Specific Competencies
'Specific' Competencies are those that are additionally specified - over and above, or alongside - the Core Competencies, either:
- 1. Because they considered as essential and necessary by a particular type of mainstream, modality or method of psychotherapy, or
- 2. Because they are those that may be specified as 'necessary' by a particular country, according to their national regulations or laws.
We are about to start developing these Specific Competencies, starting in July 2012. This is the next phase,Phase 2, of the Project after the development of the Core Competencies (Phase 1); and after this, the Specialist Competencies will also need to be developed, which will become Phase 3 of the project (see Diagram).
The Process for Phase 2:
- We have started off by defining the ‘process’ for Phase 2 of the Project as Establishing the ‘Specific’ Competencies: i.e. those competencies that are additional to the Core Competencies and that are (a) 'specific' to a particular modality (as identified by a European Wide Organisation: EWO) and/or (b) 'specific' to the practice of psychotherapy in a particular country (as identified by a National Umbrella Organisation: NUO)
- We therefore need small groups of people, coming mainly from within the existing EWOs and NUOs, to get together and start to work on these Specific Competencies - from July 2012 onwards.
- There should be just one Specific Competency group for any particular modality (working for/with an EWO) and one for any particular country (working for/with an NAO). The groups (formed by/with the EWOs and/or NAOs) should ideally include all relevant European Accredited Psychotherapy Training Institutes (EAPTIs) in that modality or that country.
- Specific Competency groups will need to register with the Project Working Group and identify the members of the group and any contact information. Such groups should be ‘open’ to new members, or to accepting input from other people, as long as these people fit the basic criteria.
- The main condition in forming such a group is that: (1) there must be (at least) one person in the Specific Competency group who has already been registered as a Participant and been involved in completing the PAS forms for the draft Core Competencies.
- And there are some other conditions: (2) These small groups must contain at least one representative from a particular EWO (for the modality) or a particular NUO (for the country); If there is no relevant EWO, we will accept a group formed from more than one EAPTI in that modality. Ideally, most or all of the EAPTIs in a modality, or a country, will also be represented, one way or another These groups need to be representative..
- These Specific Competencies group(s) should also as a condition: (3) start to list their Specific Competencies in a manner and style similar to the Core Competencies, and as precisely and as simply as possible, in the format provided, and submit them to the Working Group on Professional Competencies: committee@psychotherapy-competency.eu We cannot accept formats that are widely different or over complicated.
- In this 2nd phase, you are the experts now! We (in the Working Group) probably do not know very much about the Specific Competencies of your particular modality or country. You are the people who should and will be identifying these. We will simply receive these Specific Competencies that you write, as long as they are submitted in the correct format, and we will publish them on the Project website. We (the Working Group) will not, repeat not, be writing any Specific Competencies. If you don't write them, they just won't get written.
- We trust that everyone will work to see that this phase should be nearly completed by February 2013, finalised by July 2013, and (hopefully) fully accepted in October 2013.
A couple of further points:
- If you feel that some of the present (draft) Core Competencies are not relevant to your modality or to your country, you must say so – via the original PAS forms – as quickly as possible. We need to start ‘migrating’ some of the Core Competencies that (perhaps) are not quite so ‘core’.
- You may share some ‘Specific Competencies’ with other modalities: i.e. there may be some ‘humanistic’ competencies that are specific to several ‘humanistic’ modalities: or some ‘systemic competencies’ that are common to the various systemic psychotherapies: that is fine. They are ‘specific’ to this modality and to that modality, but not ‘core’ to all modalities.
- What we really want are the competencies that are additional to, over and above, the basic Core Competencies and those that are unique to and that help to define your particular psychotherapeutic modality, or the psychotherapy practice in your country. The format with which to develop these is outlined here. The forms will be available on the Project website.
So, once these Specific Competencies have been compiled by the various EWOs and NAOs, there might then need to be another “sorting out’ process. In the survey process with the PAS forms, some of the Core Competencies may have been identified more as Specific Competencies (e.g more 'humanistic' or more 'psychodynamic' and thus not totally ‘core’ to every psychotherapist); so there may have to be some “sorting out” done already this way. Additionally, some of the Specific Competencies coming from the various modalities or countries (in Phase 2) may be agreed to be more like Core Competencies: i.e. acceptable to all - so some may need to be sorted that way. This second 'migration of competencies' should complete both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Project.
At the same time, from about October 2012 to about July 2013 (hopefully), we will also inviting small specialist groups of people with common interests to work on the more 'Specialist' Competencies: this will be Phase 3.
(see more information here).