PBSP Accreditation Requirements: Practice & Supervision
 

There are two terms used in describing PBSP qualification: Evaluation and Accreditation. Evaluation is the process which takes place at the end of the 3-year approved training, to let participants know where they are in their PBSP practice.  It includes achievements and development points.

Accreditation (referred to in the USA and Europe as Certification) is a process that takes place one or more years later.  It requires a higher level of competence and expertise in using PBSP.

To apply for Accreditation, participants will have completed the three year approved PBSP training and will subsequently have been supervised in running groups leading structures as a therapist.

Details of practice and supervision requirements are listed below, followed by a short note on the provision of evidence and the process of Accreditation.

Leading practice structures

• The therapist conducts a minimum of 100 full structures (which may take approx 150 hours) before they apply for Accreditation. Most of these structures will be run after completion of the PSBP training.
• You may count up to five full structures run outside the course, after module 4 (and before the end of module 6) of the PBSP training, and all full structures you run outside of the course after you have completed module 6.  These will be full structures you run as a therapist with your own group(s) that you have organised.
• A minimum of 70% of the 100 structures should be face to face.  Up to 30% can be online.
• If you lead a structure in a live supervision group, you can choose to count it as a supervision hour, or as a structure you have led, depending on where you need more hours.  You cannot use the same hour for 2 different things (or you would only have to get half the number of structures!).
• Structures or parts of structures run by trainees during the actual training hours in the course, that are shared between three (or two) therapists, are not countable.
• A one-to-one session that is mostly ‘consultation’ but that brings in Ideal Parents in the last fifteen minutes would not be counted as a full structure.
• At least half of the total 100 pre-Accreditation structures must be conducted in groups.  This is to ensure continued practice and experience in working with PBSP fundamentals, such as the use of touch, accommodation and interaction.
• Up to 50 of the pre-Accreditation structures can be conducted in one-to-one sessions.
• Various workshop formats are acceptable: morning, afternoon or evening sessions with one / two structures, whole-day offerings where three or four structures might be conducted, or a residential workshop which offers a larger number of total structures.
• For example, if you were to run 50 sessions of practice groups (perhaps 3 hours per session) in workshop format that would meet the requirement, assuming two structures were held in each of the three hour sessions.
• Each group session must contain at least three client participants.
• It is good practice for your own continued learning to film / audio-record and review some of the structures that you lead.  These can be used in your supervision

Ongoing supervision is important, starting as soon as you begin to lead PBSP groups or one-to-one structures.  This is likely to begin in the second year of the training and will continue through the post-training, pre-Accreditation period and beyond.  Regular supervision optimises your continued personal and professional growth as a PBSP therapist. The notes below are fairly detailed to encourage your fulfilling the supervision requirement.

• PBSP supervision is be undertaken by an Accredited PBSP Supervisor.
• A minimum of 35 hours’ supervision in total is required during the pre-Accreditation period. This equates to an hour of supervision for approximately every three structures.
• PBSP Supervision can take place in various modes. A therapist may focus one-to-one with a Supervisor on film of their PBSP practice. Live supervision may also be conducted in groups, with the Supervisor offering support and challenge to their therapist-client as the latter leads a structure. Only occasionally may Supervision be conducted based on self-reported behaviour of leading a structure rather than evidence of practice.
• A minimum of 23 of the 35 hours must be direct, one-to-one supervision.  A maximum of 12 hours in group supervision can count towards Accreditation. All 35 hours can also be made up of one-to-one supervision.
• In a group setting where your own session as a therapist is actually being supervised, you can count the full time of the live supervision and feedback e.g. an hour /an hour and a quarter /an hour and a half (as appropriate).
• If you attend a group supervision day, and have a structure as a client*, you cannot count this (client) time as supervision time.  But you can count the rest of the day, where either you lead a structure or observe.
• In a supervision group, each session that you observe being supervised can also count as 20 minutes of supervision, up to a maximum of 12 hours (i.e. 36 supervision sessions where you observe other PBSP therapists).
• Supervision undertaken within the hours of the approved training modules is not counted in the above hours.  In the last two years of training supervision undertaken privately, outside the approved training hours, can be counted.

