Advanced Clinician Requirements
Why are we changing the requirements in Feb 2009?
In 2004 a Course Catalog was printed with some new requirements for the Advanced Clinician Status, which were significantly more demanding than any previously in place. More recently in discussion with the faculty it emerged that not all the faculty supported this change, and therefore these new requirements were not uniformly enforced when faculty conferred this status on Imago Therapists.
A review was necessary to establish realistic but demanding standards for Advanced Clinicians, which could be uniformly applied.
Why was a two-tier system proposed in Feb 2009?
In reviewing the Advanced Clinician status faculty members asked questions like:
- How would this best support therapists as they develop their Imago skills
- How can we more clearly articulate to clients the significance of the advanced clinician status and relate it to specific skills
The two-tier approach was proposed, in which therapists would first attain AdvancedClinician Level 1, and later Level 2. It was an attempt toestablish atraining programwhere a therapist progressively learned specific advanced skills, and followed a journey towards increased clinical excellence.
What happened to the two-tier system?
We hadn't ancipated a major downside to the two-tier system, which is that it inherently devalues the Advanced Clinician Certifications that had already been awarded.
Even if existing Advanced Clinicians are automatically awarded Advanced Clinician 2 status, the feeling is that there is not enough distinction between how level 1 and level 2 are percieved by clients.
In addition, many people found the two-tiers confusing. As a result of this feedback the two-tier system was withdrawn the day after it was issued.
What happens now?
The first step is for the Faculty Task Force to meet to come up with proposed new requirements, and we expect this to be for a single-tier system.
The Task Force will then seek Faculty support, and once we have this the new requirements will be reviewed by a committee of the Board - Professional Training and Standards. We may need another Board discussion too.
Our hope is to get this process done within the next 3-4 weeks. Meanwhile for those working to Advanced Clinician Status we provide some indication of what to expect below.
What are the current requirements for Advanced Clinician as of Feb 2009?
We currently have no agreed upon requirements in place, and will not be able to award any more Certifications for a few weeks.
However our expectation is that there will be a single Advanced Clinician level with requirements as follows:
Certification Requirement:Two years certification as an IRT
Course Requirements:84 CEUs of Approved Advanced Clinical Training* (not to include hours awarded for supervision/ consultation) Including: Course 501:Singles Clinical Training and Course 504: Characterological Growth. (In future we may add: Receiving Love)
Supervision Requirement:Either 12 hours of individual or 24 group supervision with a Clinical Instructor or Certified Supervisor/Consultant. Hours must be completed after Certification as an Imago Therapist
Tape (DVD) Assessment:Two DVDs: 1: Behavior Change Request, 2: Seamless flow
These DVDs should be submitted with a self-evaluation using the standard scoring sheet for the relevant process, showing a total over 70%. For each DVD we will assign a Clinical Instructor to review your self-evaluation, and provide feedback. The reviewers are likely to be someone who did not review your Basic Clinical tape.
Please follow this link to see the complete proposed Catalogue Entry for Advanced Clinician.
We expect to complete discussions about these and publish new requirements by mid-March.
How do I apply to become an Advanced Clinician?
Once the requirements are clear, we will make an application form available. You can use that to list your Imago training. We will then arrange for you to submit clinicalDVDs for evaluation.
What if I want to make a comment?
Please send comments to Tim Atkinson, Executive Director