The APT Accreditation system for Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT).
The Association for Psychological Therapies offers the following levels of accreditation for practitioners of Compassion-Focused Therapy, intended to provide a clear and transparent record of the level competence you are maintaining and to be of high relevance to employers.
The accreditation is given weight by over 150,000 professionals having attended APT courses and thereby gained APT accreditation in their course-subject at levels ranging from 1 to 5, from introductory to advanced.
You might consider levels 1 to 3 as being where you are acquainting yourself with Compassion-Focused Therapy. At levels four and five you might reasonably describe yourself as specialising in Compassion-Focused Therapy. Always assuming that you have a relevant underpinning professional qualifications such as psychology, psychiatry, mental health nursing, occupational therapy, or social work.
The Levels below refer to the accreditation you acquire by attending APT training, or by submitting a record of equivalent training you have received from elsewhere for verification by the APT (note, the training must have been completed within the last 3 years).
APT Accreditation, Level 1 in Compassion-Focused Therapy is the level of accreditation you obtain by attending APT's CFT Essentials course.
Your accreditation currently lasts for 3 years, and is renewable by attending a refresher course, sitting an online refresher or by submitting evidence of practice and reflections thereon. (There is a form available for this, click here.)
APT Accreditation, Level 2 means you have received training as in Level 1, and also passed the APT's online exam in Compassion-Focused Therapy.
Your accreditation lasts for 3 years from the date you completed CFT Essentials or equivalent, and is renewable by sitting and passing the online exam again and paying the prevailing fee.
APT Accreditation, Level 3 means that you have Level 2 accreditation and
- EITHER have attended at least a further 3 days training in CFT or a qualifying course (qualifying courses from the APT include: CBT Essentials, DBT Essentials, Motivational Interviewing, and Mindfulness).
- OR can submit evidence of having undertaken formally supervised practice of CFT for at least 6 months since attending CFT Essentials or equivalent.
Level 3 accreditation lasts for 3 years, and is renewable by submitting evidence of practice and reflections on that practice, with the prevailing fee. (There is a form available for this, click here.)
APT Accreditation, Level 4 means you have Level 3 accreditation and have attended a minimum of at least 3 additional days qualifying training, which will probably be APT's CFT Masterclass or equivalent.
Level 4 accreditation lasts for 3 years, and is renewable by submitting evidence of CFT practice and your reflections on your practice, with the prevailing fee. (There is a form available for this, click here.)
APT Accreditation, Level 5 requires you to have Level 4 accreditation in CFT and additionally submit a set project to an acceptable standard. The purpose of the project is to illustrate that you can effectively apply the knowledge and skills gained from your training to a clinical situation. The pass level for this is demanding, in that the project needs to be at a standard that could be published on this site as an example of APT's Level 5 accreditation in CFT.
Level 5 accreditation is renewable by submitting evidence of practice and your reflections on it, with the prevailing fee. (There is a form available for this, click here.)
Quick Links
The APT Accreditation System ❯
Motivational Interviewing Accreditation ❯
Solution-Focused Therapy Accreditation ❯
Trauma-Focused CBT Accreditation ❯
Onsite Courses.
The majority of our mental health training courses are provided this way - we come to you and train a group of up to 15 people for an all-inclusive fee.
Online Courses.
Obtain APT-quality input at a time that is convenient to you and minimizes the need for 'cover' normally associated with training.