A chronological log is kept of practice structures and supervision.  The purpose of the log is to account for and summarise evidence, and also to offer a useful document for occasional therapist reflection and supervisor review during the one-or-more year period leading up to PBSP Accreditation. Have your supervisor sign the log after each supervision session, where possible.

The process of accreditation as a PBSP therapist

Once you have completed or are approaching completion of the 35 hours of supervision and 100 structures, you may apply for accreditation to the PBSP UK Training Co-ordinator. The fee for Accreditation as a PBSP Therapist (at present £200) is payable to the Pesso Boyden UK Training Institute when applying.

Typically Accreditation will be based on three trainers’ evaluation of a filmed structure. If a film has already been supervised by one of the accreditation team it should not be submitted for accreditation.

When you are ready to take the step of accreditation, please notify the training administrator Jacquie Grinham info@pessoboydentrainingUK.com that you are going to submit a film. The next step is to ensure that each member of the accreditation team has access to a viable version of the session to be assessed for accreditation. It is your responsibility to make sure that we get your work in an accessible form.

For example if you use Apple Mac and are sending an external disk, make sure that disk is formatted for both MacOS and PC.

If you use Dropbox, please check with Jacquie within a week of submitting your film that the accreditation team has been able to access the film.

Further guidelines:

• Please send an unedited film that shows a whole structure which demonstrate your capabilities as outlined in the evaluation criteria
• This should show the therapist leading a structure in a group
• The group should largely comprise people new to PBSP, not training-group peers
• It is best to show a film that uses people in the roles. However, if you are missing one gender of Ideal Figure, and you feel confident that you have used substitute items effectively (illustrating evaluation criteria 14 and 15 appropriately) we will still consider it
• It is not possible to demonstrate the evaluation criteria in a one to one structure
• The structure put forward for accreditation should demonstrate the true scene, historical information, reversals and antidotes. A typical ‘grief structure’, which remains in the ‘present’, would not be suitable as it would not show these aspects.
• The film should be approximately 1 hour long
• We prefer you not to send us a film you have shown in supervision to anyone who is in the accrediting team (Sally, Juliet, Sandy)
• It would not be appropriate to use a structure filmed during a ‘live supervision day’
• There is no need to include the introductory lecture, the lottery process, or sharing
• We will acknowledge receipt of your film, and will evaluate and give feedback within 6 – 10 weeks.

The process of accreditation as a PBSP therapist (senior accredited)

After becoming accredited as a PBSP Therapist, you may choose to achieve a further, advanced status as a ‘role-model’ therapist. This will require you to continue to run structure groups and receive supervision at a ratio of 1 hour of supervision to 10 structures.  You must run structure groups for a minimum of two years before you can apply to become a PBSP Therapist (Senior Accredited). You are expected to have at least 4 structures as a client with PBSP Accredited Trainers in this 2 year period and to have run a minimum of 25 structures as a therapist.

If you attend a supervision day and have a structure that is run by a colleague at a ‘live supervision and guided practice day’ run by Sally, Juliet or Sandy, then this can count as one of the 4 structures that you are required to have as a client. We request that at least 2 of your structures are run directly by Sally Sandy or Juliet, and up to 2 can be run by a colleague at a ‘live supervision and guided practice’ day.

The fee for Accreditation as a PBSP Therapist (Senior Accredited) is £200 payable to the Pesso Boyden UK Training Institute when the film is submitted.  The therapist is contacted with a result within three months of submitting the film.

 

The benefit of becoming a PBSP psychotherapist (senior accredited)

PBSP trainees (on training courses) are required to have a minimum of 3 structures, as clients, per year of the training.  As trainees invariably adopt the style and mannerisms of the therapist leading their personal structures, it is our intention that students in the future will have structures led by Senior Accredited PBSP therapists who will have demonstrated, by reaching this level, their suitability to act as role-models of good PBSP practice.

Being a PBSP Psychotherapist (Senior Accredited) is also a pre-requisite for entry onto a PBSP Supervisors Training and eligibility to enter PBSP Trainer Training.

© SJS Amended July 2019