a) In all, there must be at least 2,000 hours of professional preparation for the CTA examination, including training, supervision, practical experience and personal development.
 b) Of these hours, there must be a minimum of:
     i. 750 hours' practical experience (of which at least 500 must be as primary practitioner using TA, and at least 150 of which must be of work with groups, couples or families).
     ii. 150 hours' supervision (of which at least 75 must be in TA by a PTSTA or TSTA).
     iii. 600 hours of training and professional development (of which at least 300 must be TA training).
 c) The additional hours (i.e. up to the overall total of 2000 hours) can be accrued according to national requirements and guidelines, and may take the form of additional training, psychiatric placement, supervision, personal psychotherapy, seminar presentation, peer case discussion etc.

You are expected and encouraged to gain a substantial proportion of your Advanced Training and TA Supervision hours totals by working with accredited TA trainers outside Le Sarment.
Back-dating: where you have already undertaken training or supervision, or had career experience, in psychotherapy or a closely related field, EATA regulations normally allow back-dating of some of the relevant hours to contribute to the required totals.